Please help me dial in my CalRX

[gideon2086]

It will, inside the chamber. Then the controller kicks on, adds CO2 and it drops. It will cycle on and off more often. If you shut the controller off, you need to monitor effluent, and to get that to deliver more alk you have to increase CO2. If you go too low (ph drops inside the reactor) and media will melt. Increasing flow, keeping pH steady (with the controller) will allow you to increase delivery of alk.

Thousand ways to skin the cat, be careful, report back along the way and hopefully the crowd will deliver you the results you are seeking.

I’m going to switch back to the controller. The ph in the reactor is continuing to drop.. now nearly at 6.3.

 

[GarrettT]

I’m going to switch back to the controller. The ph in the reactor is continuing to drop.. now nearly at 6.3.

If your ph probe is faulty, then that’s exactly what you want it to do. Before doing anything I would first verify which test is faulty. When you put your hand on cylinder body of the reactor, is it warm?

 

[gideon2086]

If your ph probe is faulty, then that’s exactly what you want it to do. Before doing anything I would first verify which test is faulty. When you put your hand on cylinder body of the reactor, is it warm?

Very slightly.

 

[GarrettT]

Very slightly.

Until you get calibration fluid or a salifert Alk test, I would just keep it as is. Your media is not going to dramatically dissolve overnight. It’s actually a very rare occurrence.

 

[gideon2086]

Until you get calibration fluid or a salifert Alk test, I would just keep it as is. Your media is not going to dramatically dissolve overnight. It’s actually a very rare occurrence.

As is meaning a constant 10 bpm?

 

[GarrettT]

Ok start 1 bubble every 2 seconds.
That will increase co2 from 20bpm to 30bpm a 50% increase.
You want 20-25 effluent dkh and keep it above 20.

I would seek this advice. In the short term, I would only worry about the dkh in the tank and less about the ph within the reactor until you get everything verified. As long as you don’t let it extend for too long, It’s really not a concern. Your CaRx is not keeping up with the demand in your tank, so a slight increase in bpm really is not going to harm anything. Your media will be fine. Just test your tank’s alk periodically.

 

[gideon2086]

I bumped the versa up to 50ml/m from 30, set the controller to maintain a 6.45-6.55 ph and went cold turkey on the alk dosing. First test showed that the alk slightly rose to 8.3, and it has held there for the last two tests. This appears to be the solution.

 

[gideon2086]

Probably the final update, primarily for anyone that stumbles across this thread if they're searching for a similar issue. The ALK has now held steady for days. Dosing is wholly cut off, finally. The solution was to increase the effluent flow into the tank while maintaining the 6.5 ph via the controller.

I thank all that responded and offered advice - this is one more unknown I can check off the list of constant unknowns in this hobby. Now to return my focus to building the time machine so I can save the acro colonies I lost during this "learning period".....

 

[GarrettT]

I’m glad to hear it worked out for you. I’m wondering if the disconnect comes from me running a tuned reactor compared to using a controller. Anyone know? I’m curious, and don’t like not understanding things lol

Your not running your co2 continuously are you? If not, then I believe I understand the reasoning.

 

[gideon2086]

I’m glad to hear it worked out for you. I’m wondering if the disconnect comes from me running a tuned reactor compared to using a controller. Anyone know? I’m curious, and don’t like not understanding things lol

Your not running your co2 continuously are you? If not, then I believe I understand the reasoning.

Yup, the controller regulates when it turns on and off. I have it set to turn on at 6.55 and off at 6.45.

 

[GarrettT]

Y.Yup, the controller regulates when it turns on and off. I have it set to turn on at 6.55 and off at 6.45.

Ok, make sense. Thought I was losing it there for a minute : )

 

[KrisReef]

I’m glad to hear it worked out for you. I’m wondering if the disconnect comes from me running a tuned reactor compared to using a controller. Anyone know? I’m curious, and don’t like not understanding things lol

Your not running your co2 continuously are you? If not, then I believe I understand the reasoning.

Yes, I think we were coming towards the solution from continuous flow vs metered flow of CO2 - different ways of maintaining continuous dKh input.

OP has it working now and should be able to adjust it as the demand in the system changes.