Korallin Calcium Reactor

[CamBarr]

Marinedepot.com use to have a metering valve but it cost about 80.00 just for the needle valve so i beleve they no longer carry them as they are a bit out of most of our price range.

So would your sugesstion be to set the working pressure to about 15-20 and just play whith the needle valve and hope for some consistancy, how do you usually measure your BPM???

also are there any plans for a slick looking drip cup or does anyone sell one???

[cstires]

I'm looking to purchase a reactor in the very near future, and I've read that Korallin are the best. I have a 120g sps tank, still very small frags and colonies, but I'm curretnly using a dosing pump that hasn't lived up to my expectations as of yet.

Will the 1502 be sufficient, and what all will I need to make this a simple of a setup as possible? I'm not going to lie, CA reactors scare me a little!!!

Any tips and help would GREATLY be appreciated!!!

Chris

[CamBarr]

as an update the new needle valve is much eaiser to use then the stock needle valve that comes on the M3 regs

cb

[jdieck]

Originally posted by CamBarr
as an update the new needle valve is much eaiser to use then the stock needle valve that comes on the M3 regs

cb

Yes as it is better than the ones that come with most regulators.

FOr a drip cup I really do not know of one specially made for the purpose although I have seen some DIY.
In any case any plastic cup will do. A plastic cup with a handle you can cut the bottom of the handle and hook it on the side of a thin rimmed sump.
Alternativelly just get a plastic cup or glass, drill some holes around the rim and hang it from whatever to keep it suspended above the water and just let it oveflow while placing the probe in it.
If you want to become more sophisticated you can build a probe sump where the effluent goes in from the bottom and comes out from the top, here are the plans:

[jdieck]

Originally posted by cstires
I'm looking to purchase a reactor in the very near future, and I've read that Korallin are the best. I have a 120g sps tank, still very small frags and colonies, but I'm curretnly using a dosing pump that hasn't lived up to my expectations as of yet.

Will the 1502 be sufficient, and what all will I need to make this a simple of a setup as possible? I'm not going to lie, CA reactors scare me a little!!!

Any tips and help would GREATLY be appreciated!!!

Chris

Yes a 1502 is a good reactor for a 120 as your coral grow you may want to add a second chamber but that will be way in the future.
You may want to also look at other brands, there are some other good and popular ones ones like the Geo, the MRC or the Reeftek
if you want to go for top of the line, IMO MTC (Marine Technical Concepts) will be the way to go.
New fluidized bed reactors like the Deltec are very efficient but IMO expensive, the media is also expensive and the design still needs some improvement fo find a way to prevent media particles from damaging the recirculation pump impeller.

What you will need basically is:
The reactor with bubble counter
A Co2 regulator dual gauge with adjustable pressure knob, needle valve and solenoid valve
(M3 is a good alternative and also regulators like the Milwaukee will do well)
A CO2 check valve
A PH monitor
A Cylinder of CO2 (Although there are smaller I recommend 20 pounds cap minimum) Consult your local welding store for availability, you may buy an exchangeable one so just trade empty for full.
Means to feed the reactor, usually a powerhead or an aqualifter pump.

Optional:
PH controller instead of monitor. Will make adjustment easier, more forgivable and increase safety.

Efluent flow meter (Gilmont unshielded Sz 13 tube) if the reactor does not come with one. Makes set up easier although you can use a measuring cup and stop watch to measure the effluent.

Effluent needle valve (if the reactor does not comes with one) almost certain you need one.

Potentially a more precise CO2 needle valve if you find that the CO2 bubble rate is difficult to set.

[SDguy]

Originally posted by CamBarr
as an update the new needle valve is much eaiser to use then the stock needle valve that comes on the M3 regs

cb

I have the M3 regulator. I am able to keep as low as 2 BPM constant. That said, I had HUGE problems with consistency at first. My problem was the brass check valve. Once I replaced it with an el cheapo plastic check valve, no more issues. JME.

[jdieck]

Originally posted by SDguy
I have the M3 regulator. I am able to keep as low as 2 BPM constant. That said, I had HUGE problems with consistency at first. My problem was the brass check valve. Once I replaced it with an el cheapo plastic check valve, no more issues. JME.

Very true, some check valves require pressure to open, pressure builds up then it opens and release the pressure all of a sudden then cut the flow again and the cycle repeats.

[CamBarr]

ok no bubbles???

Working pressure is 15psi and i had the BPM set last night at 10???? now no bubbles is this the check valve????

[cstires]

I was looking at the MRC models, but wasn't sure of their quality. I'm really looking for something that is well built and easy to adjust and maintain. Again, I'm used to a doser, so this reactor stuff is scaring me, expecially since half the stuff you guys are talking about, I've never heard of...

Anyway, I'll take another look at the MRC, Korallin, and Geo reactors. My LFS is trying to sell me a Deltec, but it's twice as expensive once everything is said for...

[jdieck]

Originally posted by CamBarr
ok no bubbles???

Working pressure is 15psi and i had the BPM set last night at 10???? now no bubbles is this the check valve????

Increse the pressure to 25 psi, If that does not work you may want to remove the check valve for a trial period just be very carful that no salt water back flows into the regulator.

