Calcium Reactor - I Give Up!

[eliasi]

Folk... I’m done with calcium reactors. I’ve tried everything to get this thing to produce sufficiently potent effluent to make it worthwhile.

I’ve struggled with it for over a year trying to get it right, every method imaginable (the right ways and the wrong ways).

video attached is how it currently sits. It’s a joke. The thing looks like a friggen soda bottle and the noise of the recirculated CO2 getting sucked in to the pump keeps me up at night.

6.3pH (and yes, I know I should be looking at pH) 60 bubbles a minute and 35 ml a minute effluent only gives me 22 dKH.

I can get it to about 30dKH if I back the co2 off to about 20 bubbles a minute and drop the effluent back to about 10ml/min but this is grossly insufficient.

My tank consumes around 0.5 dKH a day. Reef calculator says it needs to run at 30dKH and 33ml/min. Impossible! I’ve stripped this unit 10 time over looking for a fault. I’ve half filled with media, full filled with media and everywhere in between. I’ve changed out the media twice, even got desperate and started blaming the co2 supply and changed the bottle out thinking maybe it lacks purity or potency or some rubbish like that.

I’m at a total loss. Cost an absolute fortune to land this Georeef 818 inAustralia and I can’t get the bloody thing to work.

Ok. Rant over. Not sure what I’m trying to get out of this post other than a vent. I know everyone says that this things are easy once you get the hang of them but for my 1500l system, it’s useless in my hands.

Back to 2 part I guess.

 

[P-Dub]

Sorry that you are having such issues. A clearer photo of all parts of the setup would help. Additionally, what is your pH within the reactor? you say 6.3 but is that effluent pH or internal pH? What CO2 regulator are you using? What is your feed pump method? Do you have a secondary chamber? What reactor media are you using?

 

[x2uranium]

i Run a steady stream out of mine with a ph of 6.8-6.9 .
6.3 is low as hell If your running a stream out of it like I do. I have a tank literally packed with sps. I’m on vacation at the moment but I run a cheap crappy reactor that cost me $180 new with a soccer recirc pump. Not fancy at all.
Older pic for sample.
I would do a ca reactor on everything from here forward. I’ve done 2 part for Many years and it’s too much work for myself.
Besides messing with bubble count every once in a while I don’t touch anything.
This is an 18” reactor feeding a stacked 120 gal sps and a completely stacked 100 gal frag tank hooked together. Has no problem keeping up at all.

 

[x2uranium]

No clue why my video would not play it shows effulent stream and bubble count

 

[svogun]

If your budget allows I’d look into the Dastaco. Set and forget. The only reason I went to a reactor is because it’s automated. No pH probe.

 

[robbyg]

At some point I am going to have to go back to using my reactor. When I was using it before it was a bloody pain in the rear. I always had problems keeping the bubble count right and the effluent rate right. I guess with these new automatic water testers it will be worth giving it a try again.

 

[eliasi]

Sorry that you are having such issues. A clearer photo of all parts of the setup would help. Additionally, what is your pH within the reactor? you say 6.3 but is that effluent pH or internal pH? What CO2 regulator are you using? What is your feed pump method? Do you have a secondary chamber? What reactor media are you using?

@P-Dub

6.3 is the chamber pH.
no secondary chamber, the unit is massive enough as it is.
I’m now onto my third regulator. Dual stage with needle adjustment. I can get a regular, steady bubble count.
se to have an aqua bee feed pump, so I canned that and have now invested in a peristaltic pump to get the effluent flow exact.
Currently using Carribsea ARM extra course. Swapped it out a month or so ago from the coarse thinking flow within the reactor may have been an issue.

 

[P-Dub]

And you test your dKH in the tank daily? What is it at? And, are you supplementing/dosing kH and Ca?

 

[eliasi]

And you test your dKH in the tank daily? What is it at? And, are you supplementing/dosing kH and Ca?

dKH is tested 6 times a day. Profilux P4 with KHD closely monitoring. Tank kH is at 8.8-9.2. But I need to supplement with Alk to keep it there. I also run a Kalk reactor but my evaporation is not enough every day for that to keep up either. I still have to supplement kH with 2 part.Without reactor I dose 150ml/day alk, with reactor, still need to dose 100ml/day. Calcium is higher than I‘d like around 480.

