Calcium Reactor Primer: Theory and Fine Tuning

Hi Dave..

Great write up. I wa wondering if you could make a specific recomendation. I have a 110 reef that I am uilding and have opted for the neptue apex controller. I do aleady have an MRC P skimmer and am very impressed with it. Is there a particular ca reactor that you know of that will interface with my Neptune Apex better than others? Also, sice I don't have anything in the tank yet - just about to add water, when would I start the reactor up? Thanks,

Michael
 
michael grady;701164 wrote: Hi Dave..

Great write up. I wa wondering if you could make a specific recomendation. I have a 110 reef that I am uilding and have opted for the neptue apex controller. I do aleady have an MRC P skimmer and am very impressed with it. Is there a particular ca reactor that you know of that will interface with my Neptune Apex better than others? Also, sice I don't have anything in the tank yet - just about to add water, when would I start the reactor up? Thanks,

Michael
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Hi Michael,
Any calcium reactor will work the same with your Neptune, as all the controller will do is turn on or off the CO2 gas to the reactor based on the pH setpoint you program into the controller.

Regarding brands, there are many fine ones. For your tank or a future upgrade to a larger tank, the MRC CR-1 with spraybar and pH probe holder would be my choice if I used this brand. You might also look at the GEO 612 or 618 if you are going to go larger in the future. I use a GEO 818 for my 300 gallon tank, and a GEO 612 for my 100 gallon reef.

You can set up the reactor and set the drip rate any time, but do not bubble any CO2 into it until you are adding fish and corals. And the lighter the bioload in the tank, the higher you want to put your controller setpoint, as with few fish or corals, the tank will not need as much calcium, bicarb and magnesium as it would with a higher bioload. As your tank bioload increases (more fish/corals), you can slowly lower the setpoint, which will add more Ca, mag and bicarbonates. Test regularly during this time, as your goal is stability in the system for these three parameters.
 
Thanks for the advice Dave...looks like between 500 - 600 bucks for a reactor, once you add in the co2 tank etc. I guess there is no sense to just add one until my tank cycles and i begin to add stuff that takes up calcium.
 
126 reef;725682 wrote: I have a life reef calcium reactor have been avoiding setting up due to not fully understanding how to dial it in properly. I have decided to get a ph controller, and i wanted one for the reactor itself as well as the main tank to shut off the reactor if the display tank ph drops to low. Any suggestions for a reefer on a budget?
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get a controller to shutoff your calcium reactor if your ca or ph gets to a certain point and then to kick back on when it reaches another
 
Dave,

I'm in the process of gathering the parts for my calcium reactor - all I really need at this point is a pH monitor, and couldn't help but wonder if I should also be shooting for a second chamber for my reactor.

I have a Korallin c1502, but considered adding a basic second chamber because of some of the stories I've heard of the effluent dropping the alk so much and adding a second chamber helps reduce this.

As I understand it, basically all I would need is to plumb a second chamber from the output of the first and the output of the second into the return area of the tank.

What's the benefit, if any, of adding that second chamber? Is it worth the cost to do so?
 
jbadd99;746463 wrote: Dave,

I'm in the process of gathering the parts for my calcium reactor - all I really need at this point is a pH monitor, and couldn't help but wonder if I should also be shooting for a second chamber for my reactor.

I have a Korallin c1502, but considered adding a basic second chamber because of some of the stories I've heard of the effluent dropping the alk so much and adding a second chamber helps reduce this.

As I understand it, basically all I would need is to plumb a second chamber from the output of the first and the output of the second into the return area of the tank.

What's the benefit, if any, of adding that second chamber? Is it worth the cost to do so?
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Hi John,
You have the right idea. Plumbing a second chamber filled with calcareous media is supposed to help raise the pH of the effluent so you don't see a big system pH drop, since calcium reactor effluent can be 6.5 or less. It is also a way of getting more calcium dissolved into the system.

I have used them and not used them, and IME I have never seen a drop in system pH from not using one, and I have not seen any big benefit of using one. I believe the more important thing is to make sure your KH is in the proper range, as KH will buffer any low ph effluent entering the system.

You can have the reactor effluent exit near the protein skimmer intake, as this will help excess CO2 offgass from the effluent.

I personally think the idea that reactor effluent can crash a system is an urban legend in reefkeeping, and the only way you'd see a major drop in system pH would be if your KH was dangerously low to non-existent.

