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#1
12/23/2007, 12:36 AM
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i need a bigger calcium reactor what should i get?
well my current reactor an MRC-CR2 is barely keeping up with my calcium and alk demand... i have that thing full blast right now and im still dosing with extra alk powder every few days and run Kalk in my top off water..... what should i get??
the mrc has worked well but its just too small now... the chambers are skinny so im guessing i need a 2 chamber one again but a bigger first chamber now so it can hold more media and more media can break down with all the extra surface area... right now my reactor is doing about 180 bubbles per minute and about 360ml of effluent each minute so u can see its a fast full stream and a very fast bubble count... this keeps the effluent at 6.45 coming out of the first chamber my tank is at right now 9dkh calcium is 420 so things are doin good but thats with dosing all the time... so please recommend something that would work better that way i dont go through so much CO2 lol
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Justin MASVC member |
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#2
12/23/2007, 01:32 AM
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justin, check these guys out. also, you might have to go custom to get the size you need. sean.
http://www.marinetechnical.com/page12.html |
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#3
12/23/2007, 01:32 AM
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justin, check these guys out. also, you might have to go custom to get the size you need. sean.
http://www.marinetechnical.com/page12.html |
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#5
12/23/2007, 01:52 AM
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ian mine holds 7lbs in each chamber i need to get one that holds 14lbs in the first and then 7 in the next lol my tank just loves calcium and alk compliments of my huge clam
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Justin MASVC member |
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#6
12/23/2007, 02:04 AM
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Have you looked into a GEO 624. I was told by GEO that it will do a 500 gla SPS system with no problems. It hold 16 lb of media and will give you room if you upgrade.
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch..._Code=creactor |
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#8
12/23/2007, 12:30 PM
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I have a MTC Pro cal on a 750 gal total system. Have no problems maintaining alk or calcium.
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#9
12/23/2007, 12:44 PM
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a geo 624 should work great for your needs.i run a 618 and with a total system volume of approx 200g and i am no where near maxing out the reactor.
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click the little red house for my 150g build thread. |
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#10
12/23/2007, 06:14 PM
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Those are all good choices. Another one to look at if you are considering a dual chamber unit:
Barr Aquatics designed, now license built by Austin Oceans MoCalc reactors are easily the best bang for the buck. They give you Deltec like DKH numbers for 1/2 the price. http://austinoceans.com/products-calciumreactors.html Here's a comparison chart against many of the German reactors. http://austinoceans.com/mocalcvsgermans.html It doesn't get any better! James
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Old Reefers Never Die, they just...join the crew! |
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#11
12/23/2007, 08:32 PM
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There's no doubt in my mind that i would use GEO again and again and again.
Customer service is far superior than any other product I've used over the last 15 years. I run 618 so far so good. full sps. |
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#12
12/25/2007, 08:32 PM
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Procal for me and I could not be happier. Steady flow,well build and no adjustment need it after dial in.
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Anthony I will trade my golf swing for your tyree frag. |
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#14
12/25/2007, 09:33 PM
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murp:
What media are you using in your reactor? If it has the spray bar remove it and if you are using a mag drive pump replace it with the panworld 10 ARM media will increase the capacity some. What is your efffluent flow and PH in the first chamber?
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Did I write what I wrote? What the heck am I talking about! Well..... Nevermind. |
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#15
12/25/2007, 09:47 PM
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jdieck
i am running the spray bar i roginally wasnt then i talked to MRC and they said the spray bar would help so i bought that whole setup afterwards to convert it... im running the mag drive pump i believe its only a mag 2.5 or 3 something like that as i counted the other night my bubble count was around 180 bpm.... and the effluent was around 360ml a minute with a ph in the first chamber of 6.4-6.5 using my pinpoint in line ph probe... if i slow down the flow any and the bubbles it just doesnt keep up with the demand of my tank even at that rate im still dosing every few days a spoon full of soda ash and im also dosing with kalk top off water... whats your suggestions?? oh BTW i am runing small ARM media
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Justin MASVC member |
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#16
12/26/2007, 01:22 AM
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Quote:
Can you test the effluent's Alkalinity? That will be a way to know. If the alkalinity of the effluent is relatively low (20 dKh or less) I would try reducing the effluent flow to about 150 ml/min but leaving the same 180 to 200 bpm. Regarding the recirculation, the more times the flow turns in the first chamber the better the retention time and the better the saturation. Again if the effluent dKh is relatively low, thet could be a sign that the spray bar is increasing the pressure drop and reducing the recirculation times. You may want to try also without the spray bar, thatt will increase the number of turns and at the same time pass the water trough the whole media column.
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Did I write what I wrote? What the heck am I talking about! Well..... Nevermind. |
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#17
12/26/2007, 01:29 AM
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yeah that totally makes sence what your saying!
when i test the alk coming out of the reactor its only at 12dkh so it is very low meaning my effluent is going very fast and the CO2 doesnt have enough time to break down that much media... but anytime ive turned down the effluent to get a higher Alk reading out of the reactor it just cant keep up with my demand and Alk drops very fast... if i lower the effluent and keep the BPM the same of CO2 then the Ph gets too low and the Arm media gets mushy and starts to melt and thats just no fun ive done that before and had to clean it out... so thats my quandry... thats why my opinion was to get a bigger reactor with a larger first chamber one that hodls more media and that has a bigger recirc pump and can get more media to disolve than my MRC-CR2 can,.... what do you think?? even without the spray bar it cant keep up i got the spray bar not too long ago to see if it would help but its the same either way the Mag pump has such little flow too... im surprized my tanks Ph stays up high with so muich effluent getting dumped into the tank i do have the effluent go into a big 44oz cup first where i have some bubble stones that help blow off any excess CO2 before the effluent goes into the tank... the tanks Ph stays between 7.9-8.2 night and day cycle... the Ph monitor probe was just calibrated about 2 months ago as well so i think its farely accurate thanks for your help and i appreciate any other suggestions you can give me!
