Calcium Reactor Goes nuts??

[DarthSimon]

It was recommended I start at a higher range and slowly decrease the ph to fine tune...

 

[Diesel]

Not true

Explain

 

[Jamie7907]

Reborn will work at 7.2 and below. 6.5 will work but only in a high demand or undersized reactor ime even then some of it just turns to mush.

 

[Water Dog]

Here is an Alanle video on how to properly attach a regulator to a CO2 tank. Make sure to have the nylon washer between the nipple and tank.

 

[Diesel]

So my statement wasn’t completely untrue.
Yes media or in this case dead reused corals does release at 7.4 but not a whole lot.
When I spoke to Julian years ago the best is to set the ph at 6.5.
As I remember he added that info as recommendation on to the bags of reborn.

 

[chuckfu5]

Explain

Alternate methods are possible. I have found this way of running my calcium reactor much easier.

I keep my Alk at 10.5 with a high demand system using reborn. My PH inside my reactor runs at 6.93.

Video is a great video. Some spots are slow but very informative.

 

[Breadman03]

I know you're having a bit of a headache right now, but this calculator really helped me tune in my CARX over the last few weeks. It's an old (like probably over 10 years) K2R with effluent run by my DOS and CO2 with the Carbon Doser.

You input your system volume and alk measurements with 48 hour interval, as well as your effluent alkalinity and flow rate. This calculates your daily alk demand and provides you with a few solutions to match your reactor to the demand. Just make sure to select the proper units.

http://reef.diesyst.com/reactor/reactor.html

 

[DarthSimon]

Hey Guys,
CaRx is working just fine and tank is holding co2. I must have not had it screwed on tight enough... It was hand tight... Went to welding shop so they could inspect tank, they said it was fine. They sent me home with 2 white washers to put inside the screw on nut to make a better seal. So I used that and also used a wrench to tighten the nut.... All is well now... I also sprayed it a few times with soap bubbles and no leaks....

Thank you for the help!!!! Much Appreciated.... This is my first CaRx I have ever setup in my 15 years of Reefing....

 

[Water Dog]

Very nice, but remember to only use one washer. Keep the other as a spare.

 

[DarthSimon]

Yeah Of course... He said every time just to replace it....

 

[KrisReef]

Compressed CO2 in a cylinder exists as a liquid in the bottom of the bottle that boils off and produces head pressure inside of the tank. A "full bottle" and a "half full bottle" will produce the same pressure inside of the cylinder that you read on gauge 1. When your CO2 is close to empty the pressure inside the tank will drop quickly because there is no liquid in the tank left to expand. From what you describe, I am thinking that it might be time for a refill?

Also, the weight of the empty bottle is stamped on the outside of the cylinder, so with a bathroom scale an empty bottle (w/o the pressure gauge or CO2 doser attached) should weigh in ~ the tare number stamped on the bottle (hopefully in lbs, not KG.)

 

[DarthSimon]

No, it was filled a week before, and had 900 PSI.... When leak happened it went from 900 to 400 in a few hours...

 

[jda]

Check for leaks. My tanks always read 800 ish PSI right until they run out of gas. I have never seen one read anything other than 800+ or zero.

If the tank released that much CO2 into the CaRx, the PH might be around 4.0. ...and the tank maybe into the 6s. I doubt that any of it got into the reactor or tank.

I melt my ARM and/or Reborn at 6.6. ...anything above this will not keep up with my tank.

 

[DarthSimon]

How can that be? How would you ever know when your close to running out and need a refill?

 

[reeftivo]

silly question but did you use a teflon washer inside the nut? I had a similar issue once when my tank dumped over night. i put the washer in and it must have fell out right before i put the nut up for threading and didn't notice.
I saw it on the floor next to the tank when i took it to get refilled.

with the washer you don't need to wrench it down that much. I always get a couple washers free whenever i get a refill from Airgas.

 

[TheEngineer]

How can that be? How would you ever know when your close to running out and need a refill?

Physics.

 

[Diesel]

You never run your Co2 tank empty.
When you see your pressure going down you will get it refilled.
I have a 20lb tank and I refilled it March of 2016.
You got it dialed in it will take a while before you need a refill.

 

[DarthSimon]

silly question but did you use a teflon washer inside the nut? I had a similar issue once when my tank dumped over night. i put the washer in and it must have fell out right before i put the nut up for threading and didn't notice.
I saw it on the floor next to the tank when i took it to get refilled.

with the washer you don't need to wrench it down that much. I always get a couple washers free whenever i get a refill from Airgas.

No, I didn’t have the washer originally.... Now I do and an extra...

 

[Huskymaniac]

Reborn needs to run at 6.5 in order to release calcium back into the water.

Watch out with tightening with a tool as you can damage your O-ring.

I run my reactor at 6.8 using reborn and the media is melting.

 

[DarthSimon]

Silly question, again first time CaRx for me. How do you know when crushed corals are exhausted? The Reborn? Do they just shrink down to nothing and you just refill on top?