So I have been trying to tune my calcium reactor for weeks but either the effluent coming out isn’t enough or it’s to much, I am even using a pump that goes up by microliters and I go up just a little bit and that over shoots it’s some how, I have tried raising and lowering the ph in my reactor but that just makes it harder to get the effluent correct, as of right now my ph in my reactor is 7.80 and and my alkalinity was “stable” all day yesterday but now when I got up to go to work it had dropped from 9.0 to 8.6 and I’m guessing it won’t go back up to 9.0, does anyone have any suggestions on how I can’t tune my calcium reactor? I have watched every video online and read every post already
Calcium reactor effluent
- Thread starter elcapitan1993
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Reef Chemistry Calculator
reef.diesyst.com
Recipe #2, Part 2: The Alkalinity Part
Dissolve 297 grams of baking soda (about 1 1/8 cups) in enough water to make 1 gallon total. This dissolution may require a fair amount of mixing. Warming it speeds dissolution. This solution will contain about 950 meq/L of alkalinity (2660 dKH). As mentioned earlier, Arm & Hammer is a fine brand of baking soda to use in these recipes. Be sure to NOT use baking powder. Baking powder is a different material that often has phosphate as a main ingredient.
Once these two solutions are created, they can be added as frequently as necessary to maintain calcium and alkalinity. For further dosing instructions, see below.
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Yeah,
Been rolling exactly as the below video for four years, that method has been rock solid.
Forget tapping a manifold, your stream would just fluctuate.
All you need is a Sicce .5 as your feed pump.
You need to be measuring the dKH of your effluent not the dKH of your tank.
You should shoot for a stable number like 25 dKH in the effluent.
Don't worry about your tank yet just get the effluent to that dKH value. Also you do not want any CO2 build up inside the reactor. That means that you need to watch to see that there is no bubble accumulating at the top of the reactor. Keep adjusting your bubble count so that there are fewer bubbles until this stops. You should have a way to off gas the CO2 with your reactor. Once you are no longer getting CO2 accumulating and your effluent is at 25 dKH then you can calculate your "golden" ratio. This is the ratio of bubbles to the amount of water effluent. For me it is 1 bubble per 6 ml of water. Once you have this ratio then you can adjust your tank. If you want your tank dKH is higher then you will move the efluent up and you will also move the bubble count up by an amount of the ratio so that the ratio is preserved. This works in the same in the other direction.
In summary add more or less effluent based on your tank needs but keep your bubble count at the same ratio as you determined when you found the golden ratio.
It's a bit tricky but once you get the aha moment then you will wonder how you ever didn't get it.
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I’m confused on how this helps me tune my calcium reactor? , I appreciate the information though
I will give this a try thank you!!You need to be measuring the dKH of your effluent not the dKH of your tank.
You should shoot for a stable number like 25 dKH in the effluent.
Don't worry about your tank yet just get the effluent to that dKH value. Also you do not want any CO2 build up inside the reactor. That means that you need to watch to see that there is no bubble accumulating at the top of the reactor. Keep adjusting your bubble count so that there are fewer bubbles until this stops. You should have a way to off gas the CO2 with your reactor. Once you are no longer getting CO2 accumulating and your effluent is at 25 dKH then you can calculate your "golden" ratio. This is the ratio of bubbles to the amount of water effluent. For me it is 1 bubble per 6 ml of water. Once you have this ratio then you can adjust your tank. If you want your tank dKH is higher then you will move the efluent up and you will also move the bubble count up by an amount of the ratio so that the ratio is preserved. This works in the same in the other direction.
In summary add more or less effluent based on your tank needs but keep your bubble count at the same ratio as you determined when you found the golden ratio.
It's a bit tricky but once you get the aha moment then you will wonder how you ever didn't get it.
Sounds like you need to slow down. Whatever method of tuning you use, your CaRx will tend to settle on a some Dkh range. But that will happen several days later, up to a week. Therefore, imho the best way to set up CaRx is to pick some settings (e.g. 7.8 PH, 50ml/min), then wait a few days. Once your tank settles on a Dkh, if it’s not in your desired range, make a small adjustment to flow or PH depending on your method. Then wait again, rinse and repeat.
I myself only adjust PH in the reactor and keep the flow stable at 70ml/min. But you can also use other methods like keeping a steady bubble count and adjusting flow, etc. The key is to only adjust one setting at a time, make a very small adjustment at a time, then wait.
I myself only adjust PH in the reactor and keep the flow stable at 70ml/min. But you can also use other methods like keeping a steady bubble count and adjusting flow, etc. The key is to only adjust one setting at a time, make a very small adjustment at a time, then wait.
Think I had too many open windows and posted it in the wrong one. lol
What method are you using to control your reactor?
What equipment?
Reactor
Controller
Regulator
A ph of 7.8 in your reactor wont disslove anything.
Simplest way is to:
Count and set bubbles
Set ml per minite effluent
Measure dkh of effluent and it should be over 20dkh
Forget about reactor ph
What equipment?
Reactor
Controller
Regulator
A ph of 7.8 in your reactor wont disslove anything.
Simplest way is to:
Count and set bubbles
Set ml per minite effluent
Measure dkh of effluent and it should be over 20dkh
Forget about reactor ph
I am using the Aquamaxx T-1 reactor
Using the GHL profilux 4 as the controller
And the carbon doser version 2 as my regulator
effluent dkh is 15DKH or so at 7.8 PH
What was the outcome? Success?
Still working on tuning it
I'm going threw the same issue here buddy. It's either to much or to little. Using kamoer pump with it also. Think I'll just let it ride and see if it settles.
Yeah exactly!! I can’t seem to get it steady, one minute it’s going to high or to low, I’m using the versa and it can be changed with ultra liters and I still can’t get it
I'm thinking I will set the drip rate at a specific ml/min and use pH in reactor to match alkalinity demand then try fine tuning from there. Keep you posted
Yeah let me know how they works!
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Get your effluent to about 25 dKh by EITHER moving bubbles or effluent rate, but not both at the same time. When you get there, measure the effluent rate and count the bubbles - this is your ratio. Then raise or lower in this same ratio until the tank demands are met. I have no checked the pH in my reactor in over a decade.
I wrote a bunch about this in a paper linked in my signature.
I wrote a bunch about this in a paper linked in my signature.
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