Calcium Reactor Effluent

[jonboy]

Hello all,

I returned from vacation to find that my reactor is miss behaving.
The effluent is reading 7.77 on my pinpoint meter.
I recalibrated the meter and still get the same reading.

I have increased the co2 . It is almost 3 times the amount as before.
I have decreased the drip rate from a slow stream to a drip.
My ph is staying in the 7.6 range.
Tank conditions are as follows.265 gallon w/sump
1.025 salinity
78 temp
alkalinity 4.0
the alkalinity was low when i returned 2.0
i have been buffering the system to return it to the 4.0
calcium is 400

I am trying to get the effluent back to the 6.5 ph range.
Am I overlooking something?
Thanks for the help,
Jonathan

[Ink]

try looking if co2 really goes in the reactor, something could have been damaged and there is a co2 loose.
you can do it putting soap foam on the junctures and see if it makes bubbles.

[Unseentric]

How old is the pH probe? Might be starting to go....
I find it very suspicsious that the tank pH and the effluent pH is very close in their values. You could try using a pH 10 or pH 4 calibration solution to see if your probe is functioning properly. Or just pick-up a low range dry tab pH test kit, and test the effluent to see if its around 7.77

*Also, at three times the normal value for your drip rate you should start to see a CO2 accumulation in your chamber... If you not seeing this then it quite possibly could be a leak at CO2 line junction (as suggested by Ink)

GL- HTH
Pete

[jonboy]

Ink and Unseentric,
I was thinking the same things.
The probe and meter are very new.
the effluent is 7.51 and tank is 8.04 this morning
I tested the joints with soapy water yesterday...I didn't
notice a leak...but I will try again.

How would i notice a build up of co2 in the chamber?What would
I look for?
I am using caribsea aragonite. It is 6 months old. It has not broken down to slush, still very granular. could it be time to replace?

I forgot one other thing. While on vacation, ro filters went bad.
The refilling system put some water in the system that was
high in phosphste. test kit shows a trace of phosphate
does / could the phosphate bind up the reactor?

I am still at a loss. I will recheck for leaks this afternoon.
Does air line tubing go bad after awhile?

Jonboy

[dgasmd]

How much time have you allowed for it to stabilize? I know when I change something in my Ca reactor, it takes a day for the change to be seen. At two days it is more stable.

[jonboy]

dgasmd,
i let the changes go 24 hours before i adjust anything else.
it (the ph) has been in the 7.6 range for several days.

I believe that there is a leak in the co2 system. That would make some sense. Now i need to tryand find it. I will use the soapy water this afternoon.

Does co2 give off an odor if there is a leak?
I have noticed an off smell in the fish room recently.
It doesn't smell like the ocean this week.

Jonboy

[Unseentric]

No, CO2 is odorless....you will have to use soapy water to find the leak--- good luck

[in2deep]

Jonathan, just curious but how did you know the R-O went bad and how could you tell? Thanks, Mike.

[jonboy]

Mike,
I test my ro water with a tds meter. It normally tests out at 0-10.
When I returned from vacation I noticed an algae bloom in another tank that is feed off the ro system.
I tested and the meter read 450+ ,phospates tested positive also
time for immediate action ...replace the filters
I live close to the water pumping station. Any time that they shut down the system, on restart i get flooded with mud and silt.
I have installed 2 additional filter canisters before the ro system
to help with this problem.
Hope that helps.

Jonboy

[jonboy]

Leak Proofing A System

I still have not found a leak in the co2 system.
I have tried to soapy water test several times and can't find a leak.
It is time for more drastic measures. I think that I will replace the connections from the co2 to the input of the cal. reactor.

I originally used air line tubing. Then i upgraded to silicone, co2 safe tubing. It came apart. I am currently using ice maker water
line for the supply of the co2 from Home Depot.
Is there a better product?

Thanks for the help
Jonboy

[in2deep]

Jonboy, i have heard others say their ro unit caused problems and always wondered why. Thanks, Mike.

[joe123987]

jonboy - reduce your drip rate even more. You said that you "decreased your drip rate from a slow stream to a drip" - start with about 30 drips a minute and adjust from there. Leave the CO2 where it's at for now. I am sure that you will see the PH decrease to the 6.5 range is you just slow down the rate on the effluent

[Adam]

Jonathan,

Was your reactor effluent pH ever as low as you are trying to achieve?

What is your effluent alkalinity? If it is 20 or above, you are fine.

It is possible that the media you are using is dissolving at the pH you are currently measuring. The reaction is kind of (not exactly) like boiling water.... No matter how much heat you apply, it is still 100 degrees C.

If you are not getting a bubble of CO2 in the top of your reaction chamber, the water in the chamber is not yet saturated with CO2 and you can continue to increase it.

HTH

Adam

[jonboy]

Joe,
I have reduced the drip rate as slow as I can. It looks like a drip
under a strobe light. Still too fast too measure or count.
If I slow the drip down any more, it backs up the water into the co2 line
I have the co2 reduces to try and keep it in the first chamber and not to spill over into the second chamber.

Adam,
I had the output of the second chamber at 6.5 ph for over a year.
I was running a slow stream with a bubble every second.
I still had to buffer once a week to maintain a high alk.
I never measured the output in terms of alk or calcium.
When i first put the unit in service, I never had to do so much adjusting.
I thought that cal. reactors were easy.

Snailman has been trying to help me also with this .
THANKS for all the help so far.
Jonboy
Jonboy