Setting up new Ca reactor

[Shooter7]

I'm looking to try and do this without destroying anything in my tank.

System is a 120g tank and about 30g sump. I am starting to lean towards primarily SPS corals and have many frags, some smaller colonies, and one large monti cap in there. Have been trying to keep up by dripping kalk and doing water changes, but still my readings have been all over the place. Last ones a few nights ago had my Ca at 380, alk at about 9 dKH, and Mg at 990. Several of my corals have shown some decline and I have been working this week at increasing my Mg levels, and to a lesser degree my Ca. Looking at getting the stability I need out of this Ca reactor.

Equipment to set up is a GEO 612 Ca reactor, MJ feed pump, Milwaukee pH controller, RF deluxe CO2 regulator with solenoid, 5lb CO2 tank, and ARM media.

What I'm looking for is some personal experiences with Ca reactor setups. Do I follow the setup that GEO sends out with the unit or do I alter anything? I'm assuming I need to get all my levels where I want them before starting the reactor. After that, and after starting the reactor, how often do I need to test things and for how long before I can just test occasionally? Any other insights, warnings, advice, etc?? I'm just nervous about setting this thing up. I'm afraid of doing something that will damage everything in my tank! Thanks for any help.

[marsh]

1. System set up-
Essentially what a Ca Reactor does is deliver a balanced supplement of Ca++ and Alk. They do not supplement Mg unless you place 5-10% of reactor media as CaMg(CO3)2 (Zeomag or Dolomite) in the reactor. Generally you follow the Alk in your tank to "dial in" your reactor for your tank. They are relatively easy to set up.

The Ph probe is bathed in the reactor fluid placed in the top of the GEO reactor probe port....make sure of the assembly of the probe port is correct...washer, metal ring, O-ring..or you will have a leak. The pH probe/controller maintains the reactor fluid (effluent) at your set Ph (~6.5 or so) and turns off your CO2 when the Ph gets to low and turns it on when too high. No fiddling with accurately setting the "bubble rate". All you need to do then is measure the Alk of the effluent and set the effluent drip rate and monitor your tank's Alk.

As for setting up a reactor...get your Ca++, Mg++, and Alk up to correct levels first using Randy's "two part" or other...http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html Get good test kits for this.

Then use the online Calcium reactor calculator to set your drip rate given the effluent Alk, tank Alk etc http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/reactor.html
As for what is a "reasonable" intial drip rate, after Alk, Mg, and Ca are at acceptable levels, is up to question. You could calculate how much Alk you are adding with other supplements, effluent Alk level, and set intial drip rate accordingly. I think it would be OK to set the intial drip rate at a low level say 20cc/min. Wait 48 hrs....check display/system Alk...use the calculator to adjust drip rate....wait 48 hrs and repeat.

This process will take a week or two but generally only involves setting the Ca reactor drip rate (with known effluent Alk) and measuring the tank Alk at 48 hr intervals.

Just set the thing up....everything becomes clear after you set it up and start using the reactor.

[Shooter7]

Thanks marsh! Sounds like the kind of stuff I'm looking for. If anyone else has anything to add, please do!

[old salty]

When you first set up the reactor, do NOT add CO2 for at least 48 hours. Open the effluent valve to wide open, and allow the air bubbles that form to dissipate.

Start with 5 bubbles per minute. If you overshoot with the reactor, you have to shut it down and start all over. This is why you should also make increases in CO2 slowly; no more than 5BPM in a 48 hour period; let the reactor settle in between changes.

[Henry Bowman]

I agree with old salty.....AND the post above it. I have a 612 and started exactly like salty said, slowly working up to or lowering the pH in the reactor to 6.5

It is critical that you get your tank in balance and are able to keep it that way, prior to adding the reactor.

Read the links listed above. They were invaluable to me in setting mine up.

HTH

All a reactor will do (if tuned properly) is keep up with demand. It will not EFFECIVELY increase Ca or Alk. The idea behind a reactor is to maintain Alk and Ca in a balanced manner and in direct proportion to the consumption of the tank.

