My calcium reactor LOG. how is it...

[carpus]

Hi, this is my calcium reactor log, its been running for a day. and it seems stabilized. What do you think?


A= Time/Date
B= Effluent PH
C= Effluent KH
D= Tank PH
E= Tank KH
F= Co2 drops
G= Effluent drops

A-----B--C--D--E--F--G
6:26
7/02 7.6 13 7.6 08 08 35

9:54
7/02 7.2 28 7.6 08 16 37

7:13
7/03 7.0 33 --- -- 15 39

12:16
7/03 6.8 37 --- -- 14 39

2:30
7/03 6.8 37 7.6 07 14 36

9:20
7/03 6.8 39 7.6 07 14 33

Anything I should tweak/change?
Whats the optimal tank PH and KH
THANKS

 

[marcrothschild]

Tank KH should be 7-9, pH 7.9-8.3
dont waste your test kit on reactor effluent. Test your tanks KH daily @ the same time, If it is dropping, run the reactor harder ( more CO2 and effluent) if it is raising above NSW levels do the opposite.
I dont think 14 BPM of CO2 will dissolve enough media for a well stocked 100g, but only daily testing will tell. If you are using Aragonite media, 6.8 is OK, but for limestone shoot for 6.3-6.5
In my tank I use about 120 BPM CO2, and an effluent rate of around 80ml/min for a pH of 6.3-6.5 in the reactor. I have the CO2 on 12 hrs a day...my pH is 7.8-8.0
It will take a week of daily testing to see what your system demands are

 

[carpus]

thanks. i just start set the reactor up and was following dragonslayers advice on how to find the reactor settings. I think i'll keep raising the co2 drops in mind and will do so if my tank KH continues to drop.

 

[orientalexpress]

just a reminder ,if u raise the co2 ,u have to raise the effluent also.gl

 

[carpus]

Thanks, i just raised the co2 to 20 BPM and the effluent to around 50 DPM

I'm starting to get hte hang of it now, but just a few questions

(1) if the KH of the effluent is above 25, how does the tank maintain a KH of 8
(2) if the PH of the effluent is around 6, how does the tank maintain a PH of 7-8
(3) is it alright to you KENT's superbuffer. it keeps the PH and KH of t he tank stable.

THANKS

 

[marcrothschild]

You should not need to add buffer to a system with a CR, but I guess you can use it untill you figure the reactor out.
As for questions 1 & 3, the raector is only putting a small %age of your total volume per hr. Dont sweat pH too much if Ca, Mg, KH are in line. I think ther KH of the reactor effluent should be much higher than 25, but like I said in my 1st post, save your test kit and wory about the tanks KH not the reactors. Just make sure the reactors pH is 6.3-6.5 regardless of effluent rate