Calcium Reactor Question

[JHawk82]

My calcium reactor doesnt not have a place to put a ph probe in the reactor so, I have the effluent dripping into a clear plastic cup with two holes drilled into it. The water level is about an inch inside the cup so I can get a ph reading from the ac jr. I just put the reactor on line so I have the effluent dripping about 30 drops a min. Since there isnt a very high turnover rate of effluent inside the cup will the ph rise? My refugium light does get light in the cup which could cause a rise in ph. I guess my question is will the ph inside my reactor be significantly different from the cup that has the effluent dripping because the turnover rate inside the cup cant be very much because I am only dripping 30 drops a minute?

Thanks

 

[kthomas]

@JHawk82 wrote:

You really need a "steady stream" not drops for your reactor to be effective.

I highly recommend you get one of these
http://www.myreefcreations.com/pH-Probe-holder-Tee

You do have two pH probes right? You need one testing the effluent pH and another to maintain the tank pH. You really don't have to have two ... but its nice to have.

As far as the pH is concerned on your tank. I wouldn't worry about it as long as your Ca, Alk, and Mg are in sync consistantly. Your Alk and Ca are what you should be testing to get dialed in. Once you do that maintain your Mg. I used Zeovit's Magnesium in 10% of my reactor to keep my Mg leveled off once I got it to where I wanted it.

 

[JHawk82]

I am pretty sure I am not supposed to have a steady stream when I first put the reactor online. Maybe once I get it dialed in, but not at first. I like that ph tee.

 

[BigJay]

I think he was trying to say that It's easier to control the Ph of the effluent with a controller than it is to control the number of effluent drops.

 

[kthomas]

@JHawk82 wrote:

If you read these two articles it will help explain things:

http://www.melevsreef.com/calcium_reactor.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php

If you notice the picture from Marc's(Melev) page. It shows a steady stream of effluent into the cup and its not just dripping. You want about 40-60mL of fluid coming out of the reactor.

 

[JHawk82]

@kthomas wrote:

If you read these two articles it will help explain things:

http://www.melevsreef.com/calcium_reactor.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php

If you notice the picture from Marc's(Melev) page. It shows a steady stream of effluent into the cup and its not just dripping. You want about 40-60mL of fluid coming out of the reactor."]


Thanks, what should the effluent Alk be?

 

[kthomas]

@JHawk82 wrote:

This is what you need to determine. What I did was got a steady flow. Waited 24 hours tested the ALK, if it was 8 and I wanted it around 10 then I increased the bubble count a little, increased the effluent. My pH from the effluent would run about 7-7.5. my Alk on my effluent ended up being around 28-30 dkH.

If you increase your coral or as your coral grows your reactor will need to be re-dialed in. It may take 2 weeks to get it where it needs to be.

 

[melev]

The effluent of my reactor tends to be around 19 dKH. Others have stated they had theirs closer to 30 dKH, but they run it with drips where I run it with a stream. A stream of effluent tends to stay a stream, while drips can slow down or even cease.

It is just a different way of doing the same thing, like usual in this hobby.

 

[bimmerzs]

The problem with a stream is that you have to increase the amount of CO2 in order to burn the media. Many different way's to peel an orange however I have had success with effluent at 60 drips per minute and tweaking C02 downward unti I get 20-30dKH.

Cheers,

 

[Servo]

This will solve all problems if your up to it!

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-03/diy/index.php

 

[BigJay]

Thanks for posting this kthomas, I just placed an order for one. I plan on removing the effluent cup that I use now, and put the effuent drip in my sump's bubble trap to gas off more excess CO2. My drain is a couple of inches below the surface of the trap, and plenty of air bubbles rush to the surface from there. If I'm lucky this will raise my PH by about .1 or so.

@kthomas wrote:

You really need a "steady stream" not drops for your reactor to be effective.

I highly recommend you get one of these
http://www.myreefcreations.com/pH-Probe-holder-Tee

You do have two pH probes right? You need one testing the effluent pH and another to maintain the tank pH. You really don't have to have two ... but its nice to have.

As far as the pH is concerned on your tank. I wouldn't worry about it as long as your Ca, Alk, and Mg are in sync consistantly. Your Alk and Ca are what you should be testing to get dialed in. Once you do that maintain your Mg. I used Zeovit's Magnesium in 10% of my reactor to keep my Mg leveled off once I got it to where I wanted it."]

 

[JHawk82]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am still tweaking it. My alk started to rise in the tank so I lowered my bubble count down on to 1 drip every 3-4 seconds, and my effluent is dripping at 1 per second. My levels last night were ph 8.2 430 Calc, 11.2 alk, 1420 Mag. Can my calcium levels be that high along with my alk at 11.2 or do I need to try a different test? I am using all Salifert test kits. How do I test the effluent's dkh level using the salifert kit when the highest level on the kit is lower than my dkh? Once again thanks for the help.

 

[DaveJ]

@JHawk82 wrote:

I think those numbers are fine, assuming you are okay with the higher dkh level. That is probably what is keeping your pH up around 8.2, but its fine so long as you don't push it up too much more. I prefer a 9.5 - 10dkh myself. The other numbers are golden though.

Where is your effluent dripping? Are you dropping it into the skimmer chamber of the sump? If not, you might give that a shot over your skimmer intake. People do that so the effluent runs through the skimmer and disperses the CO2 a little more. It might bump your pH up a bit.

 

[JHawk82]

Right now the effluent is dripping into the bubble trap, but I am eventually going to drip the effluent in the skimmer section.

 

[JHawk82]

Well.....I am still trying to get this reactor going correctly but I am having some problems. The Alk in my tank has risen to 14!!! I have the bubble counter at 12 drops/min and the effluent dripping at about 60 drips/min. I tried to test the effluent alk with a Salifert test kit and got a reading over 32dkh. I have no idea how high the effluent alk really is because I did a half test and the color never changed. I just dont understand how the alk could be that high and the ph in the reactor never drops below 6.7??? I am using ARM media. This is frustrating!!

 

[kthomas]

I used ARM media and the lowest I let my pH go in the reactor was 7. Does it look like part of the media is turning to mush? If so your pH is too low and is melting. Sounds like to me your media is breaking down more than it should. Lower your bubble count and open up your effluent rate more. Wait 24 hours and test again.

 

[JHawk82]

Ok, I already lowered my bubble count. I cant tell that any of the media is turning to mush but I will look closer and let you know. Kthomas, what was the Alk of your effluent when the ph was at 7 in the reactor?

 

[JHawk82]

Is there a way to manipulate the Salifert Alk test kit to get a reading higher that 32dkh?

 

[kthomas]

@JHawk82 wrote:

It varies on the amount of coral you have in your tank as to what your calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium need is. That's why it takes almost two weeks to get it dialed in. Thats with changes every 24 hours. I have a predominantly large amount of sps and lps coral in my tank. Now that I am dosing I am using 120mL of Ca and Alk every day for my 120g water volume (90g + 30g sump)

my Alk was 25-30 dkH