Korallin Calcium Reactor

jdieck or anyone else,

I finally got my GEO reactor and the drip rate is rock solid. Now, I have found out that my bubble rate is fluctuating a bit..anywhere from 31-44 BPM...after I set it to 38 BPM and it stays there for a day or so. The reactor works..now I need to fix the regulator or needle valve. I have the Blueline regulator and needle valve setup shown here: http://www.championlighting.com/pics/careactorpics/co2new.jpg

What is your opinion of the problem? Dragon_Slayer hates the reg...I ordered a new needle valve but haven't put it on yet. Do I need a better reg and needle valve setup?

What could be causing this problem?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6851557#post6851557 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Codeman00
jdieck or anyone else,

I finally got my GEO reactor and the drip rate is rock solid. Now, I have found out that my bubble rate is fluctuating a bit..anywhere from 31-44 BPM...after I set it to 38 BPM and it stays there for a day or so. The reactor works..now I need to fix the regulator or needle valve. I have the Blueline regulator and needle valve setup shown here: http://www.championlighting.com/pics/careactorpics/co2new.jpg

What is your opinion of the problem? Dragon_Slayer hates the reg...I ordered a new needle valve but haven't put it on yet. Do I need a better reg and needle valve setup?

What could be causing this problem?
Click to expand...
Well I hate it also but been using it for three years! With a controller that is not an issue but if you do not have one the variation may be bothersome.
If the bubble rate variation is between 31 and 44 I would not even bother. That much variation you will get sometimes with temperature changes but if it goes say from 50 to 120 then there is an issue. Try increasing the output pressure to 25 psi if is not there already. It will give a bit more stability but will make the needle valve more sensitive. Also check your CO2 check valve, if it is hard to open it will increase the surging.

I have been testing a more permanent solution when using a single stage regulator. a surge CO2 tank betwen the needle valve and the regulator. It is nothing but a reservoir maintained at the 25 psi discharge pressure.
 
I got the ph to 6.7 and has stayed there for the most part and I am dripping 30ml/min and 26bpm the alk of the efluent is only reading 23dkh, should I try and get the dkh of the efluent higher. The reactor held the levels in the tank overnight. I do have a ph controller, I am just using it in the efluent cup as of right now to read the ph. after I got the reactor stabilized I was going to run the reactor on the controller.Also I am running the secondary output at about 10dpm, is this alright or should I try to back it down to the recomended 3-5. When I go below 10dpm the drip eventually stops.
 
Irrespective of the effluent flow or bubble rate try adjusting the reactor for constant tank alkalinity and use the settings as a base line reference to set it again if you have to shut it off regardles of whatever the alkalinity of the effluent is.
If you have a controller set it now, there is no reason to wait. Remember to set it in a way that it is not turning on and off continuously but say if you set it up to open at PH 6.75 and off at 6.65 then keep the 30 ml/min and 26 bpm as the set point. The setting will try to maintain the PH between the set range and the controller does not need to go OFF and ON continuously and if by chance it fails the setting will not allow for a damaginf failure as the PH will stay close to the range.
Leave the secondary output as it is. If it continue being an issue you can use it for all the effluent and shut off the primary effluent.
 
I backed the efluent down to 25ml/min and the efluent alk is at 32dkh, and the tank levels held steady again. So I think I got it dialed in other than some minor adjustments. I also set the reactor to the controller. Thanks again for the help.
 
My Korallin calcium reactor has been set up and working flawlessly for a two months. Then a week ago, I noticed my pH was down and a pocket of gas built up in the chamber. This caused my reactor to stop dripping effluent. I kept readjusting the one outlet to drip effluent. It worked for a day or two and then stopped dripping, so I went to using both effluent outlets to drip. Seems to work for a couple of days then stops dripping effluent, again. Can someone tell me what is wrong with my setup? Help?
 
Just a question for you until the masters chime in :p
Did you close the main outlet and open up [wide open] the second outlet so the bubble was released from the reactor? I do that for both outlets every couple weeks 'cause it gets rid of build-up that are potential clogs.
 
As Gregr mentions it could be a partial plug of the output valves. Also the media may have settled and now the grains are also smaller so it offer more resistance to the recirculation pump, the pump may need cleaning or your feeding pump if you use one may have a plugged inlet.

Check your inlet pump and try Gregr's suggestion, if it does not work try closing the effluent outlet and use as effluent the outlet that comes from the top.
If it does not work or the PH drops too much then you need to empty the media and rinse it from any muddy media and then mixing it with new media and refilling the reactor, clean the pump and valves in the process and any foam media inside.
 
OK. Will do. I just bought this piece of equipment because I read once you set it up, it wouldn't require constant tweaking.
 
The new 1502 I got had a leak in one of the valves but after that was fixed it's been holding constand drips and bubbles for several months now. yay.
 