[jdieck]

Originally posted by cstires
I was looking at the MRC models, but wasn't sure of their quality. I'm really looking for something that is well built and easy to adjust and maintain. Again, I'm used to a doser, so this reactor stuff is scaring me, expecially since half the stuff you guys are talking about, I've never heard of...

Anyway, I'll take another look at the MRC, Korallin, and Geo reactors. My LFS is trying to sell me a Deltec, but it's twice as expensive once everything is said for...

Remember that Deltec requires special media which is more expensive, if you buy it also get one or two extra impellers for the recirculation pump.

[SDguy]

Originally posted by jdieck
you may want to remove the check valve for a trial period just be very carful that no salt water back flows into the regulator.

This is how i figured out that my check valve was the problem. Obviously you will want to do this on a weekend or something, when you are home to keep a constant eye on things. It was amazing how easy it was for me to set the BPM with the check valve removed

[CamBarr]

the check valve is supposed to be high quality???
i dont get it lol


i will remove and try

[SDguy]

Originally posted by CamBarr
the check valve is supposed to be high quality???
i dont get it lol


i will remove and try

Well, technically, the valve itself wasn't the problem. I just couldn't get a good seal on the plastic connectors that screw into the brass valve. I run my reactor under pressure since it is fed by a T off my sump return line. I assume it's this slight pressure that allows the regulator to function with consistency at 2 BPM?

[CamBarr]

so would you reccomend starting with the connectors. my reactor is charged by an aqua lifter pump

[CamBarr]

k 10 BPM consistant for the late 4 hours i think i may be out of the woods i replaced the huge brass check valve whith normal airline check valve. The huge brass check valve the comes with the reactor IMO is way too overpowered for a smaller BPM setting it is driven by a spring that is pretty heavy duty.

[Landon B.]

How do you test for Alk above 16 dkh with a salifert test kit? Do you use the low res and double your number?

[mikeatjac]

From Dragonslayer I think..

With a Salifert test kit (dKH) what you do is:

use 2ml of effluent, add 1 drop of dKH 1 to the effluent in the test tube and swirl.

draw out 1ml of dKH regent and add slowly to the effluent. if you get a color change (depending on your reactor setup you should not with just 1ml) then stop. if no color change draw another 1ml of dKH regent out and add it drop by drop until you get a color change.

now add up the total ml of dKH regent you used. (if one full ml and then you had 0.8 left in the second you used 1.2......etc...)

Take the ml used and multiply by 32, this gives you the dKH of the effluent.

i cant say that all test kits will give you an accurate measurement like this, but i compared the readings i got with a Salifert to the ones with the high $$$ high level dKH and they were the same.

the reason you measure the dKH of the effluent is to determin if your at 100% CO2 saturation. if your not at 100% your wasting CO2 and not getting the full benefit of your reactor.

your effluent should be above 25 dKH and 30's to 40's is best IMO. i can get 60's from my Koralline, but its a bit of a trick and it eats up your media quite fast. the Deltec are supposed to get 70's and some folks say they get in the 90's with them, but i haven’t seen that first hand. (the reason i believe they get that high of a dKH is another story in it's self)

[jdieck]

Originally posted by Landon B.
How do you test for Alk above 16 dkh with a salifert test kit? Do you use the low res and double your number?

In summary Yes use the low resolution mode to save on reagaents

[CamBarr]

good info

[CamBarr]

bump

[CamBarr]

bump

[SDguy]

So I've been running my 1502 for several months now, and I think I'm pretty good with the workings of it all. But I have a couple questions...

1. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to running a higher KH effluent at a slower rate vs. a lower KH effluent at a faster rate? ie running at 15dKH at 100mL/min vs. 25dKH at 60mL/min.

2. I think my pH probe is wrong. It's the lab grade one on my AC jr. It's always been a bit low, I think, since effluent alk/BPM/and flow look as would be expected, but then the pH says something really low. Example: 12BPM, 70mL/min, 13.2dKH..... pH of 6.09??? Tank read 7.51!! Is that even possible? The reactor media was recently rinsed, so it's not clogged or anything like that. I use ARM, BTW.

I did check my pH using a Salifert kit, and from what I could tell, when my ACjr., was reading my tank as 8.0, the Salifert was >8.6.

So my question number 2 is if it's even possible to have such a low pH effluent while having such low KH effluent, especially when the BPM and flow rate support the KH reading...

[jdieck]

On question number 1:
I have noticed that using a higher dKh and a slower effluent flow rate there is a bit less impact on the tank PH despite the effluent PH being lower. The only explanation I can find is that because of the higher retention time the dissolution is more complete and part of the carbonic acid has enough time to start turning into bicoarbonate thus increasing the ratio of bicarbonate to carbonic acid in the effluent.

On question number 2:
It is almost imposible to reach 6.0 in the reactor, the dissolution of the calcium carbonate will prevent it. Try cleaning and recalibrating the probe. When recalibrating insure to wait enough time for the controller reading to stabilize (Sometimes up to 10 minutes) when switching calibration solutions and insure to rinse the probe in tap water and shake it off in between changes.

[SDguy]

OK, thanks. I will bring home new calibration fluids from work and try one more time. The probe itself is deposit free, so nothing really else to "clean off" If it still looks weird after another calibration, I will just go ahead and order a new probe. Aren't they supposed to last at least a year though?