[Shooter7]

Thanks again guys, all good info. Glad I asked first.

[spongebobby]

Hey Shooter....

I recently set -up my GEO 618 and basically using the same regulator,media,controller as you.

My drip rate is 40ml a min. and 18BPM. It maintains my alk at 10 dkh and cal at 430. Ph in reactor is 6.75.

The first time I set it up I followed the GEO directions and my levels were 12.5dkh and cal 480.So I shut it down for a couple days and started over.

I check my alk now about ever 4 wks and don't bother checking cal. unless ALK is off. Every time I have checked it since dialing it in there has been no difference, always the exact numbers.

Only problem I had was I didn't realize how it would impact my PH(low). So I also have to run my Geo kalk reator to keep PH at 8.2. If not PH drops to 7.86 at night and 8.02 daytime.

Good luck setting it up

Robert

[Shooter7]

Thanks spongie!

I got it hooked up and water flowing through it. Only had one leak...forgot to put the plug in the pH port.

It is critical that you get your tank in balance and are able to keep it that way, prior to adding the reactor.

Keep it in balance for how long that way? I mean, can I just add stuff (in the appropriate timeframe, of course) and get the numbers to where they are supposed to be, then turn on the reactor? Or do I have to keep the numbers solid using some other method for a number of days or something before I turn on the reactor? I kinda figured I could just get them where they need to be and get the thing working, but wanted to make sure I was clear on this statement. thanks.

[Henry Bowman]

By getting the tank stable I mean that before starting the Co2 you should have your tank at the desired levels for a day.
You need a known starting point.

It would be beneficial to know what your daily consumption is before bringing the reactor on line.

If you have your Ca at 420 and alk at 9 Dkh through adding a two part then you should be able to start putting the co2 to the reactor and get it dialed in. Keep in mind, as you start up the reactor, there are going to be a few days of adjusting it to equalize it to the tank's demand.

Pump water through the reactor to get all the bubbles out (overnight) without opening the Co2 at all. (sounds like you are doing this when you found the leak).

Then slowly increase the Co2 bubble count. Adjust the pH to 6.5 or so with a slow effluent rate and adjust the Ca and alk in the tank with additives on a daily basis until you get to where the reactor is keeping up with the tank's demand by adjusting the reactor. If the reactor's ph or effluent ph drops, increase the effluent flow. Adjustments should be made slowly, waiting for at least 12 hours between adjusting and re testing.

In theory, youd use a 2 part, evey 2-3 days until the reactor is keeping up. What you should find is that within a week, you will not need to do any more 2 part additions since the reactor is keeping up.

It's alot easier to ramp up the reactor to keep up with the tank than to overshoot and have to dial back and or do water changes to get the Ca and Alk back into line.

[ReefWreak]

I'm gonna use this thread as a starting point for when I get my deltec reactor up and running when I get back from vacation. Thanks for starting it and answering in it!

[Shooter7]

Glad it's helpful for you too, ReefWreak.

I found another leak (glad I took the time, as suggested, to leak test it for awhile) at the input to the eheim recirc pump. It wouldn't stop the slow drip, so I had to take the plumbing apart there, take that piece off the pump, and wrap some more teflon tape on it. Put everything together and as of late last night, it wasn't leaking there anymore. I ran it with a bucket of ro/di after doing this...I'll put it back on the tank and run it starting this evening, along with testing and bringing my numbers up to par. The plan is to try and get the pH probe in it and start the process of dialing it in over the weekend.

Henry, what is a good starting point for the effluent drip? (I guess the typical measurement is ml/min?) thanks

[Shooter7]

Thanks for the email, Henry B.

[Henry Bowman]

'' !

