(First Reef Tank Ever) **** 600gal Display **** 1300gal System

[tbone28]

Hey Bart, give the calcium reactor a try. You won't regret it! I was dosing B-Ionic daily for many months, and just got tired of it. I set up the reactor, and life is rosy now. My pH hasn't dropped, as happens to many people. There are a few things you can do to minimize a pH drop. You can drip the effluent into your skimmer's pump, drip the effluent into a collection cup with an airstone, or drip into your refugium first, which is what I'm doing. You basically want to give the CO2 some time to blow off before it gets back to your return pump.

 

[jnarowe]

or run kalk and not worry about pH.

 

[tbone28]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11784473#post11784473 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
or run kalk and not worry about pH.

Jonathan, you just want him to hard-plumb his kalk reactor for some glue-sniffin, don't cha?

 

[cbui2]

if i can find a way just to set the calcium reactor without having to drip kalk then i be a happy camper. no more pvc cement since i plumb the reactor awhile back already for 1/4" tubing. dripping into fuge would be nice since i do have med. flow and its 150gal.

heres what i have purchased from the beginning of build,
Deltec PF1001 w/90 lbs RowaLith C+ media
20lbs CO2 tank
purchase Milwaukee CO2 regulator, but return it since i didn't like the way it was manufacture
didn't purchase controller yet

 

[Jar*Head]

Bart, you will need the pH controller (prefer pintpoint pH controller) for your deltec PF1001.
1. Fill the reactor with Rowalith C+ (half full), i notice some having problem with the eheim 1260 being not strong enough to stir the media.

2. Set your effluent rate at broken stream

3. Set your bubble rate starting at 60-90bpm

4. Set your pH controller at 6.5 (off) - 6.7 (on) test your alk and Ca every day at the SAME TIME.

If your alk decrease, increase the bubble count and lower the pH in side the reactor. If the Alk increase, drop your bubble count or crank up the pH inside the chamber.

Once you get the Alk and Ca stable for at least couple days then your Ca reactor tuned in. If not, keep on playing with it till it stable.

Your Kalk Stir is very beneficial if you use it properly. I would use the Litermeter III to dose couple gal of Kalk at night during the light out period to stable the pH. You don't have to use your Kalk stirrer as the main source of your topoff. Unless your demand is high.

 

[mcliffy2]

man, i want to help out, but my mind is just not processing your plumbing I'll try to sit down this weekend with a fresh mind and take a look at it....

 

[Jar*Head]

It would take a Submarine engineer to figure out Bart's plumbing . But it look darn good and organize tho

 

[tbone28]

Bart, I like the pinpoint pH controller, too. My pH is still stable at 8.2 dripping effluent into my fuge. I hope it stays stable because I don't have room under my stand for a kalk reactor!

JarHead - why do you recommend turning the controller on at 6.7 and off at 6.5? Is that because of the Rowalith? Mine's on at 6.8, off at 6.7 for Gen-X media

 

[Jar*Head]

tbone, 6.5-6.7 is pretty much standard since his tank has lots of water volume, lower pH help melting the media quicker. but he can always start at 6.7-6.8 and work his way to lower.

Gen-x media normally require lower pH to melt. Are you using the coarse or fine media?

 

[Jar*Head]

If your pH every drop due the Ca reactor, you can drip the effluent into a cup with airstone in it and it will help......

 

[tbone28]

I use the coarse media in GEO 612 reactor. I also heard gen-x media needs lower pH to dissolve. It's been a week and a half since I set up, and my Alk/Ca are still holding steady. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to lower the pH too much (since I don't have Kalk reactor to boost pH in display)

 

[jnarowe]

I got quite a lecture from Steve Weast on the topic of pH and Ca media. We both use the Gen-X which supposedly should be run at 6.20 - 6.30, but his philosophy is this:

He told me to forget about the numbers in the reactor and concentrate on the numbers in the tank. After experimenting for a while, I now run it at an average of 6.45 and this combined with my kalk top-off keeps my Ca at 430 and alk at 9.0 dKh.

As a system matures and there is a larger mass of coral growing, then you have to adjust how you dose.

 

[Jar*Head]

Tbone, try this before you add any Kalk reactor. Get a plastic cup, hang it on the side of your sump, drill a hole on the side of the cup, add an airstone then let it run for an hour then test your pH. You will get at least 8.0 pH in the cup while your effluent read 6.7-6.8...

The use of Kalk reactor is not just for raising your pH. It is to assist your Ca reactor to stabilize the Ca and Alk due to the high demand of your SPS. It is also helps raising your pH level at night but it is not the main purpose

 

[tbone28]

Thanks Jarhead. I should've been more clear with my original post. My tank's pH is stable at 8.2, which is what it was at before I turned on my reactor.

I spoke to another RC member who runs a GEO Ca reactor, and he is able to run his controller at the same settings (on 6.8, off 6.7), so I thought I'd try that first, and then lower the settings if needed.

Jonathan, that's the philosophy I'm taking - i.e. monitoring how my tank's doing, which is why I'm not too worried that my pH inside the reactor is higher than what most ppl need for Gen-X media.

As it is, it's only been a week and a half, but params have been stable, so I hope things stay that way.

JarHead, if my display's pH drops, I'll drip my effluent into a cup like you suggest

New question for you guys, as my frags start growing and demand increases, what's the best way to adjust the controller? Do I leave the BPM and effluent the same, but just lower the pH inside the reactor?

 

[Jar*Head]

You will increase the bubble count as well as the effluent. If your pH work well at that level, leave it the way it is.

 

[jnarowe]

I wouldn't mess too much with the BPM. You have a little room to lower the reactor pH, but adjusting the effluent flow is probably a better way to do that. I got caught up in the whole bubble counter thing and to be honest, I ran my tank fine without one for quite a while. It's a nice visual cue, but water flow is easier to adjust.

I have a small gate valve on my effluent and I just dial that to get the right numbers in the tank. And I rarely mess with that either. You can't really lower the pH inside the chamber without adjusting one of the two.

 

[cbui2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11786659#post11786659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jar*Head
It would take a Submarine engineer to figure out Bart's plumbing . But it look darn good and organize tho

NASA Space Station or Virgin Galactic should be chiming in soon, since they have the original designs i submitted awhile back

 

[cbui2]

maybe i should wait until Sensei known as CSWMD make into town to help grasshopper out

 

[Jar*Head]

Who is CSWMD?

 

[jnarowe]

I would bet dollars-to-donuts you can't run it very long without a kalk top-off.