Expectations with a Calcium Reactor?

CastAway · Apr 22, 2014

New tank, forty days in. I set the calcium reactor up right from the beginning, albeit with a minimum feed/effluent rate, about 120ml per hour.

Temp = 79
Sg = 1.026
pH = 8.2
dKH = 7.8
Ca = 410
Mag = 1520

In my ignorance, I expected a higher dKH and not so much Mag. Reactor is Korallin, media is CaribSea ARM, Effulent pH = 6.4.

Any advice?
For folks who run calcium reactors, does one need to use kalk as well, perhaps in the top off, to keep dKH up?

Be gentle.

CastAway · Apr 23, 2014

I should add, I have never calibrated the pH probe, and suspect I should before I get twisted around the axle chasing numbers.....

Alabamareef · Apr 23, 2014

The numbers you have posted are great. How are you controlling your C02? What type regulator are you using? Do you have a ph probe mounted on the reactor. Remember the calibration fluid for the ph probe inside the reactor is different than your tank. Should be on the low side calibration 4.01 and the high side 7.01. The calibration for your tank probe will be 7.01 low side to 10.01 high side. I know lots of folks run the reactor without a ph probe inside but myself and most of my friends do use a probe inside the reactor.

lakeviewink · Apr 23, 2014

Your Ca and dKh look pretty balanced. You just need to keep an eye on your rate of consumption now.
You won't need any kalkwasser unless your demand surpasses your korallin's capabilities which would mean you have a lot of calcium consuming stonies, clams, coralline algae, etc.
your mag may be on the high side because of your salt mix unless you are supplementing some other way.
I have a Korallin CaRx on my system and it keeps up with 95% acros in a 200g but I also added another reaction chamber DIY style.
Good luckâ€¦

Alabamareef · Apr 23, 2014

Here are my numbers FYI:
CaR ph 6.45
Effluent gtts/min 40ml
Alk 8.0
Ca 400
Mg 1320, supplementing to get this in the 1400 range
K 420

I do have a few friends that run there effluent wide open and use a controller to turn off the solenoid switch at their desired ph, somewhere around 6.9. Advantage to this is the effluent line does not get stopped up. I've done all the mods to my reactor, same as yours, and still have to make adjustments every third day. Seems the effluent always gets stopped up. Some might say it's because I run my ph to low and the sediment is stopping up the line but thats just not the case. I've ran it at all levels and still have this issue. So far the best results I've had are by using a pinch valve to control the gtts/min of effluent. I am considering running the effluent faster and upping my CaR ph. Should have the same results and maybe combat the issue of the line stopping up.
Back to the solenoid switch. My thought is that it's on the regulator as a safety/backup. I had a reef fanatic regulator that I could not regulate to save my life. I wanted to be able to control the drops per min, or gtts/min, with my bubble counter and use the solenoid as a backup. So I bought a green leaf aquariums SUPREME CO2 REGULATOR, Supreme CO2 Regulator | Green Leaf Aquariums expensive but so far its worked great. I set the bubble counter and thats what it stays at. In the long run it's worth the cash. So now I use the solenoid as a safety and my apex as a second backup.

Alabamareef · Apr 23, 2014

Lakeviewink, gotta love those sticks, PM me a phot. I love those acros.

lakeviewink · Apr 23, 2014

Also, since the Korallin is a pressurized reactor you can run much less Co2 and still keep pH <6.7 which is what ARM coarse dissolves at. I get away with 6 bubbles a min at the time being at keep my pH ~6.6.

I don't know what happened to my previous version of this post?? Stinkin Tapatalkâ€¦!?

CastAway · Apr 23, 2014

I'm using the American marine Pinpoint pH controller, and a probe mounted into the reactor through the lid. I'm not sure on the make of the regulator, but I can say that the fine adjustment valve is almost useless - very tough to get the bubble rate I want in the counter.

Using Red Sea Coral Pro salt, but still think the mag is a little high. Suspect my reagents now....

Thanks for all the info!