FishPharm,
its not something you should have to do on a regular basis, but you're gonna have to do something to it ocassionally....
It just less maintenance and effort thatn manually dosing Kalk or two part every day.



:)

Nick
 
Thanx Nick. I guess its no big deal. At least now I'm aware of it and can make it a regular part of my maintanence routine.
 
what is a reason not to just run the efluent off of the top line. I can't get a constant drip out of the top line unless I run it a lot more than the recomended 3-5 drips a min. It continues to stop dripping. Also the other day when it stoped I opened it to almost full and nothing came out so i sucked on the line a little to get it going(like starting a siphon) and when I let off the water got sucked back up the line into the reactor,and about 2 min later the line finally started to drip.should I just go with the top line as I have seen sugested many times, And what are the pro's and con's in doing so.
 
The Korallin design for optimization of CO2 is made such that any potential accumulation of gas CO2 in top of the reactor is suctioned back by the recirculating pump (On Top) and send back to the bottom of the reactor for another "pass" trough the media.
This has the advantage of making most of the CO2 utilization but the disadvantage that if too much gas (other than just bubbles) is accumulated on top of the reactor, the pump will loose its priming.
To prevent too much accumulation the second drip line from the top is supposed to be able to vent any excess gas accumulation. It is set at a small drip (basically a small artificial leak). The drip is small so there is difficulty for liquid to pass thru but if gas gets accumulated, the gas will easily vent. Now having said that if the feed of the reactor (pump, return, etc) is what keeps the top line drip going and it it has a very low pressure the suction of the recirculation pump will be higher those sucking in air instead of pushing water or gas out. This is the reason why seems to be better to feed the reactor with a good powerhead rather than gravity or a small aqualifter pump.
The advantage of using only the top line is the easy of setup and the gained stability but the disadvantage is a bit higher CO2 consumption and the potential of more CO2 passing to your aquarium. To minimize this effect the effluent drip line shall not to be submerged so if any CO2 passes in gas form it is not bubbled in the tank water and vented to the surounding area which shall have good ventilation.
 
so is there any negative effects other than excess Co2, running the top efluent drip line at say 20-30 drips a min rather than the 2-3 to keep the line dripping or does this stop the recirculation making it pointless to do. I am using the aqualifter and will pobably switch to the maxi-jet in the future. The reactor is holding the levels in the tank, It is more of a anoyance having to play with that line 2-3 times a day when it stops dripping.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6962024#post6962024 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tybox
so is there any negative effects other than excess Co2, running the top efluent drip line at say 20-30 drips a min rather than the 2-3 to keep the line dripping or does this stop the recirculation making it pointless to do. I am using the aqualifter and will pobably switch to the maxi-jet in the future. The reactor is holding the levels in the tank, It is more of a anoyance having to play with that line 2-3 times a day when it stops dripping.
Click to expand...
No it will not stop recirculation but excess CO2 may lower the PH of the tank more than usual. By the way, you so not need to keep adjusting that line, just let it dripping at about 5 to 10 / min, if it stop let it be even if liquid does not come out gas will.
 
so you don't need to keep a constant drip out of the 2nd line. If the line stops dripping liquid it will still be realeasing gas. the 2-3 drips is sort of like a guage of how open the line should be. The only concern I have with this is that the line seemed to be sucking in rather than pushing out when liquid is not coming out of the line. will the pressure eventually build and cause a push rather than a pull, or should I go get a maxi-jet for more pressure.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6962280#post6962280 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tybox
so you don't need to keep a constant drip out of the 2nd line. If the line stops dripping liquid it will still be realeasing gas. the 2-3 drips is sort of like a guage of how open the line should be. The only concern I have with this is that the line seemed to be sucking in rather than pushing out when liquid is not coming out of the line. will the pressure eventually build and cause a push rather than a pull, or should I go get a maxi-jet for more pressure.
Click to expand...
Right the small amount of effluent trough the top line is just to indicate that there is passage and if CO2 tands to accumulate it will have a place to go. Note that accumulation of CO2 should not be considered normal and it might be an indication that the CO2 Bubble Rate is higher than it should be.

Sucking air when opening the valve in the top of the reactor could be indication that either the feed to the reactor is insuficient to replace the required effluent or that the media Ior the filter at the bottom) is getting plugged or both.
Plugging media in an upflow reactor like the Korallin is relativelly rare so in your case the aqualifter may not be able to provide as much flow to replace the effluent thus the recirculating pump suction is creating some vaccum in the top of the reactor area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Dr. Reef
Affordable Aquaria by Dr. Reefs Black Friday Sale
Replies
0
Views
184
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
XMAS Sale @ Dr. Reef's
Replies
0
Views
231
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef's XMAS Sale
Replies
0
Views
455
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
153
SFMAquariums
S
Dr. Reef
Valentines Sale @ Dr. Reef's
Replies
0
Views
174
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
Back
Top