Korallin CO2 help help

[bluetang22]

any experience please help me to set up.
i have S-1502 filled media 1/2 way cylinder, i have 2 question

1- what is outlet 1 and 2 which one is contain CO2 and whrere is 1 and 2 go?

2- what is the best way to feed water from sump to inlet pump or gravity

[gregr]

I'll help as best I can- I've been using a Korallin 1502 for a couple years now.
The two outlets are both effluent lines-- they both should drip into your sump. The line that comes out of the middle of the top of the reactor is acts as a sort of release valve for excess CO2 that builds up at the top of the inside of the reactor chamber. This outlet is supposed to be set to a fairly slow drip rate-- really just enough to allow that excess gas to escape.
The other outlet is the main effluent outlet. That should drip at a faster rate. What rate you ask? How big is your aquarium and how heavily is it stocked with corals? You want to aim for a pH of 6.6-6.8 for the effluent. A pH monitor makes life a little easier for this.
I use this pump to feed the reactor. They're cheap but they only seem to last about a year or so before they wear out. Some people just use a gravity feed (run an airline from the top of your tank down to the reactor) but I never was able to get the reactor to run consistently that way. Seems like it needs just a little more pressure than that.

[gregr]

Not sure if I made it clear- neither of the outlets contain CO2 (except the small amount that is saturated into the effluent). The CO2 line goes from the CO2 tank regulator ( via the solenoid and needle valve) to the bubble counter and then it gets injected into the Eheim pump on top of the reactor. Hope that makes sense.

[bluetang22]

thank you Gregr for reply and all info, that is exactly what i need and also
my tank is 120g, how many bubble/min CO2 you think i should set for ?

[gregr]

It depends on how much calcium your tank uses up so you'll have to do some testing during the break-in period to figure it out. You could probably base your settings off my tank as a starting point (just back off about 25%, assuming your bioload is similar to mine). I've got a fairly heavily stocked 150g tank. My set-up does roughly 24 bubbles per minute and 60-75 drips per minute coming out of the main effluent line (not the line that comes out of the top middle of the reactor- that one is maybe 10-15 drips per minute but does not stay very consistent for me-- sometimes it stops altogether and it doesn't really matter as long as the other line does stay consistent). The easiest way to make sure your drip and bubble rates are good is to make sure the effluent pH is between 6.6 and 6.8 and your calcium is in the 400-450 range. With those settings my tank stays pretty steady at 420. Try to keep up with 10-20% water changes every other week and you should have a real healthy system.

[bluetang22]

thanks, you got a beautiful tank

[gregr]

Sadly, it doesn't look like that anymore. I had a series of problems and I've been working hard to straighten things out for a long time. The calcium/alkalinity levels have stayed steady thoughout the algae wars though, thanks to that great reactor.