Hi, I’m new to calcium reactor tuning. After setting up this large system, here is a picture of my ph graph in the reactor. Question, is it normal to dose that much and have ph swing so frequently or show I lower ph in reactor more?
Calcium Reactor PH probe graph
- Thread starter Dmitri
- Start date
Looks about right to me.
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The ph level will increase or decrease the amount of alk and calcium dosed, i suggest tuning it to the tank demand for alk, don't worry so much about the graph. Its really hard to setup the reactor to maintain a certain ph level, that is why we have controllers to operate the co2 input.
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The swings in the reactor chamber are perfectly normal. As co2 is released the pH drops and as new tank water is drawn in it goes up. This will happen much faster than if there was no flow through the reactor due to the slow rate the media dissolves.
But if you don't have much demand for Alk & Cal those numbers will go up & up while the reactor is running. In a cycling tank the system will usually use more Alk than Cal. This will cause an imbalance with the reactor running.
I would think your system wouldn't need the reactor running for another 4-6 months but that will depend on the live coral mass in the system. How much coral have you got in there now Dmitri?
But if you don't have much demand for Alk & Cal those numbers will go up & up while the reactor is running. In a cycling tank the system will usually use more Alk than Cal. This will cause an imbalance with the reactor running.
I would think your system wouldn't need the reactor running for another 4-6 months but that will depend on the live coral mass in the system. How much coral have you got in there now Dmitri?
That rate isn't gonna have much of an effect to your system. What's your Cal & Mag at? As the bacteria colonizes all the surfaces in the system it will consume Alk and you'll see some swings in it. But the cal could start getting high. The WWC method looks to be a real good way to start a system, especially one as large as yours. They don't add coral or even turn the lights on for 3 or 4 months. There's a good video series on BRS.
I'd shut the carx down for a while, drained an all. Then just let the fish and feedings do their thing to the water and rock. After the initial measurements to the big 3 don't even worry about them for a few more months. Water changes will be enough. Pay attention to the NO3 and PO4 here and there though.
Ya I was thinking same thing @Adam. Cal is on point 455, mag is a bit high 1600 however snails aren’t dying yet 
I’ll send out ICP test next week and see the big picture.
I was going to test out some hardy stony coral frag in the frag tank next week as well once alk is at the level I want it to be.
But going back to dosing cal, does that sound typical when such high flow rate through the reactor?
If mag continues to go up, I’ll shut it down and do another water change.
I’ll send out ICP test next week and see the big picture.
I was going to test out some hardy stony coral frag in the frag tank next week as well once alk is at the level I want it to be.
But going back to dosing cal, does that sound typical when such high flow rate through the reactor?
If mag continues to go up, I’ll shut it down and do another water change.
Is the frag tank plumbed into the main system?
With the calcium, I don't think you would need to dose anything until you have coral in the main tank. And decent amount at that. A few frags aren't going to dent the big 3 with the total volume of water you have. The bacteria that consume some of the Alk don't use much if any Cal or Mag. So those will continue to climb as the carx does it's thing because there isn't anything but snails in there right now that will use any of those two. That's why I'd recommend shutting down the carx for now. Or just turn the CO2 off. Even with the small amount at 3-4 drops a second it will cause a build up running 24/7. A high flow rate through the reactor would be 50-75ml/min, that's just short of a solid stream and 3-4 drops a second is about 10-11ml/min. But at that low of a pH in the carx the effluent should be pretty potent.
After another 6 to 7 weeks you should be good to go. That's when to pay attention to Alk. Are you doing water changes? How much & how often?
With the calcium, I don't think you would need to dose anything until you have coral in the main tank. And decent amount at that. A few frags aren't going to dent the big 3 with the total volume of water you have. The bacteria that consume some of the Alk don't use much if any Cal or Mag. So those will continue to climb as the carx does it's thing because there isn't anything but snails in there right now that will use any of those two. That's why I'd recommend shutting down the carx for now. Or just turn the CO2 off. Even with the small amount at 3-4 drops a second it will cause a build up running 24/7. A high flow rate through the reactor would be 50-75ml/min, that's just short of a solid stream and 3-4 drops a second is about 10-11ml/min. But at that low of a pH in the carx the effluent should be pretty potent.
After another 6 to 7 weeks you should be good to go. That's when to pay attention to Alk. Are you doing water changes? How much & how often?
Frag tank is connected to the main system.
I think I’ll turn off cal reactor CO2 and let it run w/o it for a while and keep checking on cal / mag weekly.
As far as water changes, I’ve once done it once so far. Just about 270gallons change. I tested alk level after and it went from 7.1 to 7.4
This system been running since Mother’s Day.
I think letting the system mature on its own is best. I've seen too many problems with people dosing to quickly, myself included. With no sand and a system as big as yours you don't want to deal with alk precipitation because it will happen in much worse places than the sand bed. Pumps, UV, heaters... that will cause hours of wasted time cleaning them with vinegar. Been there done that.
The system is in the second stage of maturing and will go through several changes over the 1st year. Putting a few lower cost frags in the frag tank won't use up enough of anything that would cause you to dose. You've got a lot of water so it's going to take a decent amount of coral mass to lower things. A birds nest frag would be a good choice. And maybe a stylo. I know after all the work you put in its tough to wait but it'll be worth it in the long run. Let the 1st 4 months go by before adding much more. Keep the main lights to a min during this time too. It'll help with algae problems. After that go nuts and add a bunch over the next couple months.
Watch those vids on BRS's channel on what WWC does starting systems. Good info there!
What PH do you have your controllers set at? I have mine set at on at >6.65 and off at <6.64. Am I doing it wrong? Attached is my graph
0.01 is pretty damn tight and causes a hell of a lot of cycling on the solenoid. I'd go 0.05 or 0.1.
I run mine at 0.1 <6.7 on & >6.6 off. Looks like you're right in the middle of that and if you made the switch to it the system probably wouldn't notice. Still be a good idea to back that up with a little testing if you do.
Here's my graph:
I had to back the date up a bit because of some power flickering during a storm on the 5th.
Here's another zomed down to the last 36hrs or so:
@lshin037 another thing you can do is go into the outlet for the solenoid and check the box to log enable. Then wait a bit and look at the output log to see how often it's cycling. I think you'll be amazed with it set to 0.01. Mine has about 20min for a full cycle On-Off-On. Which is On for about 5min then off for 15min and back on. It varies some but that's the average.
You must have your bubble count set pretty high. Mine's on for around 25 minutes and off for 5 min...completely the opposite of yours.
Changed my setting to have a range of .05 and see how it goes. If it holds steady, i'll probably change to .1 range.
My bubble count is set at 65 to 75/min. Effluent flow is at 55ml/min and I adjust the Alk/Cal with the pH setting.
I have mine set to about 55/min and effluent at almost a stream. Dont know the flow rate as Im using a basic masterflex and never measured it.
