Shut off co2 to Ca reactor at night?

[jimmyj7090]

I'm setting up my Ca reactor and I'm wondering about what seems to be a obvious question. Would it make sense to shut the Co2 off for a few hours at night so as to minimize the PH shift. My PH doesen't change excessively between day and night but by shutting off the Co2 for a few hours during the night it would be more stable.

I see PH up to 8.65 day and as low as 8.4 night (with reverse daylight cycyle ref., but it is only 8 gal ref on a 175 system).

I'm running a My reef CR-2 reactor so it should be plenty to handle my needs (rated at 500G).

Any opinions or experiences with this? My PH shift is very slight anyway but I've never seen anyone talking about this as an option and I wonder what people think.

thanks
jk

[Mike W]

It takes a while for enough CO2 to build up in the reaction chamber(mix with the water) to lower the PH to the point of chemically reacting with the media. The reactor will probably just start to get going when you are ready to turn the CO2 off for the night. Seems like a bad idea. If you have a good reactor you should not see much of a PH swing. My tank runs from 8.2 at night to 8.3-8.4 during the day.
You could also drip kalk slowly over the course of the night to keep you PH up.

[Tobyt]

I've been using an electronic solenoid on my CO2 and have it timed to turn off at night on my 50G. I've been happy with the pH stability. I also use a reverse lighting period on my refugium which also helps. I think larger tanks can buffer pH swings better so night/day CO2 should have less affect.