Cal Reactor

[occb2]

Ok I got a Knoop HD Cal Reactor. I set it up as per the instructions, Now what? Does anyone have one of these things? I let it run a day until the cloudly water got clear. I hooked up the CO2, now how do you get the bubble count to 1 bubble every 3 to 5 seconds, It seems to come out one bubble at a time in group of eights and then there is a pause for a 10-15 seconds, then 8 more come out. Any help would be great. Thanks.
Rob

[newkie]

What is the pH of the effluent?

Its not all about bubble count and drip rates (though this is good stuff to track). Every system is completely different, not to mention every reactor is too. Have you tested your effluent yet? You should be looking for a pH around 6.6-6.8 for ARM media and 40-45dKH. Once you hit this, manually raise ca/alk levels, then observe for a week or two if it falls off. If it does then increase the drip rate, this will raise the reactor's pH so you'll need to increase the C02 accordingly. Keep repeating until you drip enough effluent to keep up with your sized system. Realize that as you add more corals or clams you'll need to check these levels again to see if its keeping up. Lastly remember that reactors shouldn't bring levels UP when adjusted properly, they should only maintain them. So you'll have to do a water change or bring the levels up manually before observing a falloff (I recommend B-Ionic to manualy adjust levels). If your levels start increasing you should scale back the effluent and C02 accordingly. HTH

[Highlander]

You want to adjust your regulator to a tank pressure (left gauge)of 800 lbs and a working pressure (right gauge) of about 15lbs . This should give you sufficient stability to get a regular bubble flow using your needle valve.

[occb2]

I don't have a needle valve, I do have a two gadge reguator, but it reads the pressure in the tank and the pressure in the line going to the reactor, and the pressure going to the reactor is almost nothing. I think I got it after about an hour of adjusting the co2 flow. As far as the drip rate, i do know that I will have to adjust it after I take my PH reading. I did and it is 6.8. The level of my calcium is very high. It's over 450. I have been using the Bionic two dose system for years, I'm just going away for a few weeks and I thought that there is no time better than now to do a reactor. Thanks for the replies....
Rob

[Highlander]

I think that you will need the needle valve to get the adjustments you need. Here is a link which I used when setting my reactor up.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/