Korallin Calcium Reactor
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
jdieck
New member
I am a bit concerned about the effect of the reactor in your tnak alkalinity (7.99) so let's try to just reduce the effluent and run it at 6.5 TO do so change the settings of the controller if necesary for a maximum of 6.6 (Open CO2 at 6.6 and close at 6.4). Reduce the effluent rate to 20 ml/min and keep the same bubble rate.
The PH in the effluent shall drop due to the reduction in effluent but the dKh content in it shall increase.
jdieck
New member
Sorry I meant "tank PH (7.99)" not "tank alkalinity (7.99)".
Glad you are really paying attention
Lets see how the new settings do, I expect that by lowering the effluent flow and it's PH we will get higher dKh in the effluent resulting in better addition (so the tank alkalinity do not drop) and better retention time which will favor better use of the CO2 potentially reducing the PH lowering effect in the main tank.
Rightodoing the chamge now...will report in next 24hrs...again thanks for all ur help and keeping up with me<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14480009#post14480009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdieck
Sorry I meant "tank PH (7.99)" not "tank alkalinity (7.99)".
Glad you are really paying attention
Lets see how the new settings do, I expect that by lowering the effluent flow and it's PH we will get higher dKh in the effluent resulting in better addition (so the tank alkalinity do not drop) and better retention time which will favor better use of the CO2 potentially reducing the PH lowering effect in the main tank.
Hi jdieck...here I am with day 3 readings after reducing the effluent to 20ml and keeping the co2 at the same rate:
Tank dKH 8 (dropped from 9 dkH a day earlier), Tank pH 8.1 (up by 0.11)
Co2 BPM =28 to 30, Effluent = 20ml, 20dKH (increased by 4 dKH), pH down to 6.6 (down from 6.7).
I think we are making headway but not there yet !!
Tank dKH 8 (dropped from 9 dkH a day earlier), Tank pH 8.1 (up by 0.11)
Co2 BPM =28 to 30, Effluent = 20ml, 20dKH (increased by 4 dKH), pH down to 6.6 (down from 6.7).
I think we are making headway but not there yet !!
jdieck
New member
Getting there. We need to increase the alkalinity output. As we still have more room for lower reactor PH let's lower the reactor PH a bit more. change the controller set point to 6.5, increase the effluent to 25 ml/min and leave the bubble rate at 28 to 30 bpm, if after 4 hours the PH has not dropped to 6.5 then increase the bubble rate to 35. See how it goes.
If the alkalinity drops again (sy to 7) we will make a manual adjustment to increase it before the next round.
jdieck
New member
Yes, with the controller at 6.6 it shall operate between 6.4 and 6.6 so it has been cycling on and off? If so then we do not have much room to lower the PH further. We will have to increase the effluent rate back to 30 ml/min.
So if it has been cycling between 6.4 and 6.6 then leave the controller as is, increase the effluent back to 30 ml/min and increase the bubble rate to 35 bpm. Insure that the controller cycles on and off (That at certain times reaches 6.4)
Keep an eye on your tank PH.
Not looking good.....
(
When I changed the Effleunt to 30ml/min at the CO2 to 35BPM, the effluent pH went upto 6.7. I let it run for another 6 hrs or so before cutting it back to 25ml/min. I tokk the reading before making the change and the effluent dKH lowered to 17 and Tank dKH was stable at 8. I however noticed that the tank pH was 0.5 lower than it normally is during that time of the day.
I cut back the effluent to 25ml/min keeping the co2 at 35BPM...the reactor has been in this mode for the last 8 hrs and here are the readings....
Tank pH 7.91 (dropped from 8.1 a day earlier), Tank dKH stable at 8
Effluent pH is 6.6 and dKH 20.
BTW Co2 has been ON all this time and I havent seen the cotroller goingon and off. The SET point is 6.5 (ON at 6.6 and OFF 6.4)
Should we try to increase the tanks pH Manually now but it will also increase alkalinity.
(When I changed the Effleunt to 30ml/min at the CO2 to 35BPM, the effluent pH went upto 6.7. I let it run for another 6 hrs or so before cutting it back to 25ml/min. I tokk the reading before making the change and the effluent dKH lowered to 17 and Tank dKH was stable at 8. I however noticed that the tank pH was 0.5 lower than it normally is during that time of the day.
I cut back the effluent to 25ml/min keeping the co2 at 35BPM...the reactor has been in this mode for the last 8 hrs and here are the readings....
Tank pH 7.91 (dropped from 8.1 a day earlier), Tank dKH stable at 8
Effluent pH is 6.6 and dKH 20.
