Dialing my GEO reactor

[racermike27]

Yeah sure Manny that is fine as long as it is on Saturday. I have to come down to the Lab again on Sunday. But yeah that would be great then you can see if I am doing the Ca reactor thing correctly LOL.

Mike

 

[racermike27]

Ok so my latest readings for the Reactor are as follows:
CO2: 55bpm
Reactor pH: 6.78-6.80
Effluent pH: 7.14
Tank pH: 7.95-8.10

Tank ALK: 10.2-10.6DKH depending on time of day/night
Effluent ALK: >16DKH

Everything is holding within these parameters. Keeping a close eye to ensure things don't change of course.

Mike

 

[gasman059]

good going mike. Slowly but surely looks like u r getting there

 

[racermike27]

Yeah it has been really neat setting up the reactor. It kinda showed me how much my corals drain the ALk levels during the day. LOL I never knew they used up so much. At night the levels get high I guess because they aren't using as much since they might be feeding more actively. A soon as the lights come on though it is a different story LOL the ALK slowly comes down til it just about levels off at 10.2DKH. It may be too soon to tell but it lokos as though my orange cap is loving the recent increase in ALK. Last week I could almost swear that the gap between it and its neighbor was >1cm. Last night I looked and it is <1/2cm away LOL. I guess I am going to have to frag the CAP. Then again it could be both corals growing faster LOL.

-Mike-

 

[gasman059]

HEY MIKE HERES A 2 MONTH GROWTH ON A CAP AS A REFERENCE.
The one on the right second pic. It really took off after the reactor.

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[/IMG]

 

[racermike27]

That is exactly what I am seeing in my Cap LOL.
I never knew the reactor would boost the growth that much. It makes me very happy I purchased one.
Have all of your acros responded with rapidly increased growth or has it mainly been just the montis?

 

[gasman059]

Well my frags are taking off but maily filling up in d bases of the plugs. Pretty soon axial growth will take off and when it does I will be doing some gardening .

 

[racermike27]

I know what you mean Manny. My tank will be so crowded once everything grows in properly. LOL

Hey were you at the meeting last night?

 

[gasman059]

No man I'm always stuck at work. I've been trying to make at least one of this meetings but always working LOL

 

[racermike27]

Yeah I hear you on that one.

Well Manny the tank is still remaining stable as far as the levels of ALK and pH go.

The reading are almost identical everytime I test. Depends on what time of day. But for the most part if I test when I get home it is exactly the same as the day before for the same time.

I guess everything is going well. Growth is up

 

[gasman059]

great stuff

 

[racermike27]

Hey Manny, how are you adding Mg to your tank?

I have just been adding Kent TECH M but last night at the meet i got some of the ocean's blend Mg supp.

My levels are normally around 1350ppm

 

[racermike27]

Hey Manny, how are you adding Mg to your tank?

I have just been adding Kent TECH M but last night at the meet i got some of the ocean's blend Mg supp.

 

[gasman059]

pending to get some flakes and or dolomite for d reactor, As of now the same as u.

 

[racermike27]

Oh ok.

So my next dumb question would be how you add the flake and dolomite? and how much to add...

 

[gasman059]

dolomite to your reactor

 

[racermike27]

Oh ok, thanks for the answers.

 

[racermike27]

Ok Manny I am in problems now.....

My ALK is climbing and is now at in the high 11's

Now i know it shouldn't be this high. I was in the 10's all week, I have not changed anything.

Well I checked the bpm and it did increase a tad by 5bpm.

Well anyways I have set the pH controller to have the pH set at 6.78 which has been my target all along.
Today when I cam einside the pH was a little lower than normal.
It was at pH 6.71.

Anyway I have now turned off the CO2 main and the reactor is just circulating. The reason I am concerned is because some of my corals looked a little brown today for some unknown reason. I have not changed anything but it must be the high ALK levels.
I really only see the change in 2 corals but this is not normal.

I will just wait it out until the ALK comes down by itself and then start over again.... AHHHHHHH

Any help with this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[gasman059]

Again slow wins this battle. Take your reactor off line. That alk level is not high enuff to be scary so chek the rest of d params.
anyways wai a couple of days and restart at half your current bpm and rate ti c what happens.

 

[racermike27]

Yeh that is what I figured I would do.
Well the reactor has been offline more or less just letting it circulate to use up the excess CO2.
Well I checked all other params and everything seems to be in order. Ca 450-460ppm, Mg ~1300's, pH is normal for the tank although yesterday it was a little higher than usual. I was up to about 8.14 and normally I am right at 8.10

Well I am just going to wait and see what happens... When the pH was stable at 6.78 I was getting good results it was only when the pH flucuated and fell that the spike occured. I am kinda curious as to what may have caused the pH to fall like that.