Korallin Calcium Reactor

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i run mine 24/7. if adjusted to your system thats the best way to run one IMO. by testing your water on a weekly basis after you get the reactor dialed in you can tell if you need to up/down the output from it.

the only adjustments i make are when i need more output of Ca/Alk because i added something to the tank that is using it up. i'll make small adjustments if it shows a need over time, but if your Ca or Alk drop fairly quick for no known reason (you didnt add anything large to the system or you didnt do a H2O change) then its time to change the media.

hth
kc
 
oh and i dont use any means to shut it down. if power goes off on the system the solinoid turns off the CO2. while some people will beg to differ greatly its been my experiance that with a properly adjusted Ca reactor, (did i mention that it has to be adjusted properly?) your system gets a balance of Ca and Alk, which Buffers your tanks water and keeps PH UP and it wont drive it down.

hth
kc
 
You people are so helpful. I appreciate it so much.
To keep it very simple.......I have been trying to keep my bubble count to one bubble every 3 seconds. That has been very stable, and I have been able to keep that rate without any adjustments. However, tonight I will count how may bubbles come out in a full minute.
The fella that set up the reactor put in a small powerhead that is going "into the reactor" Where it is going I dont know, but he "modified" the pump so that it wasent pushing in so much water into the reactor.
I have been trying to get the effluent to be one drop per second, but I will measure it in ml later on, as per your suggestion. I have been able to get a consistant drop of effluent per sec. The problem is trying to fine tune the second drip rate to a few drips per minute. If I do keep it to a few drips per minute when I wake up in the morning the reactor has air in it, and all drips coming out of the reactor has stopped. Can the secondary drip rate be set "to high"?
How do I know if my problem is to much CO2 or bubbles going into the chamber? Where would these bubbles be coming from ( is it the skimmer?).
If I can get a stable bubble count, effluent drip, air not getting trapped in the system, then I will test the parameters and see what I get. I love this hobby, it makes you feel stupid, but I wouldnt give it up for anything.
Thanks again!!!!
 
Smoke, setting up your reactor to an exact drip rate and bubble per min rate is useless. you need to adjust them to what your tank needs not a set amount of drips and bubbles.

if you use outlet 1 "Ausgang" at a very slow drip rate along with your outlet 2 "Entluftung" being your standerd drip you should not get a build up of an air bubble in the reactor.

check your input and see if its going to a place that has micro bubbles, just follow the input line (Eingang) back to the pump and look where the pump is sitting and see if you can see bubbles in the water. if no bubbles are here, then your most likely putting in to much CO2.

again your testing will tell you if you need a faster drip or more CO2.

kc
 
what should the setting be on Co2 tank?

Slayer, I printed your post out on paper, it was well written, much better than the damn directions that actually came with the reactor !!!
 
your working psi should be 15-20 psi

here is a copy/paste from a email i sent someone about a Koralline reactor, its LONG but very well detailed on this perticular reactor. the reactor this was writen for is a C-3002 w/ mag 5 pump. some will and wont pretain to you but it should be simple to see what does/dont.

kc

First we want to connect the inlet line to the reactor using Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ airline tubing (the refrigerator ice maker tubing works great here as well) and it goes to the reactor fitting (Eingang). This is how it gets water from the tank into the reactor. It can be done several different ways. One is to place the inlet higher then the reactor and allow gravity to ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“siphonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ feed the reactor. The only disadvantage to this is if your water level drops below the input tube when you do a water change you can loose siphon and youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll have to restart the siphon. Second and the best way IMO is to feed the reactor via a pump. Either ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Tââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ off from the return pump from the sump or use a small power head to feed the reactor.

