CR media

[Covey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10873047#post10873047 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Coralfreak
It really depends on the design of the reactor, most of those are recirculating, which does the same thing, in a much more efficient manner. For the most part they help in preventing the pH drop common with Ca reactors, by using up the excess CO2.

Almost all calcium reactor at this point are recirc. Even if all the gaseous CO2 is used it forms carbonic acid. That is why the pH in the camber is lowered. So even with zero gaseous CO2 the pH of your effluent will still be what ever you have it set at. If you add a second chamber the arognite media with continue to buffer against the carbonic acid until it gets the pH back up into the 8's....

In theory most second chambers are still to small or have to high of a flow rate to pull it off. Most pull the pH up a .5 to a 1. Not that big of a help.

I don't run one either but they are good for something.

 

[Covey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10873029#post10873029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slovan
Can anyone actually say that having a second chamber is really beneficial? I've been looking at several highly regarded calcium reactors(H&S, Deltec, Schuran & GEO) and none of them have a second chamber as an option.

The reason that the Euro brands don't sell them is more "the history of reefkeeping" rather than the science. Euro reefers bought into the "Berlin method" 20 or more years ago. The Berlin Method championed the use of kalk. By the time that the calcium reactors came around they were all already using kalk. Kalk raises pH. Reactors lowers it. Who needs the second chamber.

 

[matt the fiddler]

agreed on second stages beign too small....

but.. you could daisy chain a few second stages together... and even put the old tiny ARM [which i got 30 pounds of] in a later chamber...

though, I think as the PH goes up, it will become less effective at disolving the media, thus slowing the rate at which the ph will rise..... to get much past 1.5 PH rasie mgiht equire a 5-7x larger chamber

I heard from Premium that the GEN X is suposidly the top.. I will have to dig where it was...


Both are pretty sweet though. and the new ARM is more expensive.. hmmmmm maybe it is a better quality...