Is your Ca reactor not producing enough

Willito · #1 02-01-2006, 05:25 AM

Is there anyone having problem with their reactor not being able to keep up with calcium demands? What are you doing to meet this demand, adjusting the reactor or just going with additional calcium additives by other means because the reactor is simply not enough . Curious to see if this is a common problem with larger SPS tanks.

Delphinus · #2 02-01-2006, 05:48 AM

Anytime in the past that I've found my levels not at target I would just dial the reactor up. I don't really see how a reactor couldn't be adjusted upwards. About the only thing is a psychological barrier of not wanting to set the CO2 level high enough.

Maybe look at a bigger reactor with more media capacity if you find this to be a recurring problem. Or look at Magnesium levels ..

Chin_Lee · #3 02-01-2006, 06:02 AM

Will
I had that problem with my reactor when I first started out. It has the capacity to be filled with three gallon jars of ARM but initially, I wanted to replace frequently so I had only put one gallon into the reactor. I had the effluent pH close to 6.4 and my alk/cal kept going down. Eventually I had to put three gallons of media in, and kept pH efluent at around 6.7 to maintain my alk/cal. The output is a steady stream out of a 1/4" tube and my bubble count is about 90-100 bph.

bnhreef · #4 02-01-2006, 06:25 AM

Hey Chin,

Are you sure you're only adding 90 -100 bubbles per HOUR of CO2?????

Brad

Chin_Lee · #5 02-01-2006, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnhreef

Hey Chin,

Are you sure you're only adding 90 -100 bubbles per HOUR of CO2?????

Brad

No i'm not adding 90-100 bph. I am adding 90-100 bubbles per minute.

Gools · #6 02-01-2006, 12:02 PM

I find my reactor is keeping my calcium at 425, but my Alk won't go up. Alk stays at around 7, which is fine but I want it up around the 10 mark. Was debating wether to add some extension chambers to make them tall, to hold more media, to see if it would help

Willito · #7 02-02-2006, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chin_Lee

Will
I had that problem with my reactor when I first started out. It has the capacity to be filled with three gallon jars of ARM but initially, I wanted to replace frequently so I had only put one gallon into the reactor. I had the effluent pH close to 6.4 and my alk/cal kept going down. Eventually I had to put three gallons of media in, and kept pH efluent at around 6.7 to maintain my alk/cal. The output is a steady stream out of a 1/4" tube and my bubble count is about 90-100 bph.

I figured after 3 months of running this thing would be stable by now but something is still not right. I measured my effluent and it's at 600ppm Ca. Not bad, but I think the drip rate is the reason why my levels are as low as they are. With a tank full of SPS and the drip rate it's current at, there is just not enought to feed the corals. I will double up of the drops/minute and increase the bubbles a tad and re-test the water in few days. Hope that the solution because I don't want to end up running a kalk reactor.

Delphinus · #8 02-02-2006, 03:09 AM

Will, don't even bother measuring effluent in drips per minute. I have mine at a fairly steady stream. Measure more in ml per minute maybe. I would indeed step up your rate at least 1.5x or even double, and adjust the bubble rate so that the effluent is pH is 6.7, and see where things are at after that.

Chin_Lee · #9 02-02-2006, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willito

I figured after 3 months of running this thing would be stable by now but something is still not right. I measured my effluent and it's at 600ppm Ca. Not bad, but I think the drip rate is the reason why my levels are as low as they are. With a tank full of SPS and the drip rate it's current at, there is just not enought to feed the corals. I will double up of the drops/minute and increase the bubbles a tad and re-test the water in few days. Hope that the solution because I don't want to end up running a kalk reactor.

Will
i just measured my effluent rate at 200 ml/minute. very steady flow - not anywhere near a drip of any rate. hope that helps you out.
BTW i also have the effluent fall into the body of water near my skimmer pump intake. this ensures as much of th co2 is removed and its more oxygen rich before going back into my display tank.

Willito · #10 02-17-2006, 05:20 AM

It's been about 2 weeks now since I've incresed the effluent (to almost a steady stream) and bubble count to see if that would help. I measured the levels 5 days ago and found the hardness has gone up to 7dkh, but calcium is still around 300ppm. Megnesium at 1290ppm. I decided to leave that the way it is and have been adding Seachem Advanced Calcium for 4 consecuitive days. My calcium is now at 400ppm. Today I did a 20% water change (haven't done one in a couple months) in hopes that will boost up the hardness a little more to maybe 8-9dkh and leave the rest to the reactor to do. I think part of my problem was not changing the water often enought. I going to test the water again in a week to see if the levels hold, if notk, I will just have to add a Kalkreactor. SPS are darn calcium hogs.