Now that you have the input to the reactor plumbed in you need to install the output from the reactor back to the tank or sump. There are two output lines (both have a gate valve on them) one comes directly from the top of the reactor (called outlet #1 and marked ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Ausgangââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢) and the other comes from the fitting just after where the pump output ties into the reactor (there is a single white fitting here with a gate valve attached this is outlet #2 marked ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Entluftungââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢). You need to hook a Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ airline up to outlet #2 and run it to where ever you have the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“famous effluent drip cupââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ installed. The preferred place for the drip cup is so it can allow effluent to drip into a high flow area of the tank or sump. I personally prefer it to drip into my skimmer compartment of the sump. You also need to have the cup where you can easily get to it for taking effluent samples for testing of dKH and also youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll want to be able to get your PH probe into the cup for testing of the PH.

Outlet #1 will also need to drip into the tank or sump but its output is very low so itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s irrelevant as to where it drips at as long as its into the tank or sump water. I have my outlet #1 going just inside the stand and dripping into the side of the sump. Use the same Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ airline tubing for this as well.

Now that you have all 3 lines connected to the aquarium and both gate valves are still in the closed positions we need to attach the CO2 system. If you have not done so at this point you need to ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“snapââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ the bubble counter and check valve into their holders and connect the airline from the bubble counter to the white fitting on the reactor marked ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œCO2ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚.

Attach the regulator to your now filled CO2 bottle (if you didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t fill it yet, it can wait) making sure you use the nylon washer between the bottle and the regulator. Screw the regulator adjustment knob into the regulator just until it makes contact inside the regulator. Make sure the needle valve is fully closed and attach the ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œCO2 Proofââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ tubing to the needle valve and run the other end to the check valve. Youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll notice on the check valve it has an arrow pointing in the direction of flow, flow is from the bottle to the reactor.

Now that you have everything hooked up (but not plugged in to power yet) you need to prime the system. Do this by opening both gate valves. If you opted to use a pump to feed the reactor plug in that pump now (but only that pump, not the Mag 5 on the reactor) and the reactor should start to fill up. If you opted to use the gravity feed making sure the inlet is submerged under water, you may have to close one of the gate valves and suck on the other line to start the siphon. After the siphon is started you can reopen the other gate valve.

Allow the reactor to fill completely with water, during the fill the bubble counter should fill as well. If the bubble counter does not fill with water during filling of the reactor do this:
If you use a pump to feed the reactor, unplug that pump so the reactor is at equal pressure rather then being pressurized by the pump. Take the fitting off the check valve that goes to the bubble counter, water should start to enter the bubble counter now and fill it. Donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t let the water drain back so it comes out the other end of the bubble counter and flow into the check valve (when you see the bubble counter get almost full, reconnect the check valve).

Ok now we have everything hooked up and the reactor is full of tank water. We now need to make sure the Mag 5 is evacuated of air and can pump water. First close outlet #2 and leave outlet #1 open. Plug in the Mag 5 pump and see if its pumping water or calvitating (not pumping water because its full of air). If its pumping water let it circulate and get all the air out of the reactor, it will be flushed out via the open gate valve at #1.

If its not pumping water and is trying to pump, lean the reactor over on its side and allow the air to evacuate the pump and water to enter, the pump should kick in and start to pump water at this point.

Again let the pump run until it evacuates all the air out of the reactor, you can pick the reactor up and gently ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“bumpââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ it down to dislodge any trapped air in the media. You can look inside the reactor at the very top and see if any air is trapped inside. If there is no air trapped inside your ready to proceed with setup, if it still has air, keep #1 open fully until all air is evacuated.

To setup the reactor initially we need to set a drip rate for the effluent out of the reactor and into the drip cup. We do this by closing both #1 and #2 gate valves and then opening #2 very slowly until the output into the drip cup starts to drip at a rate of about 40 drips/min. when you get the drip into the cup set at about 40 drips/min youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢re ready to start adding CO2 to the reactor and start making some Ca and Alk for that beautiful reef tank you got up there.

To start off your CO2 bottle should be closed and the regulator is attached and tightened (with the nylon washer installed) and needle valve closed. Slowly open the main valve on the bottle and watch the gauge on the left side of the reactor (this is the bottle pressure) it should depending on the temp of the bottle read between 900 and 1100 psi and the right hand side should still be on 0 (because you havenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t screwed the regulator knob in any further then just touching right?)

