Phase out doser, Ramp up CA Reactor

[DLuce510]

What is the best way to ease my way back to a Calcium reactor?
In the past I had started with a higher pH in the calcium reactor and slow drip rate so not to spike dkh or Ca and slowly ramp down the dosing as I raised the drip rate and lowered the pH, but have found it tricky and tedious.
Any pros out there who have found a simple and more reliable way!?!?

 

[Bpb]

Following. I'd like to hear all the tuning advice out there as well. Going through the same process myself just with kalkwasser instead of 2-part

 

[DLuce510]

Well, thanks for your enthusiasm @Bpb. Since no one has shared any experience I guess I'll share as I go along.
Got the reactor set back up yesterday. Im using DaStaC02 media for the reactor since I'm using the Triton method. I've used 2 little fishes Reborn in the past which worked great but we'll give this a try. The recommended pH for this media is a low 6. Currently I'm at 6.9 at a drip rate of about 2 drips per 10 seconds. I'm still dosing around 130ml per day of Triton elements.
I will test every morning and every night till I phase out the dosing. I will try to keep the reactor where it is till I see Alk raise then I'll start dropping the amount dosed and drop .1 of pH.
Sounds great in theory, let's see how it works! Thanks for following along, hopefully it's useful.

 

[DLuce510]

Over a week in now. I didn't buy any more Triton base elements since I set up the reactor and finally ran out. So far relatively smooth for what could happen. Dkh went to 8.3 with both reactor and I was dosing 50 ml by the time I ran out. Dkh dropped to 7.6 and seems to be holding. The reactor was taking its sweet time to start melting media to the point it would make a difference so I had to drop the pH down to 6 pretty quickly and came to about 20 drops per 10 seconds.
If I could pass anything on to someone else, make sure you still have enough to dose while your reactor is ramping up. Luckily I've been testing twice a day but there's so much room for things to go badly. I just couldn't bring myself to buying another $70 for Triton base elements when I was setting up the reactor again so I risked it and barley squeaked by. Let me know your experience, tips or questions. Thanks for looking!

 

[Eckolancer]

Keep an eye on the effluent I find that mine gets a little clogged over time with salt creep.

 

[DLuce510]

Keep an eye on the effluent I find that mine gets a little clogged over time with salt creep.

Thank you, absolutely. Honestly the problem I'm having with this reactor, which I didn't have with it a year or two ago, is air getting stuck in the effluent out line. I find I've had to open it wide open and let the air out. Strange but still fine tuning it. I've considered try toXic's method which randomly popped up on new post last night, it's a sign! I feel that a heavy flow out would keep from gas build up.

 

[Bpb]

Id definitely use the broken stream effluent method and only adjust co2 if I were using a standard pump. If you use a masterflex pump you can run a slower effluent and co2 injection rate

 

[Bpb]

By the way I just got my reactor in. Once the new ph probe arrives I'll post my experience to this thread also if it's ok with the OP. I've noticed in searching there is a deficiency of "new to calcium reactors, documenting my process" threads so this could be helpful. Of course if the OP prefers not, just say so and I'll not "derail" the thread

 

[DLuce510]

By the way I just got my reactor in. Once the new ph probe arrives I'll post my experience to this thread also if it's ok with the OP. I've noticed in searching there is a deficiency of "new to calcium reactors, documenting my process" threads so this could be helpful. Of course if the OP prefers not, just say so and I'll not "derail" the thread

Please do! Feel free to take this thread over, I have no pride of ownership.

 

[Bpb]

[quote post="9199" timestamp="1466091062" name="BPB"]Ok assembly done. I need to get more media in and fill my co2 tank and order my ph probe and calibration solution before i actually start running it. Here's my process. <br />

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<br />Very well packaged. No instructions included. <br />

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<br />And everything separated out. Nothing missing or damaged<br />

<br />First step was to give everything a good rinse and dry. <br />Next was to install the pump to the baseplate<br />

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<br />Oops...couple of cuss words and fixed. Pump and plated installed backwards. No big deal. I wasn't even looking at a picture just building the puzzle, as it were. Plenty of Teflon tape. Well not too much. Just the right amount. Everything tightened snug and the thumb clamps tightened down. One gripe...eheim pump won't slide onto its base of the gray cage is on. No big deal it's being run external so I don't need it. Just think it looks better with it on. Oh well. <br />

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<br />Output tube attached to base of reactor, and manifold attatched to lid and pump input via supplied tubing. <br />

