[Reefland]

Just curious how long it took you to get your calcium reactor tuned in?

We have had our reactor running since 2-11-05 and I am still having to tune it in. The one thing that is steady is the CO2 flow rate however the effluent rate over the course of a day or two slows and the effluent pH rises which obvously isn't helping dissolve the media.

I was just curious to se ehow long it takes everyone to get things dialed in.

[marxsman]

Scott,

I can't tell you from expeirience, but from what I was told by a LFS owner.
She suggested to me since I also have some calcium issues. She suggested that I test the magnesium level in the tank. I do not know what the proper level is but she stated that without theproper level of magnesium the water will not absorb the calcium. She also told me that sufficiant water swaps will hold magnesium levels granted that the salt water you use has nutrients. But she stated that if the tank lacks magnesium it will effect the cal reacter and you will always have to adjust becasue magnesium levels are falling and rising . FYI

Originally Posted by Reefland

Just curious how long it took you to get your calcium reactor tuned in?

We have had our reactor running since 2-11-05 and I am still having to tune it in. The one thing that is steady is the CO2 flow rate however the effluent rate over the course of a day or two slows and the effluent pH rises which obvously isn't helping dissolve the media.

I was just curious to se ehow long it takes everyone to get things dialed in.

[Reefland]

Hi marxman,

Although I am currently having some alk and ca problems, I don't think it's a magnesium related problem. It's simply because I let is become unbalanced when I was working a billion hours a week during christmas and didn't identify it until Jan. My calcium is currently at about 500 and my alk is at 2.6 mEq/L. I am working on raising the alk and lowering the ca through water changes and adding part 1 of a 2 part supplement.

My question was more about getting the calcium reactor to the point it was dialed in and wouldn't require more tuning. It seems that the effluent continually slows down until I open the valve a bit more. Surely eventually this will stabalize and will run at the effluent rate that I get set.

[ereefic]

How are you feeding the reactor? Got some pics of the setup?

[Reefland]

Taking a picture of it would be hard, it's very cluttered.

I have the reactor sitting next to my sump and is being fed by a MJ 1200. The output of the MJ 1200 has a small valve on it to control the effluent which I have been adjusting to keep the effluent pH at 7.0 (dual chamber reactor) with a bubble count of 30 per min. right now. The problem is the effluent rate doesn't stay steady, or at least it hasn't to this point. There is a continual slow down in the effluent rate until I open up the control valve a bit more to raise it back up.

[fishgeeksrus]

We are having the same problem. We have had our reactor for about 3 months. We have yet to get it dialed in properly. The co2 keeps backing off. Our calcium level was at 420 but the alk level was above 16. We have been told several things. One being that the specific regulator we have sucks!! (Milwaukee) It is known to do this. We have tried it at 10, 15 and 20 psi. It continues to back off. Then i spoke to the lfs where I bought it. His explanation is that it is suppose to be tied into my main return for the aquarium. Because it is running from a pump the water flow is not consistant. I should tap into the pvc from the main return and that will solve the problem. The pump that I am running is an eheim 1046/1048??? Whats funny is, at the time we bought the regulator. I told the person at this lfs that I would be running the reactor with this specific pump. I was told that it would be fine. HMMMM.....

[Reefland]

Typical advice huh? What don't make since to me about their comment is either way, whether using a small dedicated pump or tapping into the return line, the reactor is still going to be fed from a pump. Besides, I thought Milwaukee were the better regulators on available for hobbyist? I use the Milwaukee and despite some initial problems it seems to be working great as far as the pressure holding steady.

[fishgeeksrus]

Either way, we are going to hold off for a little while. We are getting ready to put an addition onto our house. If we do this then we are probably going to up-grade to a in-wall 240, in addition to upgrading a lot of other things.

[sdorsky]

[quote=Reefland] Typical advice huh? What don't make since to me about their comment is either way, whether using a small dedicated pump or tapping into the return line, the reactor is still going to be fed from a pump. Besides, I thought Milwaukee were the better regulators on available for hobbyist? I use the Milwaukee and despite some initial problems it seems to be working great as far as

I had problems with my Milwaukee controller and had it replaced twice. Never had a problem since. I have also found the people at MW to be very helpful on the phone.
I too feed my reactor with a mj 1200. My reactor has an inlet and an outlet valve. I use the outlet speed valve for the control and it seems to work well. ( I have the MRC dual stage reactor )

[zhenya]

Scott, have you tried installing small valve on the effluent hose? I'd recommend openning up your Maxijet fully and control effluent via small valve. You can either use air valve if that's the size of your hose or pick up one larger size at home depot in the irrigation section. They should have all sorts of plastic valves there.

[ereefic]

Yep, what Zhenya said. By putting the valve on the effluent side, you are pressurizing the reactor. By having the valve after the pump but before the reactor, your not pressurizing the reactor, in turn not getting a constant drip rate.

[Reefland]

Ahh I see. So I need to let the pump feed into the reactor at full throttle and then throttle back the effluent. I'll make that hose swap tonight and let you know how it goes.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Ahh I see. So I need to let the pump feed into the reactor at full throttle and then throttle back the effluent. I'll make that hose swap tonight and let you know how it goes.

Sorry about that,Scott, I should have told you this from the get go when you were setting it up. I forgot to mention it I think my brain needs to go somewhere where it's warm and take a long break from everything...

[Reefland]

That's ok, maybe it should have been set up like that initially but that's not what I gathered from the instructions. I'll definitely see if I can switch it around or maybe just pick up another valve so I don't have to go removing hoses and stuff. I can just open the first one off the way and throttle the effluent with a new one.

[Reefland]

Well I went to swap the lines in order to put the valve on the effluent hose however I must have it set up right because the control valve supplied only fits on the reactor input hose, teh effluent hose is smaller diameter. I have e-mail My Reef Creations to see what they think.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Well I went to swap the lines in order to put the valve on the effluent hose however I must have it set up right because the control valve supplied only fits on the reactor input hose, teh effluent hose is smaller diameter. I have e-mail My Reef Creations to see what they think.

Scott, I'm sure you can pick up a valve that will fit your effluent hose ?
Although, I must say that you are probably better off asking Andy.

[Reefland]

Yeah I am sure I can, I was hoping to just be able to swap though. I wonder if a hardware store has those little plastic valves like the one already on the unit?

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Yeah I am sure I can, I was hoping to just be able to swap though. I wonder if a hardware store has those little plastic valves like the one already on the unit?

Scott, I suppose it depends on the hardware store. I usually go to Home Depot and check in the irrigation isle where they have all sorts of fittings and plastic tubing, usually I'm able to find what I need. What size is that hose anyway?

Also, forgot to add that usually in the plumbing isle where they have pvc fittings, next to the pvc fittings they have John Guest type fittings of various sizes, perhaps one of those will work.

[Reefland]

I'm not sure of the exact size. It's a size smaller than the hose for the recirculation pump.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I'm not sure of the exact size. It's a size smaller than the hose for the recirculation pump.

I don't remember what those hoses looked like but I would harbor a guess that effluent hose is probably 1/2" or 3/8". slice a small piece off and take that to the store with you...