Calcium Reactor pH Upper Limit Shut-off?

[Spar]

My Calcium Reactor must have gotten clogged up somehow over night because no water was coming out anymore. Although easy to get back going again, the problem is that the co2 remained on due to this. The pH is reading 7.5 right now in the effluent left over from before it stopped, so the controller is telling the co2 to remain on until the pH hits 6.3 again.

I am looking for ideas on how to shut off the co2 if pH hits an upper limit. I am using a Milwaukee Controller right now that only has the lower limit. But I also have a Pinpoint controller that has both an upper and lower point. Somehow using this function?

I am looking for other ideas as well!

 

[lotr clown]

Well I only see one solution to this problem and that is to have the probe inside the reactor like the one I have. The other possibility is if the pinpoint can do what you would like to happen. Basically you want the controller to shut off if it goes over a certain pH, but work like normal if it doesn't. I've never heard of a controller that can do that for pH. Aquacontroller could possibly do that, but I've never tried.

 

[lotr clown]

The reason I said possibly, because it could be giving conflicting commands?

 

[DaveJ]

Excuse my ignorance as I am learning about these as I go and from others.. but unless you have a two way controller to turn off the solenoid if the ph within the reactor gets above a certain range I dont know how you can do what you want to do. The probe on your milwaukee is in an output well correct?? So it turns off when the pH gets below a certain point. Since your reactor wasn't giving any output, it remained on. What I am puzzled about is that if the CO2 was left on, shouldnt your pH have crashed in the reactor itself?? I thought the CO2 reduced the pH level to induce the breakdown of the media.

Or am I totally missing something??

 

[FISH-MAN]

So why not just open the valve and catch the water from the reactor in a bucket and let it run untill the ph levels in the reactor get back to the right level and just let it drip back into the tank when it does?

 

[Spar]

@DaveJ wrote:

I have the effluent dripping into a plastic cup (with a hole drilled about 1" up so the entire cup doesnt have to fill. The Milwaukee pH meter is in that cup measuring the effluent. If the dripping stops then the pH gradually rises in the cup (i.e. today it was at 7.5 when I noticed the flow had stopped). This means that the Milwaukee Controller assumes that the co2 needs to continue pumping to bring the pH back down to 6.3.

What does happen eventually is the Calcium Reactor fills so much up with co2 (lots of pressure build up) that the water in the chamber starts to backflow through the system, fighting the pressure from the pump. I have had it a couple times completely drain the reactor.

 

[Spar]

@FISH-MAN wrote:

that is what I ultimately did. drained and then let re-fill and use that water. just a task that I would like to avoid in the future. plus, it wastes a lot of media by dissolving too much.

lesson learned though. my tank got real cloudy because of the dissolved coral in the chamber. should have let run in a bucket after as well for a few minutes.

 

[FISH-MAN]

What caused it to clog up in the first place ???

 

[DaveJ]

@Spar wrote:

I have the effluent dripping into a plastic cup (with a hole drilled about 1" up so the entire cup doesnt have to fill. The Milwaukee pH meter is in that cup measuring the effluent. If the dripping stops then the pH gradually rises in the cup (i.e. today it was at 7.5 when I noticed the flow had stopped). This means that the Milwaukee Controller assumes that the co2 needs to continue pumping to bring the pH back down to 6.3.

What does happen eventually is the Calcium Reactor fills so much up with co2 (lots of pressure build up) that the water in the chamber starts to backflow through the system, fighting the pressure from the pump. I have had it a couple times completely drain the reactor."]

Well I'm going to watch this thread to see what the other folks experienced with reactors will say. You might consider a larger output valve and hose to avoid the clogging though.

 

[Spar]

@FISH-MAN wrote:

appeared to be salt/calcium-carbonate build-up in the output tubing. I pulled it off and tried to blow through it but couldn't. then took a few deeper breathes and finally got it to push through whatever was blocking it up.

It stopped again about an hour ago, so I will just need to replace the tubing to be safe tomorrow. i just use the blue flex air-line tubing.

good idea. I will go to 1/4" tubing instead maybe.

 

[DaveJ]

@Spar wrote:

appeared to be salt/calcium-carbonate build-up in the output tubing. I pulled it off and tried to blow through it but couldn't. then took a few deeper breathes and finally got it to push through whatever was blocking it up.

It stopped again about an hour ago, so I will just need to replace the tubing to be safe tomorrow. i just use the blue flex air-line tubing.

good idea. I will go to 1/4" tubing instead maybe."]

How often do you service things?? A larger output in combination with a weekly or monthly soaking in vinegar should take care of the clogging.

 

[Laser]

I have had the same problems with my reactor but it is due to my negligence in cleaning the tubing for the reactor. I now just buy large amounts of tubing and replace every 2 months. I too use a Milwaukee to regulate the pH low end. I then use a aquacontroller pH probe in my effluent cup as well. I have my CO2 cylinoid plugged into the aqaucontroller and have upper limit set to shut off power to entire reactor when pH goes above 7.2. This can all be avoided with better cleanings but I am too lazy many times so just use this method to avoid CO2 fill in the reactor when pump or tubing gets clogged up. HTH