Cloudy calcium reactor

action21 · May 19, 2021

Have calcium reactor running for apx 4 months. Clouds up as shown in picture. Have a kamoer pump pulling solution thru it and into tank.

running at slowest setting on varios controller.

obviously not doing this right and could use some help. Reactor was Xmas gift

action21 · May 19, 2021

Co2 bubble rate? 50 bubbles per min
Feed rate from the kamoer?85.1
Is the reactor full to the top with media? No
Flow pump working well? ????
Do you have your check valve in correct direction? Yes

dank reefer · May 19, 2021

Did you rinse the media before you put it in the reactor?

action21 · May 19, 2021

Yes. It’s been running since Xmas. If I turn valve top left to almost closed it clears up but then kamoer feed line collapses from suction

dank reefer · May 19, 2021

And its been cloudy since you set it up, or did it just start happening.

action21 · May 19, 2021

If I turn the upper blue valve to almost closed then it clears up but after a while suction tube collapses to kamoer

dank reefer · May 19, 2021

do you know where your PH is at in the reactor? Can it be that you're melting the media pretty fast?

@jda Any advise?

action21 · May 19, 2021

action21 said:
If I turn the upper blue valve to almost closed then it clears up but after a while suction tube collapses to kamoer

PeterC99 · May 19, 2021

Have exact same Calcium Reactor - Never had the cloudy issue. Would take out old media and replace with rinsed new media.

jda · May 19, 2021

Are you sure that the reactor water is really cloudy and that it is not a film on the inside of the reactor walls?

What is the dKh of the effluent? I don't trust a pH probe and I recommend that nobody does either... they are the weakest link in a system of otherwise high quality stuff.

Shirak · May 19, 2021

action21 said:
If I turn the upper blue valve to almost closed then it clears up but after a while suction tube collapses to kamoer

I think you are not getting water from the tank into the reactor properly and you are creating a vacuum in the CaRx chamber as evidenced by your note that when you close the valve on the suction side of the pump the CaRx clears.. the CO2 is going back into solution.