Effluent with Phosphate reading 2.0

[melev]

Wow, two posts in a row by Eric & Eric.

That is pretty much how I planned to run it, Eric #1.

I appreciate the offer, Eric #2. Let me know what you want for it in a PM. Is this something I would screw into the acrylic lid, then put the probe in and tighten a collar to keep it from leaking water out of the reactor? A picture would probably answer all of this.

My reactor is all clean and ready to refill.

 

[Travis]

Marc, I'm guessing that guy was assuming that the dripping action of the effluent into the cup was aerating the water and causing the ph to rise before being measured. With that mini reactor that Kevin makes, it doesn't look like the effluent drips at all. If it does it is in an enclosed area that isn't exposed to O2 anyways so the ph in that mini reactor will be the same as what is in the calcium reactor chamber. The only thing that would change that is if you run a second stage on your reactore, which will make the ph a couple tenths higher.

 

[melev]

Tonight I cleaned the calcium reactor completely, using 1 cup muriatic acid and tap water.

I let it run for several hours, then rinsed it out well. All tubing was cleaned as best possible.

The media was replaced with new, the reactor assembled and filled with tank water. During assembly, I kept looking to make sure nothing was missing. I also remembered a friend telling me how he replaced the sponge because the old one was too hard to clean out, but mine didn't have one. I didn't see it anywhere.

While the reactor was running, I was looking at the media and saw a few granules in the base, something I'd never seen before. Did it have a sponge in there before? I decided to check the trash where the media was poured out, and found it. So the reactor had to be disconnected, drained and rinsed out completely again, the sponge installed and refilled.

Once the reactor was full and the water was clear coming out, I tested the effluent of just water going through the ARM media.

Effluent without CO2: 7.7 dKH
Effluent PO4 .1 ppm (makes sense since tank water was in the reactor now)

Tank water: 8.3 dKH
Tank PO4 .5ppm

Phosban reactor #1: .5ppm PO4
Phosban reactor #2: .25ppm PO4

So the reactors were taken offline, emptied, rinsed and refilled with 12 heaping teaspoons of Pura Phoslock and ROWAphos, each. From the side, this is just a little less than 2" of media in each reactor.

Next I turned on the CO2 to the Calcium Reactor, adding 1 bubble per second. The pH controller measures the effluent and dictates when the CO2 should turn off. I'm still waiting for it to reach pH 6.5 in the reactor...

10:50pm 7.7
11:20pm 7.4
11:50pm 7.3
12:20pm 7.2
01:00am 7.0
01:20am 6.9

I'm not going to test the effluent for alkalinity until it reaches pH 6.5 - I guess I could decrease the pH if I increased the bubble count or by allowing the effluent to exit more quickly. Current effluent is 40 ml per minute, which isn't exactly easy to measure. I set a timer and collected what drained out in a graduated cup, but since it was so large, I had to use a syringe to suck out 5ml at a time to determine the amount. I guess I need a smaller device with ml markings on the side to make that easier to determine.

Btw, this is much faster effluent than I have run in the past. Usually it is 3 drops per second, and now it is alotadrops per second.

 

[melev]

02:30am 6.7 - still waiting for it to hit 6.5

 

[melev]

Still 6.7 at 3:30am.

 

[NexDog]

Whack up the CO2 so it gets there quicker and then dial it back after?

 

[melev]

I agree, as one hour later it was still 6.7. I turned up the bubble counter. I counted 160 bubbles per minute, or roughly 2.5bubbles per second. After 30 more minutes, it finally hit 6.5 and the CO2 shut off. Wow, that took 6 hours!

Effluent with CO2: 32 dKH (Salifert, using two full syringes of the 2nd solution)

Is there a different way to test for Alk using that kit to not use up so much of that solution? Do I use less effluent and double the results perhaps?

 

[melev]

Two images from the Phosban Reactor. It turns out I only use about 1.5" of media.

 

[Lunchbucket]

Marc - hope it works out for you.

all i want for that probe holder is shipping cost. you can either drill and tap your lid oryou cna put it in your plumbing of the recirc pump (it is 1/2" pvc threaded)

what a reef junkie...even has a reef product ruler

Lunchbucket

 

[Habib]

what a reef junkie...even has a reef product ruler

I think we need to bring out a tape ruler which gives a dimesion 25% less than actual value to convinvce the spouse that the delivered tank's size is as agreed and is not larger.

 

[NexDog]

Did you test the phosphate in the effluent again?

 

[melev]

No, I thought I'd test it tonight after it has been running for about a day. Those test kits Habib makes never seem to last long enough for me. :lol:

That ruler was a freebie at MACNA, and the minute I got it I knew it would come in handy. I have a metal ruler that I've used in the past, but with this one you can put it in the tank if you want to display the size of an item... and it was handy last night, as you can see. I'll PM you, Eric. Thanks.

 

[melev]

I did a couple of tests tonight now that the newly cleaned Calcium Reactor is up and running, and the Phosban Reactors were refilled last night.

Tank PO4: .1
Effluent PO4: .03 - .1 (to close to call)
Tank Alkalinity: 9.1 dKH

I noticed that the effluent tube is gathering more and more air in it. Last night it was a tiny bubble, but today it is more like 10" or more. The effluent continues to go out but that's a lot of air. I have a feeling it is CO2 actually. The reactor has a few bubbles at the top, but not a huge pocket of air/gas. Does this happen to any of you?

 

[Travis]

I used to get some CO2 build up in my reactor when I used a mag2 for the recirculation pump. I now use an Iwaki 20 with a spray bar and no longer have any CO2 bubbles at all. I think the combination of the spray bar and the more powerful pressure rated pump help keep the CO2 dissolved better so it doesn't build up at the top, but that is just a guess. What pump does your reactor use for recirculation?

 

[Travis]

Now that I think about it a little more, your reactor may still just be purging air from the refill. The directions that came with my reactor say to run it with the effluent valve wide open for 24 hours after refilling to purge all the air.

 

[melev]

Wide open for 24 hours? What about Co2? I could imagine opening it for 5 minutes perhaps, to flush it out.

It is a Lifereef Calcium Reactor with a Mag 7 circulation pump.

 

[Lunchbucket]

that is exactly why i have a bottom flow reactor. any air that is in the top is right by the pumps (panworld) inlet..so it gets sucked up and chopped up. also it will get purges out throught the effluent...it just takes some time too.

also i have seen air purge valves on a few ca rx's

Lunchbucket

 

[Travis]

The C02 is supposed to be off for the 24 hour purging time.

 

[arconom]

I had to do the same thing with my old MRC Calcium reactor. Let it run for 24 hours to purge the air without the Co2. If you don't you will get a very inconsitent Effuent rate.

 

[javajaws]

Hey Marc,

Whatever happened with this?

Did your new media add PO4 as well? If so, what have you found the most effective for removing it (which media)?

I'm going to setup my CA reactor this week. I bought one of those biophos reactors a long time ago in preparation for this...so I'm most curious about what media you are running your effluent through if any.