Calcium Reactor Size

[Huskymaniac]

My calcium reactor was on the smaller side and now that my tank is heavily stocked it is on the smaller side and is running at max capacity. I definitly need to upgrade it but can I save some money by adding a second chamber or should I just suck it up and go larger?

 

[Water Dog]

Second chamber acts as more of a CO2 degassing chamber. It won’t do much in terms of increasing capacity as the media in the second chamber is out of the main recirculating loop.

 

[jda]

Unless you are maxed out at effluent rate with a dKh near 30, then the reactor can do more. The only real difference in a small reactor vs a huge one is the frequency that you need to replace the media. What I am saying is that a Korallin 1500 can do just as well as a Korallin 10000, for example, but the media will last 1 month instead of 6.

Yes, second chamber does not increase output unless you are wasting a ton of co2 in the main chamber. If you are wasting a ton of co2 in the main chamber, then your reactor is not tuned as well as it could be and the output could be more.

Which unit do you have and what is your current bubble and effluent rate? What is the effluent dKh?

 

[Huskymaniac]

I have a octopus 150 reactor. Currently effluent DKH is 22 and putting out 95ml per minute. PH in the reactor is set to 6.7. At this flow rate my tank ph is dropping down to 7.68 at night.

 

[jda]

Assuming that you are using natural media (ARM or Reborn), you can get that effluent dKh up to 30 without any issues. That can really help with the output.

I imagine that you can do 200, 300mls per minute (or more maybe), which means that you have more room to grow.

A well tuned reactor will barely make the tank pH move. The tank pH is more of a product of the ambient air in your home. A reactor that has excess co2 in the water, can lower tank pH. That being said, I do not trust any pH probes for anything.