Now you want to slowly screw the regulator adjustment knob in until the right hand gauge (working pressure) starts to climb up. Set it at 15 psi for now. The regulator may make some humming noise until it gets settled in (about 1-3 minuets) with a 15 psi working reading on the right hand gauge slowly open the needle valve a little at the time until you see a bubble in the bubble counter. You want to adjust for about 10 bubbles/min to start off.

Now you should have the reactor fully setup and operational. The effluent drip should be about 40 drips/min and the CO2 at 10 bubbles/min. give the reactor an hour to settle in with the new settings and get the CO2 levels inside the reactor stabilized.

After an hour dump out your effluent drip cup and prepare to start testing. While the drip cup fills up get your tank readings and record them on the sheet. Test the PH and the dKH of the tank. Right down the effluent drips/min and the CO2 bubbles/min as well. By the time you finish testing the tank water the effluent cup should be full again. Take a sample of the water from it and measure the dKH, and place your PH probe in it and test the PH as well.

The PH should be between 6.5 and 7.0 and the dKH should be above 25. If you are at these levels your good to go on the reactor if not here is what you need to do:

If PH is low, you need to either up the effluent DPM (drips/min), or decrease the CO2 BPM (bubbles/min).

If your dKH is not above 25 then your not getting enough CO2 into the reactor and you need to up the CO2 BMP. Depending on your media in the reactor it should be about 30-50 dKH.

Now that you have that all set its time to start daily testing of the tank to set the reactor to the demands of the system.

During the testing and setting up of the tank DO NOT add anything to the tank other then top off water daily. Doing so can throw off the tests and give you a false reading and prolong the reactor setup.

Test the dKH of the tank daily at about the same time every day (I myself do it twice a day when Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m setting up a new reactor). Write down the dKH level of the tank on the setup sheet. If you notice that your dKH level is dropping from one day to the next you need to increase the amount of Ca/Alk the reactor is adding to the system by increasing the effluent DPM and upping the CO2 BPM to keep the effluent dKH above 25. This usually takes a week or two to set depending on the tanks demands and how much you have to adjust daily.

After you get the reactor adjusted to the point that your dKH remains constant from one day to the next there are a few things you can do now. Your dKH should be between 8 and 13 at this time depending on your system. If its lower then youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d like you can increase the DPM and BPM to bring the dKH of the tank up but do so slowly, not more then 1 dKH per week. If your dKH is at a level your happy with (and it should be) you now need to test Ca and see what its levels are at. The preferred levels are between 350 and 450 ppm with most people preferring around 410 ppm. If your levels are low use ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Turbo Caââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ to bring the Ca level up to desired levels. Do NOT use a 2 part buffer or anything that is going to boost dKH when doing so. You only want to add a Ca booster.

With your Ca levels at the desired settings you need to recheck your dKH of the tank and make sure its still stabilized from day to day. If it is, its time to sit back and watch your reactor take care of your tank while you enjoy watching rather then dosing. If your dKH drops after adding the Ca then you need to up your DPM and BMP again to keep it constant and then test Ca again.


If you find your having a hard time keeping Ca levels up but your dKH is remaining constant then your system most likely is low on Magnesium and needs to be supplemented.

Youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll notice that after a few months pass by the media in the reactor has dissolved and its level in the reactor has dropped down. This is how its supposed to work and is ok, but if you let it drop to low it can start to lessen the output of the reactor to the tank. You can tell this with your weekly testing of the water and youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll start to notice a slight drop in dKH as weeks go by, this is an indication that you need to refill the media levels. Itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s recommended that you change 100% of the media (empty the entire reactor and throw the media out and replace all of it with new) twice per year. Myself I use my testing to determine when the media has lost its usefulness. When it gets depleted it will start to drop dKH levels in the effluent and thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s when you need to change the media out 100%.
 
