JDM Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 i am going to set up my calcium reactor on wensday night, i have all the gear i need to get it running. co2 bottle, tunze reg, and aquamedic ca reactor 400. just interested in any advice on setting up a calcium reactor, what to look for, what to test for, bubble rate etc. i have read a few threads on ca reactors, but i didnt see a thread that covers starting from scratch on setting up. dose bubble rate depend on tank volume? during the set up period how often should i test and what should i test and where? Kh an Ca are a given ph i would assume, should i test both as it comes out of the reactor and in the display? what sort of readings would i expect to see? the instructions that came with the reactor are very basic to say the least. thanks for any help you can give me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Having set an aqua medic up recently here is what I would recommend. Plumb it all up with the bubble counter where you can see it while adjusting the Co2. Then, with the Co2 off, get the water going through it at around 2 drips per second. Once it has maintained a steady drip rate for 15 minutes or so, turn on the Co2 and set at around 1 bubble every 2 seconds. 12 or more hours later test the effluent kh. To do this collect the drips coming from the reactor & test it. ideal is a kh somewhere around 40. As our test kits don't go this high, you can dilute the effluent with DI water. If you diluted it to 1/4 effluent, 3/4 DI, and got a kh of say, 10, you would multiply this by 4 to make up for the dilution, giving you a kh of 40. If the kh is a lot lower than 40, increase the Co2 slightly, and retest in another 12 hours. Once you have the reactor running about right, you then periodically test the tank for ca and alk. If the tank is losing these, you may have to increase the throughput of both water and Co2 to the reactor, and if the tank tests too high, you may have to decrease. Expect to spend maybe a few weeks fiddling till you have it right where you want it, and then do a weekly test of the tank, and adjust if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 To do this collect the drips coming from the reactor & test it. ideal is a kh somewhere around 40. As our test kits don't go this high, you can dilute the effluent with DI water. If you diluted it to 1/4 effluent, 3/4 DI, and got a kh of say, 10, you would multiply this by 4 to make up for the dilution, giving you a kh of 40. I haven't looked at the instructions for quite some time, but if I recall correctly, I believe that the conversion is linear and thus can simply scale up the readings to get a more accurate/easy reading than trying to dilute. I use Salifert, but would imagine that it would be the same for all test kits since they are reaction calculations??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I have read that you turn them by checking the PH of the out put not the KH. I have the same reactor, I run a pretty high dip rate, 2+ drips per second. It is only gravity fed so seems to clog quickly at slower rates. My bubble rate is about every 1 second because of the high drip rate. I tend to leave the drip rate as is and adjust my bubble rate if I find my parameters changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 I have read that you turn them by checking the PH of the out put not the KH. I have the same reactor, I run a pretty high dip rate, 2+ drips per second. It is only gravity fed so seems to clog quickly at slower rates. My bubble rate is about every 1 second because of the high drip rate. I tend to leave the drip rate as is and adjust my bubble rate if I find my parameters changing. For mine, the instructions said to check both the pH and KH (Korallin). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Both have an effect, but kh tells you what you actually want to know, ie, is it actually working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Both have an effect, but kh tells you what you actually want to know, ie, is it actually working. No this just tells you that it is producing KH, you want to know that it is producing balanced KH and CA, testing the PH tells you this. I have run my reactor so my KH has gone off the scale but CA was still low. The procedure is to set the drip rate, then adjust the bubble rate so the PH is about 6.5, once this has settled in, increase or decrease both until the you have the correct KH and CA in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 but you wont get fully balanced ca, alk levels from a reactor (most of the time any way) so expect it to put in a higher amount of Kh (Alk) than Ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Can't find the instructions for my Aqua Medic, but just read the instructions that came with my Deltec reactor, it says Quote :- "the dKH of the water coming out of the calcium reactor should be measured with a suitable test kit. A measurement of 35 to 40 dKH should be measured which will equate to a calcium level of approximately 600 mg/lt." End Quote. That is all I have ever done with both reactors & works fine, however I guess Suphew is right his way would make certain all parameters are in line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 but you wont get fully balanced ca, alk levels from a reactor (most of the time any way) so expect it to put in a higher amount of Kh (Alk) than Ca i believe that statement is incorrect. you will find it will put in a balanced amount of calcium and alkalinity if configured correctly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Agree with Chimera. As long as your salt mix (grumble, grumble) has good levels of both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbles Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 http://www.aqua-medic.de/en/service/pdfs/KR%20400%20_410.30_.pdf Is this the same as what came with the reactor? Page 4 talks about drip rates etc.. I'm setting up the 1000 model and will also use the Tunze regulator. Still have to source a cylinder though, where did you get yours from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Good link Bubbles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Bubbles, i currently run the 1000 model. Its a goodie, but I'm a bit like Suphew. I get the drip rate going pretty fast, up to 4 per second, and the Bubbles at 1-2 per second and it all runs fine. If the Alk drops a bit, i just up the rate a touch (all very precise :lol: ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbles Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 i just up the rate a touch A true master of the arts! I'll have to come and take a look at your setup sometime puttputt. My setup can do with a bit of a rethink at the moment, and my upgrade/move is coming up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 i believe that statement is incorrect. you will find it will put in a balanced amount of calcium and alkalinity if configured correctly Just going from what ive experianced with several models of Ca reacotrs (all be it small reactors) and what is mentioned by Anthony Calfo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Also the media plays a big role in it two that i have had success with recently is the aqua medic and zeovit media Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 I think is more a case of the usage of calcium and alkalinity is not balanced. The output of the calcium reactor is balanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 your welcome anytime Bubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted July 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 cheers bubbles, that link is awesome, it is much better than the manuel that came with the reactor. my plans for tonight fell over so i will be setting up my ca reactor :bounce: thanks everyone for you input, ill be back in a little while, once the reactor is set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted July 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 bugger! the y peice i have for the co2-water feed line is too big for the tube, so its off to the shop tomorrow to get a y peice the correct size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 bugger! the y peice i have for the co2-water feed line is too big for the tube, so its off to the shop tomorrow to get a y peice the correct size. I assume you are putting the end of th etube in hot water to soften it before you push it over the fitting?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 I think is more a case of the usage of calcium and alkalinity is not balanced. The output of the calcium reactor is balanced. I agree with Layton, he got it right! :lol: Can certainly appear sometimes though that output is unbalanced, but the explanation is usually what Layton said. Which is another reason why I don't rely 100% on calculators, as Layton said there are other factors that can swing usage out of balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Why do you think you can't rely on the calculators? They calculate alkalinity and calcium independent of each other, which eliminates the problems of "unbalanced" usage. There are no assumptions in the calculations. They don't assume that all calcium and alkalinity are used exclusively for calcification, like a calcium reactor does. When people talk about balanced calcium and alkalinity addition, it just means that they are added in the stoichiometric ratio as they are found in calcium carbonate - which may not necessarily correspond to their usage in some (most) tanks. Making adjustments to one or the other necessary every now and then. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 agree. with dosing in my tank, i can keep a constant level of kh 9.6 day in day out. can't keep the calcium out though, each week it drops by 5-10. I also no some people with reactors have the same problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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