Guys what is your experience with low Ph while running calcium reactor. Per my Apex ph it is running from 7.88 to 7.99. There is a lot of debate but should I be trying to chase a higher Ph number or is this fine? I read some where that with lower Ph your alk and calcium levels should be kept higher. What is the suggestion? I have my tank at around 10 alk and 425 cal. Do you think this sounds good? I have read you could try raising ALK with additional kalkwasser but being my tank is 700 gallons it doesn't seem possible to get the Ph higher with just RO replacement water. Just don't get enough evap.
Low PH with calcuim reactor
- Thread starter cumbeje
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hybridazn
Acro killer.....
Yes, you get a 2nd reactor and have the effluent line go to the 2nd reactor instead of back to the tank. Fill the 2nd chamber with the media you used in the CaRX to help "scrub" the co2 to help keep the ph up.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Aquariums using CaCO3/CO2 reactors naturally run at lower pH than the same aquarium running without it since all of the CO2 leaving the cylinder ends up in the aquarium. A second chamber can help since it makes the use of CO2 more efficient, so somewhat less is needed to deliver the same amount of calcium and alkalinity.
In general, I wouldn't worry much about pH as long as the low isn't dropping much bellow pH 7.8 since many fine aquaria hit that bottom.
If you do choose to raise it, there are many good ways, including using limewater (which many people combine with CaCO3/CO2 reactors, more fresh air to the room and/or aquarium, and growing macroalgae, and outside or scrubbed air on a skimmer inlet.
In general, I wouldn't worry much about pH as long as the low isn't dropping much bellow pH 7.8 since many fine aquaria hit that bottom.
If you do choose to raise it, there are many good ways, including using limewater (which many people combine with CaCO3/CO2 reactors, more fresh air to the room and/or aquarium, and growing macroalgae, and outside or scrubbed air on a skimmer inlet.
I'm interested in what maintenance you perform on the secondary reaction chamber, and what rate of consumption do you see of its media?
My experience: I've only 'disturbed' the secondary Rx chamber on a frequency of roughly every other CaRx re-charge (a bit more than annually). Looking at your pic, my DITY secondary chamber may be comparable to what yours appears to be, that is about 1/4 the volume of the primary chamber. After a couple media loads in the CaRx its media has been consumed just about 1/5th of the original media load. In other words, very little...
EDIT: PS while I do not trust pH measurements as a valid control, by Apex probe my pH indicates 7.75 - 7.97 and by Seneye indicated pH is 8.25 - 8.37. Why the difference is a subject for another thread.