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The reactor has a Auslauf, einlauf, and C02 line. Einlauf is where the "extra" pump is connected to the reactor. There is no air in the area, but it is very turbulent, since he hooked up the air tube to the "airline" and the pump is just flowing freely.
Alright I will get the test kits out.
 
hopefuly that one will get you going with all you need to know. if not fell free to ask, i like to help best i can and make things easier for people.

i'v spent 25 of my getting close to 32 yrs of life figuring things in the marine hobby out the hard way. it's sure a lot more fun when you have help and get things right from the start.

:)
kc
 
Awesome feedback Dragon Slayer you should be setting these up for a fee,or would that take all the fun out of it?

Sounds like your corals should be quite happy though.
 
Well most people in the hobby that i help out with things first hand return the favor down the road. a small frag here and there, some don't. I enjoy it and as long as its not a burdon I'll continue to help out in good faith. But then after all else, I might charge :)


kc
 
I tested the tank today. 2 weeks ago before I purchased reactor Calcium was 420 Dkh was 10. Today with the reactor Ca is 375 and Dkh is 11.2.
Is this a normal adjustment period or do I need to add more calcium? Do I add more calcium by increasing bubble rate or drip rate?
 
by doing daily testing you need to adjust your drip rate and bubble rate (they go hand and hand) to match your tanks need for Alk. when you test from one day to the next and do not see a decline in Alk levels then you can boost Ca if needed to get the levels up.

after you get the Ca up to where it needs to be then retest the Alk, if its still constant your Ca levels should ballance out and remain constant as well. they may not stay at 420, they may be anywhere between 380 and 450 which is acceptable.

if your alk is staying constant and Ca keeps dropping your water is out of balance and most likely (but testing should be done to be sure) your magnesium is low.

Do I add more calcium by increasing bubble rate or drip rate?


your drip rate and bubble rate need to be matched to keep the dKH of the effluent above 25, and the PH of the effluent around 6.5-6.7 IMO.

if your tank needs more Alk/Ca then you increase both to keep the levels balanced, if your tank needs less, then lessen both but keep the balance.

hth
kc
 
the test kit I have cant measure dKH as high as 25, 16 is the highest reading . DO I need a new kit? PH kit I have measures only in the "8" range" as well.
 
This is one crazy expensive time consuming hobby......Spending LOTS of money and time does not guarantee you any success either HAHAHA. My 10 year old son dosent take up this much of my time. Ok before you send my to child protective service, that was just a joke.
Testing the Ca and dKH levels "inside the tank" is not enough? Why is it so important to test the effluent too?
 
with a Salifert test kit (dKH) what you do is:

use 2ml of effluent, add 1 drop of dKH 1 to the effluent in the test tube and swirl.

draw out 1ml of dKH reggent and add slowly to the effluent. if you get a color change (depending on your reactor setup you should not with just 1ml) then stop. if no color change draw another 1ml of dKH regent out and add it drop by drop until you get a color change.

now add up the total ml of dKH regent you used. (if one full ml and then you had 0.8 left in the second you used 1.2......etc...)

take the ml used and multiply by 32, this gives you the dKH of the effluent.

i cant say that all test kits will give you an accurate measurment like this, but i compaired the readings i got with a Salifert to the ones with the high $$$ high level dKH and they were the same.

the reason you measure the dKH of the effluent is to determin if your at 100% CO2 saturation. if your not at 100% your wasting CO2 and not getting the full benifite of your reactor.

your effluent should be above 25 dKH and 30's to 40's is best IMO. i can get 60's from my Koralline, but its a bit of a trick and it eats up your media quite fast. the Deltec are supposed to get 70's and some folks say they get in the 90's with them, but i havent seen that first hand. (the reason i belive they get that high of a dKH is another story in it's self)


[G]h0S']['

i told you that was a 4002 and not the 3002 :)

so how do you like it? got it all tweeked in yet? and what media are you using?

and Oh yea,,,,,,,Leave that poor ebay guy some feedback. you dont want him to stay at 0 forever when he gave you such a good deal do ya?????

kc
 
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