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

You should be using a feed pump in and then Use the peristaltic to pull your effluent out. I use the Kamoer and once I did that all my problems went away.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have my tank at 6 and carbon doser at 6 BP for a ph of 6.5 and running smooth.
Is there air in the system, adequate water delivery to reactor and good stream to the sump?

 

[naterealbig]

dKH is tested 6 times a day. Profilux P4 with KHD closely monitoring. Tank kH is at 8.8-9.2. But I need to supplement with Alk to keep it there. I also run a Kalk reactor but my evaporation is not enough every day for that to keep up either. I still have to supplement kH with 2 part.Without reactor I dose 150ml/day alk, with reactor, still need to dose 100ml/day. Calcium is higher than I‘d like around 480.

How old is your pH probe? When was it calibrated last? Brand?

 

[x2uranium]

How is the chamber ph different from the effluent pH ?? There’s no way it can it’s going to go higher in the effluent if your forcing a steady stream of co2 into the reactor not much is going to chage? My reactor pH is 6.8-9 internally. Anything under pH of 7 will dissolve calcium

 

[x2uranium]

Also I have ran for many months ran low like 6.5 and noticed far better stability and slightly higher pH tank levels when I don’t drop it as low as 6.7~ just trying to help..

 

[eliasi]

How old is your pH probe? When was it calibrated last? Brand?

Brand new probe. GHL. But I only use the pH as an indicator of what’s going on inside the reactor. Measuring pH is not the right way to tune a carx.

 

[eliasi]

A

Also I have ran for many months ran low like 6.5 and noticed far better stability and slightly higher pH tank levels when I don’t drop it as low as 6.7~ just trying to help..

Are those number the wrong way around or am I misunderstanding something?

 

[naterealbig]

Brand new probe. GHL. But I only use the pH as an indicator of what’s going on inside the reactor. Measuring pH is not the right way to tune a carx.

Agreed, but you've referenced an unusually low ph several times. Just checking to see if there's an issue with the probe.

There are only a handful of things that can be wrong with a calcium reactor setup. I'd ask if there is a leak, but if the ph is correct, and there's nothing wrong with the media, then you should be getting plenty of carbonate in the effluent.

Could the media be bad?

What is your effluent flow rate? This shouldn't be an issue either - if the ph inside the Reactor is 6.3, then it's not too high....

 

[eliasi]

Agreed, but you've referenced an unusually low ph several times. Just checking to see if there's an issue with the probe.

Yeah, fair enough. I know. The pH in the chamber is very low. If I run it any higher than 6.5, I’m lucky to get 12-15 dKH out of the reactor. I just don’t get it. Other don’t even bother spending this much time tuning theirs in and the have to turn them down because they are exceeding their Alk demand. It’s the most frustrating piece of equipment I’ve ever bought for my tank. It was suppose to be for the better and all’s it‘a managed to do it give me a world of hurt.

 

[naterealbig]

Have you always used the ARM media? I don't see why there would be an issue, but based on the info you've provided, it's the only thing that could be wrong. If you haven't tried something else I would. 2LF comes to mind, as it's actual coral bits.... No way this can be messed up. ARM is mined, so could be a batch that is not dissolving at the normal calcium carbonate pH (??).

 

[eliasi]

Have you always used the ARM media? I don't see why there would be an issue, but based on the info you've provided, it's the only thing that could be wrong. If you haven't tried something else I would. 2LF comes to mind, as it's actual coral bits.... No way this can be messed up. ARM is mined, so could be a batch that is not dissolving at the normal calcium carbonate pH (??).

always used ARM. it's possible that it's a problem with the batch, but again, I've changed the media out three times, three different batches over the last year. Again, it's possible that there is a lot of ARM around at the moment that is not dissolving at the right ratios, but then you think you would have heard more about it around the traps.