Calcium reactor output - Question on how you have yours set up

I

Ivan

[About a year ago, I bought a reactor from a guy, and the basic setup has an output that utilizes airline tubing. What I have noticed is the water from the pump filling up the chamber as the crushed coral dissolves. Should I be concerned that the output is not strong enough to counter the water pressure originating from the pump? The pump is a simple Mag 3, so I would not think I am using an overbearing water pump. Should I change the output to reflect a far wider opening (which would obviously eliminate the airline tubing), thereby equaling the water pressure?

Thanks for the advice.]
 
[The entire unit should be filled with water. Does yours normally have a lot of air in the reactor?]
 
[No, normally there is no air in the chamber. It is filled with water. I just didn't know if the slpashing impact of the water coming into the chamber, along with the CO2 aided in the breakdown of the crushed coral.

Now that it appears it is set up correctly, is there a certain rate of breakdown I should expect? Since I've had mine set up (which was anout last March), I can say I have lost about 2" of dissolved coral from a 6" chamber. My alkalinity was testing a little low yesterday, but two teaspoons of soda yesterday brought it back to the normal range.

I've also wondered if the crushed coral I am using is a decent brand (it came with the purchase). The brand is Knop Koralith. I'll see if there is a writeup on the different brands.

Any thoughts on anything else I should look for? Am I being over cautious? Thanks again!]
 
[Well, there are plenty of guys in this club with much more experience than I have with calcium reactors, but these are some of the things I've learned:

The media will appear to be the exact same as originally, but if you were to shake the heck out of the unit, it will suddenly collapse as the media that appeared solid is partly consumed and now brittle. So you could see it collapse a couple of inches all of a sudden after stirring it up greatly.

I was told by LifeReef that you should replace the media annually. So I'm planning to do so. I have been meaning to ask others if they rinse the media before using it, or make any special arrangements once it is refilled before reconnecting it to their tank... I'd love to get some feedback on that.

On my own reactor, I have a piece of blue masking tape to mark how high it was originally, so I can see how much it has come down.

Rick and Ron and Keith will surely have some input.]
 
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