[untamed]

Ca levels may not have risen....but have they fallen? If your Ca (and Alk) level hasn't moved then your reactor may be perfectly adjusted to the Ca/Alk demand that you happen to have. It isn't suppose to raise those levels..it is supposed to maintain them at a stable point.

Anyway...pay more attention to Alk level than Ca level. The Alk level moves more quickly and will give you a better reading on whether your reactor is keeping up or not.

With the reactor, you control how fast water moves through it and how much CO2 is added. Each reactor is different, but you generally don't want too much water or too much CO2. You can increase the output by increasing the flow or CO2...but only to a point. Too much CO2 turns your media to mush and too much flow actually reduces the output.

You can measure the output of the reactor by doing an Alk measurement on the output. (Use half the normal sample size and multiply your answer by 2 so you don't use up all your test kit reagent).

How much your reactor is contributing is a measure of Alk delivered per minute. If your tank is at 8dkh, then getting 20 dkh at 50ml/min is actually contributing more than a setting of 15 dkh at 80ml/min.

I'm sure that has confused the ^&*( out of you!