Apex, Calcium Reactor and Alkatronic - Help in setup

[Imaburch]

Merry Christmas reefing family.
I need some help, I have run an Apex with a Trident for the last 2 years but recently dove into the world of SPS (I bought a lot of SPS from a guy closing down his tank locally). In preparation of all the new additions and in the spirit of good husbandry, I bought a Calcium Reactor setup and also found a great deal on a Alkatronics.

My question is, is there a way to use all 3 to achieve constant Alk and Cal? I have the Neptune selonoid on my CO2 that is ran by the PH probe connected to my Apex. I have been in the hobby for 4 years with success with my SPS and fish. At this point I am not sure what the best way to set everything up or missing something.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

 

[KrisReef]

I run a calcium reactor, but not the other machines. The Ca reactor handles all my alk needs and keeps Calcium solid ~400ppm.

If you run the calcium reactor slower than the requirements of the tank, I would presume that the Alkatronic would measure and fill in the needed alkalinity in concert with the reactor?

 

[Imaburch]

I run a calcium reactor, but not the other machines. The Ca reactor handles all my alk needs and keeps Calcium solid ~400ppm.

If you run the calcium reactor slower than the requirements of the tank, I would presume that the Alkatronic would measure and fill in the needed alkalinity in concert with the reactor?

Thanks for responding Kris

What I am trying to figure out is how I can create more stability with the Cal Reactor using the Apex and Alkatronic. I know its being done and the guy I bought the SPS and Alkatronic from used it but he also was a major "Tech Guy" and used Hydros somehow.

I am just lost in how to set this all up because may Alk is still up and down.

 

[cilyjr]

You said you had an apex with a Trident.

You do not need the alkatronic.

You set the ca reactor up and get dripping somewhere near your needs. Then for a secondary maybe 2 part (I use a kalkwasser reactor) you allow the apex to "control" the secondary dosing.

There is a video on the Neptune DOS setup on how to achieve this.

 

[Imaburch]

You said you had an apex with a Trident.

You do not need the alkatronic.

You set the ca reactor up and get dripping somewhere near your needs. Then for a secondary maybe 2 part (I use a kalkwasser reactor) you allow the apex to "control" the secondary dosing.

There is a video on the Neptune DOS setup on how to achieve this.

Yes, I do have the trident and my thought was that the Alkatronic can test every 4 hours (and is a lot cheaper to test than the Trident) and give me the readings to adjust the output of my Cal Reactor through the Apex and the Apex controlled solenoid to have a better stability.

 

[X-37B]

You really dont need all that equipment to run a carx, imo.
I just set my bubble count using my 2 stage regulator and then use a Kamoer pump to set the effluent . No controller or ph meter needed. This keeps alk very stable and is pretty much set and forget.

 

[cilyjr]

You really dont need all that equipment to run a carx, imo.
I just set my bubble count using my 2 stage regulator and then use a Kamoer pump to set the effluent . No controller or ph meter needed. This keeps alk very stable and is pretty much set and forget.

One does not "need" it. That said,
I set up my 1st calcium reactor in 2007 and I've never had a "set and forget" setup. Growth spurts, new additions, slow grow periods all account for variable demands.
Over the years, I've add a peristaltic pump, a carbon doser (a more easily controlled regulator). And now most recently, the apex controlled kalkwasser dosing (I've always run kalkwasser in tandem with my CARX) I have found it to be rock solid!
I go on vacation with no worries. It will even handle "growth spurts" and less potent kalkwasser from the reactor as it gets near needing a refill.
It sure makes it easier.

 

[cilyjr]

Yes, I do have the trident and my thought was that the Alkatronic can test every 4 hours (and is a lot cheaper to test than the Trident) and give me the readings to adjust the output of my Cal Reactor through the Apex and the Apex controlled solenoid to have a better stability.

I use generic reagents.

I would not use that solenoid to control the addition of CO2. I plug the regulator into a controlled plug and simply have pH. Turn that plug off or on. If you try to do it with the solenoid, the CO2 will consistently be pushed into the tube before the solenoid and will either pop the tube or force the solenoid open from pressure.

I would also not have the solenoid control the amount of drip coming from the reactor for similar reasons of pressure from both CO2 and the feed pump. It is best practice to let it consistently run through the reactor at whichever speed you set.

The Trident can also check every four hours, this is what I have it set for. You can even have it go every hour if you really want

 

[cilyjr]

You certainly can use the Alkatronic if you choose.
Again, I would set up the calcium reactor to have a regular drip and have a pH probe that regulates weather the regulator is on or off.
Get the pH range in the calcium reactor somewhere in the mid to upper 6 (slightly acidic) then have a regular drip from a peristaltic pump. This will handle your baseline calcium and alkalinity needs.
Next, have the Alkatronic adjust your supplementary dosing. But as stated before, you can also just use the apex Trident for this. Then sell the alkatronic and buy a bunch more reagents.
I have no experience with this machine so I could not tell you if I felt like it was a better quality machine than the apex trident.

 

[Imaburch]

I use generic reagents.

I would not use that solenoid to control the addition of CO2. I plug the regulator into a controlled plug and simply have pH. Turn that plug off or on. If you try to do it with the solenoid, the CO2 will consistently be pushed into the tube before the solenoid and will either pop the tube or force the solenoid open from pressure.

I would also not have the solenoid control the amount of drip coming from the reactor for similar reasons of pressure from both CO2 and the feed pump. It is best practice to let it consistently run through the reactor at whichever speed you set.

The Trident can also check every four hours, this is what I have it set for. You can even have it go every hour if you really want

Which reagents do you use?

Also, I have the Tunze regulator and it did not have a solenoid so that is why I used the Apex SV-1. I do not have a feed pump setup. The water to the Cal Reactor comes from my manifole and than I have it dripping with the use of a pin valve to the sump.

Do I have this setup wrong?

 

[cilyjr]

You can certainly drip the water in that way. I did it like that once.

If the regulator is always open but the solenoid is opening and closing behind it. Pressure is building up between the solenoid and the regulator. Eventually there'll be enough pressure to either burst the tube between them or force that normally closed solenoid to open.
Does that make sense what I explained?

 

[Imaburch]

You can certainly drip the water in that way. I did it like that once.

If the regulator is always open but the solenoid is opening and closing behind it. Pressure is building up between the solenoid and the regulator. Eventually there'll be enough pressure to either burst the tube between them or force that normally closed solenoid to open.
Does that make sense what I explained?

Yes it does. Show how do I need to set it up, if you don't mind helping me in that.

 

[cilyjr]

Yes it does. Show how do I need to set it up, if you don't mind helping me in that.

Generally hobby CO2 regulator will have a simple normally closed solenoid built into it.
Like the Milwaukee one. If one were to control via the apex you would plug that into a controlled outlet then allow ph2 to regulate the pH inside of the reaction chamber. Because the solenoid is built into the regulator, it is capable of handling the pressure.

The more advanced regulator is the carbon doser. It opens and closes based on a timer and can be sent from a 10th of a second to 10 seconds. Though I use, and prefer it, It is expensive and unnecessary.

 

[cilyjr]

Can you post exactly which regulator you are using?
There are a lot of regulators that are all mechanical, meaning there is no electronic solenoid, and you can use them for sure but it will have less "controllability".
You will need to set and watch the pH and adjust the needle valve until the pH in the reaction chamber is fairly consistent.

 

[Imaburch]

Iam using the

Tunze CO2 Regulator 7077.3​

 

[Imaburch]

This is a pic of the setup. The SV-1 (solenoid) is connected to my apex and it controls the opening and closing according to my PH probe in the main chamber of the reactor.

 

[Imaburch]