Ca/Kalk Reactor?

[Cookiemunster]

How come the instructions never say that! No wonder I can,t get anything more than 35 before CO2 starts accumulating...

One more question. Recently I have been experiencing low PH (sometime less than 8), could it be due to my calcium reactor?

bro the low ph below 8 is extremely stressful to corals. If you maintain it at 7.8 over a week its been know to kill ich......as well as corals.

It is definitely due to your calcium reactor. Reduce your bubble count and drip rate to the tank.

Advisable to dose kalkwasser to balance the ph too.

[NormanH]

thanks Cookiemunster, will do that when I get back. Btw, I do drip kalkwasser everyday, on top of that, 10 teaspoon of ph buffer & 6 teaspoon of turbo calcium every week not to mention it is only a mixed tank n not sps...

[Cookiemunster]

thanks Cookiemunster, will do that when I get back. Btw, I do drip kalkwasser everyday, on top of that, 10 teaspoon of ph buffer & 6 teaspoon of turbo calcium every week not to mention it is only a mixed tank n not sps...

Then I believe your bubble count and calc reactor drip rate is too high. Reduce it to prevent ph swinging too low. Having a reverse photo period, ie from 12am to 7am for sump filled with algae(refugium) will help to prevent ph from swinging too low too.

Also check your dkh levels. Low dkh can result in large ph swings which seems to be happening. A high dkh prevents large ph swings.....unless your calc reactor is adding acidic carbonic acid(too much dissolved CO2 due to high bubble rate) to your tank.

I suspect its due mainly to your calc reactor. You need to adjust it properly. Thats the main problem with using calcium reactors.

You may want to ensure your ph test kit is accurate too.

[Tanzy]

That's really weird to have to add additives and kalkwasser while running a ca reactor. Does your tank really consume so much calcium? I think your reactor might be maxed out on it's efficiency. You might want to consider adding a second chamber or a reactor that is rated for a larger volume of water or a pH controller for your carbon dioxide.

[NormanH]

Then I believe your bubble count and calc reactor drip rate is too high. Reduce it to prevent ph swinging too low. Having a reverse photo period, ie from 12am to 7am for sump filled with algae(refugium) will help to prevent ph from swinging too low too.

Also check your dkh levels. Low dkh can result in large ph swings which seems to be happening. A high dkh prevents large ph swings.....unless your calc reactor is adding acidic carbonic acid(too much dissolved CO2 due to high bubble rate) to your tank.

I suspect its due mainly to your calc reactor. You need to adjust it properly. Thats the main problem with using calcium reactors.

You may want to ensure your ph test kit is accurate too.

kh level is normal, at 10. Test kit should be ok becos it shows ok figures for my the other smaller tank. Must be the calcium reactor.

[NormanH]

That's really weird to have to add additives and kalkwasser while running a ca reactor. Does your tank really consume so much calcium? I think your reactor might be maxed out on it's efficiency. You might want to consider adding a second chamber or a reactor that is rated for a larger volume of water or a pH controller for your carbon dioxide.

I really doubt so, as what I say, it's only a mixed tank with 1 6" clam, 3 acros and the rest are lps & softies in a 4 footer. Must be I don't know how to tune the cal reactor.

[Tanzy]

Reduce your reactor output by half while maintaining same bubble count and see what happens to the effluent alkalinity. Usually, when there's a depressed pH it is due to the ca reactor output being too high. I've been struggling with my reactor for a long time and realised that there's a optimal flow rate for each reactor. To get the required alkalinity, it's easier to just change the bubble count.

I hate ca reactors!

[NormanH]

I hate ca reactors!

Me too!

I pressumed if I halved the output n maintained the bubble count, I will get lots of CO2 accumulated in the reactor n effluent kh will increase as well.

[NormanH]

Usually, when there's a depressed pH it is due to the ca reactor output being too high.

When you say output too high, are you refering to effluent drip rate or the effluent kh? I am always confused with this 2

[Tanzy]

I mean the effluent water flow is too high. Gas buildup in the reactor is inevitable in a reactor that has a recycling design, that's why a purge valve is necessary.

[NormanH]

But the instruction say there shouldn't be any gas accumulating in the column? blur liao..

[nutx]

I've problem in installing my Ca reactor too!

Currently, my ph is at 8.4 before and after Ca installation.

I'm targeting at maintaining at 12dkh and Ca at 450mg/l

before installation, ph and dkh are at 8.4 and 12 constantly, with Ca at 450, and will drop to 400 after 2-3 days.

After installation, Ca seem to drop everyday by 20-30mg/l and dkh also drop by 1-2 per day, while pH is maintain at 8.3.

(I've to manually add Ca and Ph buffer to increase back)

it's already 2 weeks. Last week, the drip was like 3drips and bubbles per second. Since Sunday, increase to 5-6 drips and bubbles per second. still monitoring.

btw, the Ca reactor water is maintain at ph 6.4.

Any advise to move forward on how to adjust the drips and rates?

[Tanzy]

But the instruction say there shouldn't be any gas accumulating in the column? blur liao..

That's what they all say. Having gas trapped is common to recirculating designs and Korallin is at least honest with it and included a purge valve.

[Cookiemunster]

I dun have that problem with my korallin. I just used a T joint to join the purge output to the input for total and complete recirculation. Saves all the CO2 and ensures no gas is trapped.

[AlfaRomeo]

I have a Aquamedic 1000 Calcium reactor and it comes with a dosing pump at 4L/Hr fixed rate. In this case, would it be logical to adjust the bubble rate to get the desired effect of maintaning dkh and calcium levels?

Main tank will have a volume of about 1000L

[Tanzy]

I would suppose that since your flow rate is fixed the only alternative is to adjust bubble count.

[AlfaRomeo]

Thanks Tanzy..