[Shooter7]

Ok guys, have had this thing set up for 5 days now. I let it run a little over 24 hours with just the pump running water through it. I then started off with 5 bpm and about 30ml/min drip. The effluent pH dropped from about 8.1 to 7.6. Alk remained constant at about 9.5. I then upped the bpm to 10 bpm, left the effluent drip the same. Effluent pH dropped to about 7.2. Alk jumped from 9.5 to about 11.5. Now what do I do? Apparently, I'm already bypassing my tank's alk usage, which is surprising to me considering the number of corals and coralline I have in there. Do I alter any settings? Stay the course where I am? What? thanks

[Henry Bowman]

First thing, take a Ca and Alk reading from the tank asap...test water should be nowhere near the Ca reactor. preferrably take the reading out of the actual tank....

Your reactor is barely putting anything into the tank running a pH of 7.2

Until the pH of the effluent reaches the high to mid 6's (ie 6.6-6.7) you are not adding much Ca or alk to the tank. It appears from your readings that when you upped the bpm to 10 and the pH in the effluent dropped, and Alk jumped, you started to a little bit of the media.

Now, you need to start taking daily reading of the TANK. Leave the reactor alone since it sounds that it is slowly releasing some Ca and Alk. Many reactors run an effluent pH of 6.5 (dont go lower it will turn the reactor media to mush) and an effluent alk of 15 or higher.

Need to know what is happening in the water column (the tank itself) over say a 2-3 day period with readings taken daily (again, from the tank). With the reactor running steady, you should be able to see if the tank's reading is changing daily. With alot of corraline and other corals in there, you will probably see the reading going down a little day by day. If your target Ca is 420 and at the end of the 2nd day it has dropped to 390, increase the BPM of the reactor to about 15. AND add a calcium supplement to bring the actual Ca in the tank up to 420. ...... Check the Ca a day or so later, and you'll probably find that the Ca has dropped less than before. This time it may have only dropped to 410. This is due to the reactors output coming very close to what the tank's conusmption is. Again, you are going to add some Ca supplement to get the Ca back up to 420 and adjust the reactor.

All along you need to check the pH of the reactor effluent. IF the pH reaches 6.5 and the reactor is still not keeping up, you will have to increase the effluent drip rate AND increase the Co2 BPM to bump up the production of the reactor.

This basic cycle will continue of testing and adjusting until the tank holds a steady Ca at your target (my example was 420 ppm). Since the reactor adds Ca and Alk in a balanced manner, once your Ca is in line, your alk should be fine too.

HTH

[Shooter7]

ok, some better numbers. Was not thinking and tested water that was in my sump and not far from my effluent flow into the sump. Tank Ca was 410. This is about even to what I started at, which was 420, give or take a few points. The alk of the tank this time was 10.2 dkh, so a rise from the 9.6 dKH where I started, but not so high as I measured earlier today. The effluent alk is like 16 dKH.

I also decided to watch my bubbles again as it seemed as though they were coming faster than I had them set at. Sure enough, I was at closer to 15 bpm than the 10 bpm I wanted to be at. I'm not sure why I had the increase, as I checked this several times when I increased it, but that's what it was doing. Still, my pH in the reactor via the probe reading on the controller is still right at 7.2. I don't know if this would effect it enough or not, but in the first couple nights this was up, I started noticing a drop in pH in my tank and was a little nervous so i started a kalk drip to help slow that down, which it did. However, that's been over 24 hours since I stopped that and the reactor pH is only reading 7.2, having fallen from 7.3 before. So, I shouldn't slow down the effluent flow?

[old salty]

I would not slow the effluent. Go by what the parameters in your tank are reading, not the pH in the reactor.

To maintain a more accurate bubble count, you need a high quality regulator and probably a bit more air pressure. Do not exceeed the pressure recommended by GEO. I ran about 15psi for the best constant flow.

[Shooter7]

This is the regulator setup I'm using from Premium Aquatics:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...Category_Code=

[Henry Bowman]

Sounds like your reactor is close to keeping up. Remember, if the Ca in your tank goes up without adding a 2part supplement, the reactor is adding too much, This is not a good way to run the reactor. if in another day the tank's Ca is still around the 410 mark your reactor is keeping up. I'd leave it alone at that point and add a little Ca via Kents turbo Ca or other supplement and wait another few days and take a reading.

Good Luck !