opinions calcium media

[lceman225]

I've been using A.R.M fine calcium media for a while and seems like it needs a lower PH (6.60-6.65) to disolve. Does anyone have an opinion on which brand they have had success with a slightly higher PH?

 

[Rick]

Have you measured the alkalinity of the effluent coming out of the reactor? You may have the ph lower than you need. If the effluent if higher than 30 dkh, you can lower the ph of the effluent slightly. If it is around 30 dkh it is right on the mark. I do use a secondary chamber because of the high use of calcium in the tank.I have been using ARM for 7 years it works very well for me.

 

[lceman225]

yea, i tested the efluent the other day and was getting 24-25 dkh on my GEO 618. my tank is reading 8-9 dkh and is pretty stable. but my drip rate is almost a constant feed. I'm having to drip kalk (~1g/day) to help boost my tank's PH. I also calibrated my PH meter the other day.

 

[DaveJ]

The ARM fine is the one that dissolves at a higher pH. If you use something like the GenX media, it requires a lower pH. I haven't heard of a media that dissolves with a higher pH than the ARM fine.

 

[washingtond]

I have always used ARM in a GEO 618 and have never had any problems. I have a pH monitor set @ 6.5 to shut off the CO2 to prevent media melt down.

I have used both the fine and course and fine the difference being the fine last about six months and the course just over nine months with the way we have it set.

 

[Rick]

If you are needing a drip rate that fast to keep up with your alkalinity and calcium use, you might need to get a second chamber. Because of room I use a Phosban reactor filled with media and run the effluent from the calcium reactor into it. After it leaves that chamber the effluent has a dkh of 40 and the Ph is a little over 7.

 

[lceman225]

thanks for the info guys. I'm going to clean out my reactor this weekend and fill it up with some new ARM coarse. It could be that the recirc pump is a bit clogged causing the media to dissolve slower?

 

[Rick]

@lceman225 wrote:

That also can happen if the Ph is low enough to turn the media to mush, it does not allow for good flow through the media. I have a sponge that I need to replace every 3-4 times and clean it out often to keep good flow though it.

 

[washingtond]

@lceman225 wrote:

Be careful when cleaning the pump on your reactor as it has a ceramic shaft that will break real easy and hard to find a replacement.

 

[ms71171]

@washingtond wrote:

Be careful when cleaning the pump on your reactor as it has a ceramic shaft that will break real easy and hard to find a replacement."]

Yeah, I discovered mine was broken today :?

 

[BigJay]

@Rick wrote:

I set my reactor effluent to a small but steady stream to keep the drip rate from collapsing again and again. I run my PH at 6.6-6.7. Do I need to run a second chamber?

 

[Rick]

@BigJay wrote:

I set my reactor effluent to a small but steady stream to keep the drip rate from collapsing again and again. I run my PH at 6.6-6.7. Do I need to run a second chamber?"]

It depends. At that fast a rate what is the alkalinity of the effluent? And does it keep up with the needs on the tank? And do you feel that you have a problem with low PH that may be associated with that much low level PH effluent entering the system from the calcium reactor?

 

[BigJay]

@Rick wrote:

I set my reactor effluent to a small but steady stream to keep the drip rate from collapsing again and again. I run my PH at 6.6-6.7. Do I need to run a second chamber?"]

It depends. At that fast a rate what is the alkalinity of the effluent? And does it keep up with the needs on the tank? And do you feel that you have a problem with low PH that may be associated with that much low level PH effluent entering the system from the calcium reactor?"]

1. Alk of the effluent is in the low to mid 20's.

2. I'm still dialing the system in now, the whole tank appears to be holding at around 11DKH.

3. I have no idea. I topoff with kalk, so the tank PH sits between 8 and 8.1. If I can achieve 8.2-8.3 with a second chamber, I'll definitely look into it. I've always thought that no tank with dual overflows and a decent skimmer can keep a significant amount of CO2 in the water for long.

Are there any other drawbacks that I'm unaware of to using a second chamber?

 

[Rick]

No drawbacks with a second chamber.
I am sure if you slow the effluent slightly your dkh would increase out of the reactor and the PH of it would go up slightly. You would be far better off in every respect. I have flow at very steady heavy drip, but not a steady flow. That fast through the reactor give less time to melt the media in the reactor, thus the low alkalinity of the effluent. Even adding a second chamber with the flow that fast you would not get the benefits.

 

[BigJay]

@Rick wrote:

How do you keep the drip rate from crashing?

I'll setup a heavy drip rate, then look at it a day later and nothing is coming out. I haven't had any flow problems at all with the current effluent stream.

 

[Rick]

My drip rate stays very constant once I have it set. Do you have small pump feeding the reactor? Or is it gravity fed? I believe in the beginning I had a problem with drip rate also. My reactor had a valve that adjusted the flow of water into the reactor. I now leave that valve open and put a valve on the outlet side line to adjust the flow after the reactor and that is what made it work better for me.

 

[BigJay]

The reactor is fed from a manifold plumbed from my main return pump. It should have plenty of pressure.

 

[Rick]

How do you regulate the effluent flow coming out of the reactor?

 

[BigJay]

@Rick wrote:

There's a JG valve at the end, the kind you might find on an RO/DI unit It's not a very good one though, I've ordered one of these to replace it. Hopefully it works out better.

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I also plan to replace the flexible tubing I'm using now with the rigid stuff, so that kinks in the line won't cause the effluent rate to change.

DKH is holding steady between 10 and 11, with an effluent DKH of 23.