CarbonDoser PSI Setting?

Empress Of Mermaids · Sep 29, 2019

Hi. I’m have my first calcium reactor all set up. Except for the CO2 regulator. I have a 5lb CO2 cylinder connected to the CarbonDoser regulator w/built in solenoid. At what safe psi should I set it to? And at what number of bubbles should I set it to? My tank is 240 gallons and the sump is 75 gallons. Medium bio-load mixed reef, but mostly LPS. Scared to death of turning the knobs.

Snoopy 67 · Sep 29, 2019

I run mine @ 6 PSI with a bubble count of 1 about every second, around 9 on the dial.
Next time get a 10 pound cylinder or bigger if you have room. It will last longer.
Read this; http://reef.diesyst.com/crarticle/crarticle.htm

Empress Of Mermaids · Sep 30, 2019

Snoopy 67 said:
I run mine @ 6 PSI with a bubble count of 1 about every second, around 9 on the dial.
Next time get a 10 pound cylinder or bigger if you have room. It will last longer.
Read this; http://reef.diesyst.com/crarticle/crarticle.htm

How long do you think the 5 lb will last? I’m going to take your advice and start out at 6 psi and see where that takes me. My CR is the Geo 818 (2019 model). The pump that comes with it is noisy. Like it’s gargling air bubbles. Do you know how long it takes before it quiets down? It’s been recirculating 24 hours now. I’ve been gently shaking it to help remove the air bubbles. Thanks for all your help.

Snoopy 67 · Sep 30, 2019

My guess on the CO 2 would be 3 months. As far as the pump, are you sure you are not pulling any air into the unit via the feed line? When you fill it all the air should be expelled.
1 tip I would recommend is shut off valves (2) in the feed line so you can do maintenance & or refill it with media. 1 so the water stays in the reactor when you take it out & the other just before it so you retain the siphon going into the unit. John Guest makes them.

ca1ore · Sep 30, 2019

What you set the low pressure to depends upon how much pressure you run in the CaRx. If zero, then 5-6 PSI is abut right. My reactor runs with an internal pressure of about 4, so I set the regulator to 10 PSI. How long the cylinder lasts also depends on demand. My system is 700 gallons, lots of mineral mouths so I get only abut 6 months out of 20 LB.

Breadman03 · Sep 30, 2019

Empress Of Mermaids said:
How long do you think the 5 lb will last? I’m going to take your advice and start out at 6 psi and see where that takes me. My CR is the Geo 818 (2019 model). The pump that comes with it is noisy. Like it’s gargling air bubbles. Do you know how long it takes before it quiets down? It’s been recirculating 24 hours now. I’ve been gently shaking it to help remove the air bubbles. Thanks for all your help.

I'd suggest grabbing a second CO2 bottle in the near future so that when you run out, you're just swapping bottles and can deal with a refill or exchange when convenient.

jda · Sep 30, 2019

If you are using the regulator that came with the carbondoser, then be warned that they are not precision istruments... I have one that I have to run near 20 (or so) and one that runs at about 8. They are cheap, but the box is nice and can be moved to a better regulator if you ever need to.

In the end, just increase the pressure gradually until you get consistent output.