<br />Feed and effluent lines attatched and bundled up. Done. Easy as that. I love how simple and robust everything feels. No tiny odd delicate or specialized parts. Here it is next to a 5 gal bucket and then crammed under the stand. The co2 tank and reactor JUST fit. <br />

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[Bpb]

That's the assembly process. I'll post more stuff when the probe comes in next week and I can actually start running it. I'm currently at 6 teaspoons kalkwasser per 5 gallons of ATO which lasts between 5-7 days. I'm going to cease increasing the concentration until the reactor is tuned and running. I'll be supplementing at a VERY small rate with the reactor at first and letting kalkwasser do the heavy lifting until full saturation won't cut it. Then I'll increase the co2 levels once I need further supplementation. My consumption rate is fairly low right now. Tank isn't "new". Approaching 3 years old. But it's been a mixed reef heavy on Lps and Zoas before. Recently cleared off the rocks and sold almost all corals and am stocking almost strictly acropora and maxima clams going forward, hence the purchase of the calcium reactoe

 

[DLuce510]

It's been a bit of a ruff road. So the steady stream method of running my Calcium reactor works great for keeping the outlet from clogging and for keeping gas from building up in the reactor but the media I'm using has a super low melting point, I am running internal pH at 6.6. Which in turn was dropping my systems pH pretty low and I was still only getting 7 dkh after the rollercoaster settled out. I did have a great idea of having the effluent run into a small secondary refugium to see if the algae would scrub some of the Co2, it's debatable.

Due to the volume of low pH effluent going into my system and low parameters, in a pinch, I purchased a Kalk stirer. I will say, I don't know how I ran a Calcium reactor with out Kalk in the first place. It's definitely picking up the slack and so far keeping a low point of 8 at night. Oddly enough there's not much out there about efficiency on how to run them. I put a cup of kalk in it ,which felt most unnatural, and have it stir 4 times a day during which the apex shuts off the ATO for 30 minutes. A little helpful hint no one gave me, PUT A CHECK VALVE ON THE INLINE OF YOUR ATO INTO THE KALK STIRER SO IT DOESN'T LEVEL OUT WITH YOU TOP OFF CONTAINER!!!!! Alk is on its way back up to 7.5 and I'll be keeping a close eye on it and adjust the calcium reactor accordingly. So far I've only lost 2 corals, one tiny frag that wasn't doing great anyway and a tiny piece of poccilopora from a polyp bailout a year ago. The rest don't look as vibrant but still growing. Please feel free to suggest and comment, thanks!

 

[Bpb]

Reactor is running!

Good things:

It's currently not leaking air or water from anywhere.
From MOST spots in the house I cannot hear the master flex pump

Gripes:

Setup took a few hours
Master flex pump hits that 60 hz resonant frequency hard, and the wood box I have it in seems to amplify it. Only solution would be to drill holes in the wall and run the water lines though and keep the pump in a nearby closet. It's only audible in about a 10 foot radius of the tank but if you're within that distance it is wicked loud.

So far the co2 is NOT running because it is recommended to let it circulate for several hours before introducing co2. I'll turn on the co2 in a few hours at a low rate

Teflon tape is your friend

Don't forget your crush washer

Regulator is a beast

New tubing for the pump

Leak test took the longest
During this step, I forgot to loosen the ph probe port, and when I crammed the ph probe in, it pushed the seal down and crooked, I didn't notice and watched it suck huge bubbles from the ph probe port with much frustration

Discovered it finally, put it back together and it works fine

Then I noticed a small leak from the barb fitting threads on the pump output...so it did what you should never do. Tightened with a wrench in low light. Cracked the pump body. But...leak stops. I was prepared to slap myself, hop online, order another pump, and wait it out but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it out. Couple hours running now and no leak. I do foresee a new pump in my future though.

Those were pretty much the only hiccups. Here it sits in the stand full of media and waiting to start melting

 

[Bpb]

And we've got gas! Was running smooth and clear so I decided to crack the seal on the co2 and see what this regulator is made of. What do you guys run your output pressure at? I'm at 10 right now and have to almost close my needle valve entirely to get to 30 bpm. I'm ok with that but will higher pressure give me more flexibility on the needle valve? It's a fabco so it's got very fine threads.

Over 4 hours the reactor ph has dropped to 7.24 so far from 8.2. Does that sound about right or should I open the valve a little more.

Did a full test as well

7.4 dKH
405 ppm ca
1360 ppm mg
0.05 ppm po4
0.5 ppm no3

I know no3 is on the low side but I'm feeding like mad and it's really causing the algae to come back full force. Fish are happy and acro colors and PE are spectacular though (by my standards anyway)


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