Calcium Reactor Flow Rates?

[benj420]

I am building a DIY calcium carbonate reactor for my 180 gallon (~225 gallon total system volume) SPS tank and need some advice on how to determine a good starting point for flow rates of the circulation pump, co2 bubbles, and flow (or drip) rate of the effluent. I haven't made anything yet, so I don't know how big it will be or how big I really what it to be.
Does the circulation pump run all 24/7?
Does the effluent drip run 24/7?
Does the CO2 run 24/7?

 

[reefnut]

Does the circulation pump run all 24/7?
Yes
Does the effluent drip run 24/7?
Yes
Does the CO2 run 24/7?
Depends, ideally it should but a controller is good to have so the PH doesn't drop to low.

 

[benj420]

Thank you.
I could ask you what a good starting drip and bubble rate would be, but I'm sure that varies based upon setup, so is there a way to figure it out based upon volume of tank vs. volume of reactor?

 

[reefnut]

It does depend... the instructions that came with my single stage unit said to start around 30ml per-minute drip with a bubble count of 35 BPM.

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by Benj420
I could ask you what a good starting drip and bubble rate would be, but I'm sure that varies based upon setup, so is there a way to figure it out based upon volume of tank vs. volume of reactor?
Best way to start out is set the effluent drip rate pH around 6.9-7.0 depending on the reactor media. If your using CaribSea ARM I'd set the pH at 7 and go from there..
So start your bubble count between 20-30 per minute and your effluent drip rate around 50-60 mls per minute..wait about an hour and check your pH meter, if the pH is too high you could slow the effluent drip rate or speed up the bubble count, if its too low I'd speed up the effluent drip rate.