Need a new calcium reactor Opinions

[sailfish]

Well it looks like I need a new larger calcium reactor. I love my GEO 612 but it's just not going to keep up with my tank much longer.

I am thinking of getting another GEO but may see what Tim & Raj can come up with for me.

Here is my question is the rating on these based on how much media they can hold? From what I can tell I will need one that can hold double what I have now which is about 8.5 lbs. I am running my effluent at 100ml a minute so if I double capacity all things being equal I should end up around 50 ml which sounds good to me.

So if I get a Geo I need the 624 or one of the commercial line units from MRC.

Anyone out there have any recommendations for a large heavily stocked total water volume 220 gal system.

Is my logic correct for deciding on the size of the unit I need?

Thanks Joe

 

[derek_s]

At first I would say the second chamber would not work, but if you pump more CO2 into the system, maybe. THe only problem I see is that the 2nd chamber does not recirculate, so the efficiency is decreased, I would think.

Joe, just get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and dolphin pump and build your own. That'll be a beast.

 

[sailfish]

Forgot to mention that. I just had MRC build me another chamber and it allowed me to reduce my effluent by 20 to 30 ml. I actualy have another 8.5 to 9 lbs of media in there.

I think you really need most of the media in the first chamber to get the most out of it.

I plan on keeping the 2nd chamber and just getting a larger single chamber unit. Like the geo 624 or one like the commercial line from MRC.

Joe

 

[derek_s]

Maybe it has something to do with the dwell time of the CO2 rich water in a bigger chamber as opposed to a smaller one? Maybe a small one passes the CO2 water through too quickly to effectively dissolve the media in a high demand situation, thus the tank PH drops because so much co2 is being dumped?

I'm just postulating, though.Maybe like 2 skimmers, both with the same size pump. The bigger one will still outperform the smaller if all else is the same, just because teh contact time is increased. Maybe apples and oranges though.

 

[FutureInterest]

I still use a dinky coralife calcium reactor and my total water volume is 270 with the display and frag tank all plumbed together. So far its kept my Ca and Alk where I want it... You need to upgrade to a coralife .

 

[acroholic]

Joe,
My reactor is a GEO 618 and it keeps my calcium and alk levels where they should be, and I have more water than you do (275 gallons net), and you know the amount of SPS I have.

Nothing wrong with a larger reactor, but do you think you may be overestimating your size needs, or are your colonies pulling a lot more calcium out than mine?

I am not seeing the need for a two chamber calcium reactor because I use a Nilsen as well, which offsets the pH lowering from my calcium reactor effluent and sulfur denitrator effluent.

But definitily check out the new MRC Nilsen stirrers as well as their calcium reactors. The blue line pumps they use are insane! Like putting a V8 on a riding mower. Tim Allen type stuff!
Dave

 

[sailfish]

I am not entirely sure thats why I posted this. I know that the PH in the 2nd chameber usually drops below what you need to efficently desolve the media.
I have lowered the PH in the first chamber to 6.4 from 6.5. I am hesitant to drop it much more with hearing from somone who has done it with out melting the media.

Before I had the 2nd chamber my effluent had a PH of 6.7 to 6.8 which is to high to deslove the media. You need 6.5.

Joe

 

[FutureInterest]

I don't chase ph numbers with my ca reactor cause those numbers drift over the probe's life no matter how much you calibrate it. I just measure the amount of Alk in the effluent and make sure that stays consistent.

 

[sailfish]

As far estimating size I am not sure. If I run a 612 and run at 100ml plus then all thing being equal 624 would cut my rate in half because it holds twice as much media.

You also run a Nelsion which adds calcium and helps with DKH. All I know is my dkh is 8.8 and I used to run it at 9.5 to 10.5. So to get it were I would like I need a larger unit and in my experiance my demand will only increase. I do not want to ever have to buy another one so I would rather buy a larger one anyhow.

Acroholic;308014 wrote: Joe,
My reactor is a GEO 618 and it keeps my calcium and alk levels where they should be, and I have more water than you do (275 gallons net), and you know the amount of SPS I have.

Nothing wrong with a larger reactor, but do you think you may be overestimating your size needs, or are your colonies pulling a lot more calcium out than mine?

I am not seeing the need for a two chamber calcium reactor because I use a Nilsen as well, which offsets the pH lowering from my calcium reactor effluent and sulfur denitrator effluent.

But definitily check out the new MRC Nilsen stirrers as well as their calcium reactors. The blue line pumps they use are insane! Like putting a V8 on a riding mower. Tim Allen type stuff!
Dave

 

[FutureInterest]

ares;308020 wrote: I had read that the caribsea ARM media only needs like 6.7.

but not everything I read is right...

This is true but carbisea media is crap imo. After using that media I got from Lee, I won't use anything else. I had to swap the caribsea stuff out often as a lot of it simply won't dissolve and I have a tiny lil reactor.

 

[sailfish]

That might be right for small media but I run large media and that is what is suggested for the unit.

Joe

ares;308020 wrote: I had read that the caribsea ARM media only needs like 6.7.

but not everything I read is right...

 

[derek_s]

WHat media does Lee get? Whats the good stuff?

 

[glxtrix]

Turn down your drip a little more...that should raise the DKH of the drip and essentially up your levels being dosed into the tank. You may have to turn down the pH 6.3...which for the large media you're using, will be fine. I ran mine at that level when I had my fully stocked SPS tank.

 

[glxtrix]

I run the GenX large media. I heard people can get that down to 6.2. I ran mine at 6.3 when my tank was fully stocked, but now it's at 6.5.

 

[FutureInterest]

Its like crack rock. It's that good. It starts with a G. It dissolves evenly and consistently whereas my experience with caribsea is that it dissolves great for a lil while and then peters out way before the media chamber is significantly reduced. No idea why.

edit: thanks lee. gen-x.

 

[sailfish]

Ares you may be right but I don't play aorund with my tank like that.

I am hoping somone on this site can tell me. I know someone here has had to upgrade their reactor.lol I don't know if my logic is correct but think it is.

Where is Dany or Raj if they don't know go ask Tim for me.

I have genx media in the first chamber and carb sea in the 2nd. I will turn the PH down to 6.3 and see how that goes.

Thanks Guys

 

[glxtrix]

Yes I've found that the Gen-X media is by far superior to ARM. I ran the small ARM media, and while it's nice, it does dissolve inconsistently and did an slightly less than impressive job with keeping up with my tanks demand. I did have a huge dual chamber reactor at the time too. This Gen-X large media is very nice and people over on RC have had nothing but great things to say about it. I've been running it now for about a year and have had no problems with it.

 

[glxtrix]

It's all about raising that DKH out from the reactor in order to up the leves being does. The only ways to do that is the up the rate of CO2, so lowering the pH monitor, or reducing the drip into your tank. Essentially though, those two will play along with how the monitor is set.

 

[acroholic]

I'm running Caribsea ARM large and haven't had any issues with it. I wonder how the Caribsea large compares to the Gen-X large?

The once or twice I have had to mess with settings after setting up my GEO, I usually turn the setpoint of the pH controller up or down if I need to decrease of increase my KH.

Dave

 

[glxtrix]

ares;308040 wrote: no phosphates in the gen-x media I presume?

None that I have ran into. And people on RC have said it's some of the cleanest media around.