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What kind of reactor do you run on what size tank? Pics??
Calcium Reactors and Depressed pH
- Thread starter Reefahholic
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If this is the case then why does everybody fill their reactors 80% full? Wouldn’t people just fill them 20% full?
X-37B
Fight The Good Fight
If yout ph is low and you put a co2 scrubber on and ph goes up you have excess co2 entering your system.
Tuned right very little co2 will go into your system
I run a tunze 3171 carx on my 120. It is small compared to most reactors.
My ph before carx ran 7.9-8.1-2. Same ph with carx since I set it up 6 weeks ago.
I use no controller and set it up using the drip/bubble/effluent dkh way.
Dkh effluent is 20+. This is imo the best way to tune a carx and not get excessive co2 into your system.
I run tunze media and drip into coral bones. Although ph stays the same if I drip directly into the sump.
Media is already visibly going down in carx. Coralline growth has exploded and I have to clean the front and side glass weekly to keep it at bay.
Reactor size just means you do not have to fill it up as often as long as it is tuned right.
Any pics of your tank?
Tuned right very little co2 will go into your system
I run a tunze 3171 carx on my 120. It is small compared to most reactors.
My ph before carx ran 7.9-8.1-2. Same ph with carx since I set it up 6 weeks ago.
I use no controller and set it up using the drip/bubble/effluent dkh way.
Dkh effluent is 20+. This is imo the best way to tune a carx and not get excessive co2 into your system.
I run tunze media and drip into coral bones. Although ph stays the same if I drip directly into the sump.
Media is already visibly going down in carx. Coralline growth has exploded and I have to clean the front and side glass weekly to keep it at bay.
Reactor size just means you do not have to fill it up as often as long as it is tuned right.
Any pics of your tank?
LC8Sumi
Well-Known Member
My take on this at the end of the day is that you can absolutely oversize a calcium reactor for a given tank resulting in too much co2 entering the tank, especially with the low alk steady stream vs. the high alk dripping method. pH depends a lot on how it is buffered, for example a grain of citric acid would bring down RODI pH very low (no buffer), vs. the same amount of citric acid wouldn't even register on the pH meter, if you'd throw it in a bucket filled with 12lbs of crushed coral (huge buffer).
I could be wrong ofcourse, let's see what @Randy Holmes-Farley says
I could be wrong ofcourse, let's see what @Randy Holmes-Farley says
Surfzone
Well-Known Member
I run a Ca Rx and my pH runs from 7.5 at night to 7.9 during the day sometimes it hits 8.0. I have a CO2 scrubber due to the fact that there are 3 dogs and 4 people in my house. Since I'm in South Carolina our winters are warm compared to other places in the country so Some days i'm able to open a window to vent out CO2 from the house. I get my CO2 scrubber media from shopmedvet.com it's like 8 bucks for a 3 lb bag. It also color changes from white to purple so you know when it's exhausted. I get about a week to a week and a half out of one cartridge. As far as coral growth goes I cannot answer that question because of my tank being so new, but I am seeing growth out of some frags and not so much growth in others, and my clam is growing at a decent rate; seems like any new tank to be honest.
Best fix out of all i've tried is to drop the carx effluent into a container in the sump with an airstone in it...midway up the container put a hole for the effluent to flow out of as it fills,,,,,,I'm a dastaco user dumping ph 6.0 effluent into my tank so i know all about where your coming from. Now i have close to a 8 low combating it that way.
I have something similar to this cable tied to my downpipe with a ball airstone in the bottom & a hole halfway up...with the height it contains any possible salt creep.
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Again.. if you run the outlet line into your skimmer inlet the oxygenation of the skimmer will reduce co2 concentrations. +.1 ph
I quickly browsed the thread... reef foul... sorry... but, do you have the reactor tuned by hand to run 24/7, or do you control it with a pH controller? If you use a controller, then it is not as efficient as it could be and you likely have extra co2 getting into your tank.
The controller will "dump" too much co2 when it comes on and then it will go off when the desired pH is hit. The issue is that the dump will send a lot of extra co2 down the line into the tank.
Using a continuous tune will only let in enough co2 to meet your need and it will get dissolved and interact with the media and not get into the tank.
Effluent into the skimmer with outside air can help.
The controller will "dump" too much co2 when it comes on and then it will go off when the desired pH is hit. The issue is that the dump will send a lot of extra co2 down the line into the tank.
Using a continuous tune will only let in enough co2 to meet your need and it will get dissolved and interact with the media and not get into the tank.
Effluent into the skimmer with outside air can help.
@jda . That is one of the best reasons I have heard yet to have continous flow of co2. I am dialed in with my ph controller with no issues but now I understand the allure of not using a ph probe.
Then you have not had a probe drift or fail yet. 
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I thought about doing this very thing the other night. Not too sure what I will use to drip into, but I'll figure that out.
My friend @PSXerholic uses 3 chambers. I think his 3rd chamber is only used to blow off CO2. Maybe he can elaborate on that.
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That would surely work, but I want to see my output dripping into the tank.
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Jda, I use a controller as a failsafe, but it’s not turning my CO2 on/off hardly at all. Unless I play with it. I’ve been running at a steady 6.88-6.89 without the controller turning on/off at all.
I think the excess CO2 could be due to the reactor being new and the air bubbles. I probably should have wait more than 24 hours to start injecting CO2. I think 48 hrs would have been better. Seems to be doing better each day.
Here’s the graph from yesterday. Rock solid.
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Graph for right now. 0.1 deviation. That’s it. Rock solid. My set points are 5 below and 5 above.
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This is basically how I run it. I let the apex control it for a brief period. Then I tweak to my desired range after testing the effluent dKH and tank dKH. I tune the reactor to hit the mid point between the high and low numbers. It may not be exactly, but I can get it within 0.2. Then the Apex never touches the Carbon Doser. Never has to cut it on or off. So essentially I’m running without the controller, but also using it as a failsafe incase the Reactor where to drift (for whatever reason). So far it seems pretty stable. I’m liking it.
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Here’s my program and as you can see above...it’s not moving more than 0.1
So the Apex is literally on standby.
So the Apex is literally on standby.
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Just because you use a controller or pH probe doesn't mean you have to let the controller turn it on/off on/off on/off...
You do know that right?
I controller is merely a tool for additional support/protection. It doesn't necessary mean you have to tune your reactor with it. I don't do it and to be frank....I find it really simple to tune the reactor.
Yeah I understand, but what I do is have apex control the ph and have the co2 flow set just enough so that it runs for like 30min, then off. Basically tweaking it so the co2 wasnt overshooting the PH after when it turn off.
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Btw...Update for tonight is that the pH currently is 7.75 at this very minute 10:51pm. The CO2 scrubber is off and I did a water change today. So I bet it would have been 7.80 right now without the water change.
It's getting better. I think it was just that one night when I first set it up, because now it is more stable and doesn't deviate much at all and the pH (Looking at the graph) will probably only hit 7.70 this morning which is way better than 7.55 that first night/morning.
So I think with time it will only get better and more solid.
It's getting better. I think it was just that one night when I first set it up, because now it is more stable and doesn't deviate much at all and the pH (Looking at the graph) will probably only hit 7.70 this morning which is way better than 7.55 that first night/morning.
So I think with time it will only get better and more solid.
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Yeah I understand, but if it's turning it off... then back off your "seconds per bubble" very slightly so that the Apex is no longer shutting the carbon doser off. Find that sweet spot.
