Parimeters during installation of a CA reactor

[Acronuts1]

I have now been running a ca reactor for 1 week. It has been a bit difficult making the necessary adjustments to the Korallin c-1502.
Measuremnts as of today are:
Tank dkh 14.7
Tank ph 8.11
Tank Ca 480

Effluent measurements are:
Ca 560
Ph 6.94
Dkh 55.3
Dpm 32
Co2 bpm 14

Here are the measurements in the last week
My Ca levels in the tank run from 440 to 500
Ca levels in the effluent run from 480 to 560

My Ph levels in the tank run from 8.05 to 8.16
Ph in the effluent run from 6.75 to 7.33

My dkh levels in the tank run from 9.8 to 14.7
Dkh in the effluent run from 18.5 to 55.3

Co2 has been ranging from 7 bpm to 14 bpm
Effluent dpm from a low of 25 to 92

Here are my concerns:
1. Do I need to worry about these levels?
2. I am confused about which parimeter to try and change ca/alk or dkh? I am also confused about what will happen when I do change the Co2 bpm or the ca/alk dpm, I need help on this!
3. Should I run the reactor 24/7?

Observation of tank:
Everything looks great! I can swear that my sps's have colored up more. Even polyps are poking out of my millies.
So far eveything looks like its liking what is being done with the ca reactor.
Should I continue to do what I am doing or do I need a radical adjustment?

Juan

 

[leftovers]

Well dialing in CA reactor can be tricky. Having a pH probe helps if you arent sure about things and dont want to test heavily till it all stabilizes.

Your effluent flow should be stable, not sure why its changing at all, same for your CO2 flow. That should be a constant with only subtle changes due to temperature of the CO2 tank.

Once you have those stable then the rest should fall in line.

 

[Anonymous]

^^^ Agree - you'll need to figure out how to stabilize your DPM and BPM rates.

You might want to double check your effluent alk. 28 dkh is the highest I've ever seen. I don't recall what the theoretical max is, but I'm pretty sure it's less than 55.

Conceptually, a calcium reactor can kinda sorta be thought of like a jug of cool aid. The more mix you put in (BPM) or the less water you put in (DPM), the stronger the taste. All you need to do is figure out your ca/alk demand then tune your mix and output accordingly. You can add a lot of weak cool aid or a little bit of strong cool aid...either way. When I was running a CaX, I preferred to run it weak because I was able to keep my BPM and DPM rates more consistent that way.

I found a simple excel worksheet to be *really* helpful throughout the dial-in process. Headers on my sheet were as follows:

Date | Time | Tank dKH | Tank PH | Tank Ca++ | CO2 BPM | Effluent DPM | Effluent dKH | Effluent PH | Effluent Ca++ | Adjustments | Comments

 

[Ben1]

When I used my reactor I always let my pH controller turn on and off my C02 and so it always kept my reactors pH correct. Then I adjusted my DPM to maintain my Alk, and would test ALK once a week and tweak the DPM as needed. This worked well for me, and IME I wouldnt run a reactor any other way to fussy for my liking. Even when dialed in they can drift and your tanks needs change. If it was my tank and my tank was reading over 14 dkh I would shut the reactor down untill it dropped to a normal level. I perfer mine close to 7-8 and max 10 dkh, although it stays at 7 all the time now. I don't test calcium very much. I perfer keeping my ALK and Mg where I want them and the CA is usually right in line, I use two part though.

Good luck getting the reactor tuned where you like it. The nice thing about a reactor is you can add things to its mix to help keep your Mg up as well such as Zeomag or dolomite. The dolomite needs a bit lower pH to dissolve though but I also used the larger media like the schuran style so was able to run my reactor at a 6.0-6.2 pH with out any mush forming.

 

[Acronuts1]

Well guys things are looking better!

Last night I tested and here are the parimeters:

Tank dkh is down to 12.6

Tank Ph has gone up to 8.17

Tank Ca is down to 480



Effluent levels are as follows:

Co2 is dailed down to 6 dpm

Effluent dpm is at 55

Effluent dkh is 35

Effluent Ph is 6.97

Effluent Ca is 520



I plan to do a water chnage on Monday with reef crystals. I will use less salt.Why? Well according to the package the more salt I use the more Ca.Mg and Alk will be added to my system.

I only plan on allowing for a very small change in a lower levels Ca,Mg and Alk with the new water mix. I don't want to shock any of the corals by dropping any levels too quickly. This I feel would have an adverse reaction to them.

I have another quick question for you guys:

Those that use ca reactors have you noticed a drop in nitrates?