BTW Co2 has been ON all this time and I havent seen the cotroller goingon and off. The SET point is 6.5 (ON at 6.6 and OFF 6.4)
Should we try to increase the tanks pH Manually now but it will also increase alkalinity.
jdieck
New member
Unfortunately, there is no way to increase the tank PH manually as it is an issue with CO2 not having enough time to vent off the water column.
Although the reactor compunds to the problem it seems there might be an issue of already some high levels of CO2 in the surouding air.
There are several things that can be done to help the situation.
a) Use limewater for top off specially during lights off: This has two effects regarding PH, direct increase of the PH as it uses CO2 from the water column after the addition to turn the carbonate into bicarbonate thus counteracting the carbon dioxide released by the effluent when turning the carbonic acid into bicarbonate. The second effect is that it reduces the required addition from the calcium reactor thus helping reduce it's impact.
b) Improve aeration with fresh air: Although fresh air from the outside contains about 350 ppm of CO2, inside air specially in newer better sealed houses, it may contain 1000 ppm or more so:
+ Whenever possible hose air from the outside for the skimmer air intake.
+ Aerate the house once in a while by opening a couple of windws specially in the area around the tank and sump.
+ Insure an extractor is turned on when cooking
+ insure the vents of any gas heaters (Water heater, furnace, clothes dryer etc.) are functioning properly.
c) In extreme cases of inside pollution consider the installation and use of a heat recovery ventilation system (HRU) to exchange the house air for fresh air while recovering any heat that may be vented on the exaust air.
d) Use a second chamber in the calcium reactor: This will help improve the conversion of carbonic accid to bicarbonate. It usually increases the effluent PH by about 0.05 PH units. The more bicarbonate and the less carbonic acid in the effluent the less CO2 will be released by the effluent in the water column.
Note that some may recommend aerating the effluent with an airstone before dripping it in the aquarium. This operation increases the PH of the effluent by accelerating the conversion from acid to bicarbonate but in my tests I have found it to be at the expense of precipitating some of the alkalinity and calcium in the effluent thus defying the purpose of addition.
e) Insure the effluent is dripped into an area were the flow is very turbulent, ideally very close to the suction of the skimmer pump, this way most of the effluent will be taken into the skimmer where there will be excellent gas exchange.
Regarding settings let's try running a bit less effluent (say 20 ml/min and lower the buble rate to 30). We will be trying to increase the alkalinity in the effluent (25 to 30) by targeting 6.5 but using less effluent.
Although the reactor compunds to the problem it seems there might be an issue of already some high levels of CO2 in the surouding air.
There are several things that can be done to help the situation.
a) Use limewater for top off specially during lights off: This has two effects regarding PH, direct increase of the PH as it uses CO2 from the water column after the addition to turn the carbonate into bicarbonate thus counteracting the carbon dioxide released by the effluent when turning the carbonic acid into bicarbonate. The second effect is that it reduces the required addition from the calcium reactor thus helping reduce it's impact.
b) Improve aeration with fresh air: Although fresh air from the outside contains about 350 ppm of CO2, inside air specially in newer better sealed houses, it may contain 1000 ppm or more so:
+ Whenever possible hose air from the outside for the skimmer air intake.
+ Aerate the house once in a while by opening a couple of windws specially in the area around the tank and sump.
+ Insure an extractor is turned on when cooking
+ insure the vents of any gas heaters (Water heater, furnace, clothes dryer etc.) are functioning properly.
c) In extreme cases of inside pollution consider the installation and use of a heat recovery ventilation system (HRU) to exchange the house air for fresh air while recovering any heat that may be vented on the exaust air.
d) Use a second chamber in the calcium reactor: This will help improve the conversion of carbonic accid to bicarbonate. It usually increases the effluent PH by about 0.05 PH units. The more bicarbonate and the less carbonic acid in the effluent the less CO2 will be released by the effluent in the water column.
Note that some may recommend aerating the effluent with an airstone before dripping it in the aquarium. This operation increases the PH of the effluent by accelerating the conversion from acid to bicarbonate but in my tests I have found it to be at the expense of precipitating some of the alkalinity and calcium in the effluent thus defying the purpose of addition.
e) Insure the effluent is dripped into an area were the flow is very turbulent, ideally very close to the suction of the skimmer pump, this way most of the effluent will be taken into the skimmer where there will be excellent gas exchange.
Regarding settings let's try running a bit less effluent (say 20 ml/min and lower the buble rate to 30). We will be trying to increase the alkalinity in the effluent (25 to 30) by targeting 6.5 but using less effluent.