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Justin MASVC member |
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#19
12/26/2007, 09:28 AM
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Quote:
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#20
12/26/2007, 12:56 PM
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Quote:
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Greg C. SPS = Stability Promotes Success Be wary of advice coming from those who will not show you the fruits of their success! |
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#21
12/26/2007, 04:01 PM
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Quote:
On the other hand with an effluent of 25 dKh you will only need 63 ml/min! Here is my recommendation. Remove the spray bar, reduce your effluent rate to 100 ml/min and readjust the CO2 to maintain a first chamber PH of 6.4 and STOP aerating the effluent. no more airstones. When you artificially increase the PH of the effluent you also increase the omega value of the solution thus the alkalinity and calcium dissolved in the effluent precipitate back into calcium carbonate thus negating the dissolution created by the reactor. With the new settings and no aeration your effluent PH out of the second chamber should be around 6.5 and the dKh of the effluent should be higher than 20 dKh. So try this things bfore spending in a new reactor. The next cheapest thing to try if the recirculating pump flow is too small is to replace the small ARM media in the first chamber to large ARM or Gen-X media, that will ncrease the recirculation and increase the virtual lenght of the reaction chamber and retention time.
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Did I write what I wrote? What the heck am I talking about! Well..... Nevermind. Last edited by jdieck; 12/26/2007 at 04:18 PM. |
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#22
12/26/2007, 04:23 PM
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Quote:
In my tests for a dual 4.5" chamber reactor the maximum practical effluent rate is around 90 to 125 ml/min.
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Did I write what I wrote? What the heck am I talking about! Well..... Nevermind. |
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#23
12/26/2007, 08:36 PM
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thanks for all your help everyone especially you jdieck!
im just confused cuza everytime i try to slow it down it cant keep up... would it be worth it to get a bigger recirc pump instead of a mag 2 go to a mag 3?? i can take the airaition out of the equation but i dont see how that affects the readings cuz the cup where the effluent goes has no precipitate in the bottom to show that is happening.... i can take the spray bar out but i got it cuz MRC said it would help disperce the CO2 better and make it more effective?? im getting conflicting info so i appreciate anything you can tell me! here is a pic of my reactor from tonight i filled both tubes about 10 weeks ago to the top so thats how much my tank has used sicne then  here is a pic of my tank the fastest and most calcium demanding animals in the tank is the clam centered its doubled in size since a yer and a half ago... that green/blue tipped slimer has grown that big in 6 months from a small aqua cultured piece... my table and valida are also fast growers... could it be possible this is just too small for my tank?? that there isnt enough media in the first chamber to disolve fast enought to keep up with the demand?? MRC says its rated for 500-700g's but i dont know   
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Justin MASVC member |
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#24
12/27/2007, 07:16 AM
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Yes, the main reason I am recomending removing the spray bar is because the pump is too small (The MAG 2 is equivalent to a MJ 1200!), the water can't properly recirculate and because it is taken from the top of the first chamber it passes mostly unreacted to the second one. The 12 dKh you can get basically by passing the water trough the 2nd chamber alone.
I had not recommended the pump change as I wanted to try all other adjustments first before spending $$, the pump I would recommend will be an Iwaki 20 if interested in the switch. On a side note, try to keep the PH probe vertical as gas may accumulate in the probe T and upside down it may become dry or measure a mix of water and CO2 which may make it look lower than it is. Regarding the aeration, measure the alkalinity before and after aeration, that will be a better indication. Note that aeration may not create precipitation if you only have 12 dKh before it but once you fix the reactor and start getting 20+ dKh it will be more of an issue.
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Did I write what I wrote? What the heck am I talking about! Well..... Nevermind. Last edited by jdieck; 12/27/2007 at 07:23 AM. |
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#25
12/27/2007, 10:47 AM
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well i took the reactor apart last night and i cleaned it up set it back together and it might be running better now... one thing i did do which i think might have changed it delt with the spray bar aparatus....
i actually kept the spray bar in place but when thinking about the spray bar which goes from top to bottom of the chamber had no cap at the bottom end of it so the effluent would go straight threw the media without using up the CO2. does this make sence?? so i ended up capping off the bottom of the spray bar so now when water goes into the spray bar its forced into the media threw the sprayholes instead of shooting straight threw the chamber and back to the bottom... so as far as last night goes i was messing with it for some time trying to get it to run right but i ran out of Alk test so i ordered a few more which should be here shortly... i now set the reactor to a BPM of CO2 around 120-140 and an elluent rate more like 120ml and the Ph probe is reading 6.55out of the first chamber and 6.7 out of the second chamber the last alk i had a chance to measure was around 20dkh so i think this is helping to recirculate the effluent better with the capped off spray bar... maybe they missed that piece when they sent it to me?? ill remeasure alk tonight when i get home but how does this sound does it seem like i might have worked it out a bit better?? i now notice my Ph doesnt drop as low with slower effluent rates as before... before if i ran my effluent that low the ph reader would drop below 6 out of the first chamber but i think that was becuz th gas was just flowing threw and hitting the prode making it read low but now i think the CO2 is actually getting used and disolving the media and the Ph isnt dropping so low becuz the spray bar is working.... please correct me if im wrong i really appreciate your help and insightful knowledge... i thought i knew most but you deffinately know your reactors?? is it also better to go for larger media?? justin
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Justin MASVC member |
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