Reactor assembled. Pic Now running.

[ldzielak]

I'm using the ARM media. I have it in a 6" tube and I have about 8 inches of media. Because I had a sponge in the bottom at one point, I had some very fine sediment, maybe it's still in there and this is what is continuing to cause the problem. I'm just too lazy to change the media to test this theory. I still think I have an access of CO2 maybe.

Lee

[StirCrazy]

IMHO a "upflow" is not a good idea.. there have been several threads about people who have tried that and they ends up with a tank that always has a slight haze in the water. then benifit of a down flow is the bed remains tight and acts as a particulat filter whare as a in a upflow it woulden't.

I have seen Darrens running and I have also seen Bruce's (which is a copy of Darrens) and niether had any bubbles..

Steve

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I think the bubble build up may have to do with the pH setting and the recirculation flow rate. If you set the pH too high, the media breaks down too quickly and it produces very fine media powder. The media powder will slow down the recirculation flow and allow excess CO2 to build up. I have found that ARM tends to break down to fine powder at a higher pH then the regular medias. With regular media, I usually use a pH of 6.5. With ARM, I usually use a pH of 6.7. ARM with 6.5 is not stable with my reactor and it causes CO2 to buildup. So, I would try either backing down the CO2 setting or put in a bigger pump to increase recirculation flow.

As for the up flow and down flow, I use up flow with no side effects. I get around the up flow side effects by running a second reactor chamber. The second reactor acts like a filter and prevents the most of the fine media from entering the tank.

- Victor.

[ldzielak]

Steve,
I have a second chamber that would act as a filter like Victor said. Now I'm using a Mag 7 for recirc, replaced the Eheim 1048. It should be more than enough flow now. I think the problem comes from my old sponge that eventualy pluged the system with fine particles, that I have never completely removed (should have washed the media last time it was out. I think if I can re-mount my pump, I will try an up flow.

Lee