Problems with calcium reactor, where to start?

[matt2364]

Hello -
I have had a calcium reactor set up for a few months and everything was working fine. Recently I almost ran out of C02 so I went and refilled it, it seems that since I refilled it the PH of the effluent will not get below 7.6. I have this on a 55 gallon reef so I have my calcium reactor turn on twice a day for a few hours, this kept everything stable.
I see the Co2 bubbles constantly coming up into the system while it is on, I am not sure why the PH is not lowering. Where should I start to try to figure out what is wrong?
Calcium reactor is a lifereef LCM1 or something like that, it is rated for up to 350-400 gallons I think.
Thanks in advance.

 

[scsinet]

Well if the effluent pH is not dropping, then either the Co2 is not flowing in fast enough or the flow through the unit is too fast.
Have you considered running it constantly, just with a slower Co2 drip rate? Is there some reason why you aren't?

 

[matt2364]

Alright, I am not sure why it would have suddenly changed, it had been working fine for 3-4 months. I went ahead and increased the bubble count to around 100 bubbles a minute. It is monitored by a PH meter so I guess it does not matter how many bubbles per minute since it will shut off at a given PH level. Anyways, it has been a half an hour and it has decreased from 7.8 to 7.4. I will keep you aprised of the situation.
The drip rate of the effluent is about 1 drop per 1-2 seconds.

 

[matt2364]

Alright, I had it running all night and it never went below 7.1. Keep in mind that I have the bubble count probably 6-8x faster than I used to run it and I slowed the effluent drip rate a little lower than I used to run it...not sure what else to try.