Having used and not used second chambers, I would not spend the money to set one up, unless you have a spare media reactor/media sitting around and just want to play around with a second chamber to see what happens.
Dave
 
Just to share some of my experience over the last 18 months with a Ca reactor. I could never get my reactor to produce enough Ca, Mg, and Alk to keep up with my tank. (My reactor is twice the size my tank needs too) I followed the instructions here but was always afraid to set my PH point below 6.4 for fear of turning all my media to mush and clogging things up. I finally dropped my PH in the reactor down to 6.2 and BAM! I had some great numbers in the tank there after. With a PH that low you can also melt dolomite for Mg. So, now I don't have to dose Mg either.

I also did see my tank PH increase by .05 by adding a second chamber with media to flow the effluent through. (Example, if I was always at 8.25 I went up to 8.3) By adding the extra chamber I also had less problems with the drip valve clogging.

Bottom line is folks need not be afraid to use a very wide range of PH set points to achieve desired results. While 6.4-6.5 seems to be the norm, it certainly isn't the law.
 
Seth The Wine Guy;809794 wrote: Just to share some of my experience over the last 18 months with a Ca reactor. I could never get my reactor to produce enough Ca, Mg, and Alk to keep up with my tank. (My reactor is twice the size my tank needs too) I followed the instructions here but was always afraid to set my PH point below 6.4 for fear of turning all my media to mush and clogging things up. I finally dropped my PH in the reactor down to 6.2 and BAM! I had some great numbers in the tank there after. With a PH that low you can also melt dolomite for Mg. So, now I don't have to dose Mg either.

I also did see my tank PH increase by .05 by adding a second chamber with media to flow the effluent through. (Example, if I was always at 8.25 I went up to 8.3) By adding the extra chamber I also had less problems with the drip valve clogging.

Bottom line is folks need not be afraid to use a very wide range of PH set points to achieve desired results. While 6.4-6.5 seems to be the norm, it certainly isn't the law.
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Seth, what type media are you using, and is it staying solid at a 6.2 setpoint?
 
I'm using Reborn</em> from Julian Sprung in the main chamber. You are of course, very familiar with the reactor I'm using. PH probe is less than 3 months old and last calibrated about a month ago.
 
Yes, it's solid. I got the idea to lower it that far when another member was at my house and commented he could never get his Ca reactor to keep up until he lowered it to 6.2. I had the same question you did and a little disbelief. After trying everything I could with mine, I figured I'd give it a go. Glad I dd.
 
If it works, then great. My calcium reactor is currently set at 6.85 and my dKH is at 9.5. Over the last couple years my average setpoint has been between 6.6-6.8. I am also doing kalk through a Nisen Stirrer, which contributes to the dKH as well, so I am certain my setpoint would be lower without the Kalk.
 
Seth, what is your drip rate? I'm going to try 6.2-6.4. 6.4-6.6 is not keeping up with the demand.
 
Ripped Tide;809948 wrote: Seth, what is your drip rate? I'm going to try 6.2-6.4. 6.4-6.6 is not keeping up with the demand.
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Sorry for the delay. 12ml per minute right now. I had it faster than that and my Ca, Mg, and Alk were all sky high.
 
Seth The Wine Guy;811005 wrote: Sorry for the delay. 12ml per minute right now. I had it faster than that and my Ca, Mg, and Alk were all sky high.
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hey seth. what is your c02 bubble rate with the 12ml/ min. i have mine at 60ml/min and 90 bpm and my controller cuts off at 6.2. alk still falls off very slowly. i have the geo612. i tried a slower effluent drip rate thinking it would give more dwell time, but wasnt much help
 
Dave, I might have missed this in the post. I am reading up on calcium reactors and plan to set mine up soon. So what controller do you use? I use RKE but with them you can only use one PH probe. Is that all that is needed? Or do you have one in the reactor and one in the sump? Also the meida for the second chamber do you use the same media as in the first chamber?
Thanks Bruce
 
bruce 1;820076 wrote: Dave, I might have missed this in the post. I am reading up on calcium reactors and plan to set mine up soon. So what controller do you use? I use RKE but with them you can only use one PH probe. Is that all that is needed? Or do you have one in the reactor and one in the sump? Also the meida for the second chamber do you use the same media as in the first chamber?
Thanks Bruce
Click to expand...

Hi Bruce,
I also have an RKE. You can run more than one pH probe, but you need a second SL1 or SL2 module to do it. I have an SL1 and SL2, and one has a pH probe going it not he sump to measure system pH, and the other is in the calcium reactor.

I have ARM extra coarse inthe reactor, and ARM coarse in the second media reactor. I did not intentionally use ARM Coarse in the second reactor, it was the only thing at the store available. Lots of folks here use TLF ReBorn with great results.
Dave
 
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