Calcium Reactor Help Needed ASAP

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eric b 125

Guest
I'm so lost right now. I have a reactor, media, and a pH controller. I don't know what range to set the controller at (or why I'm setting that range), I don't know how many bubbles I should allow per second in the bubble chamber ( I've read 1 bubble every 1-2 seconds at first), and I don't know how to determine how much effluent I should allow. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
There's a good thread over on RC dealing with similar issues.....From what I remember you take the controller out of the equation till you get your bubble count set......If I can find it I'll send you the link......
 
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eric b 125

Guest
I've been using their search function and have been getting some answers. I'm still pretty confused but this is what I've gotten so far...
1) Calibrate Milwaukee sms-122 using the 7.01 solution ( I went through the archives of RC and apparently for our applications we don't need to use the 4.0 solution)
2) Once all connections are made, open the main valve on the CO2 bottle.
3) Slowly turn the knob on the regulator and set the pressure to 12 lbs ( I got this information from Melev's site).
4)Open the needle valve on the regulator to allow 30 bubbles per minute
5) Adjust effluent to 30 drops per minute.
I'm assuming that I should get a base line pH, calcium, and alk before starting the reactor. What parameter should I use to dictate the tuning of bubbles and drops per minute? It is my understanding that alk dictates this...?
Thanks again.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Yeah I'm still searching on the thread I was reading the other night, but the site is hanging up for me for whatever reason.......
From Randy Holmes-Farley you should have a baseline as to where your tank is running....I've seen some guys running as high as 75 drops of effluent and lower.....I've also read where 1 guy is running almost a steady stream.....From what I'm gathering it's dependent a lot on each setup, but as I read further after 2 days or over that period you should be closely monitoring the tank see if your Alk is going up or down and off the top of my I don't remember which way you go, but it's dependent on which way your Alk is going if you turn the effluent up or down......
 
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eric b 125

Guest
Well from what I understand, a calcium reactor adds Ca and Alk in equal proportions. The problem I'm having understanding at this point is how to adjust depending on what happens to my Alk over a given period. I really don't want to overdose my tank and cause a crash. In order to adjust the amount of Alk given to the system you have to adjust the bubbles in the bubble counter (coming from the CO2 bottle) and the amount of drops/minute from the effluent line.
I found this short article, hope it's cool to post a link to: http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/setting-calcium-reactor-ph-controller
I'm just crazy nervous of killing a lot of hard work, you know?
 
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eric b 125

Guest
BTW, Shawn, I really appreciate your help. I started a thread on the big site and haven't gotten any help from over there which is weird.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Sent you a PM....Hopefully you'll find some info your looking for, but I'll keep hunting....Now I can't find the other thread I was looking at earlier.
 
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eric b 125

Guest
Those were excellent. The second one you sent me was especially helpful with the steps and the trouble shooting. Thanks dude.
 
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eric b 125

Guest
I fried the pump on the reactor. I guess I didn't purge all of the air in it. I am having another one sent to me.
 
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