calcium reactor effluent

[Joel A]

anyone else have a HORRIBLE time controlling it?

mines reactor is set-up so that the effluent comes out the top of the reactor, into a standard johnguest RO tube, and down into the sump. Controlling how much comes out is a needle valve (higher quality metal one, not a low quality plastic one, like the john guest ones).

Anyways, i open the needle valve up so that it comes out at the pace i want it to, then leave it alone for a while, come back and it has slowed a bit, but i still leave it, come back again and it's almost completely stopped and the PH of it has dropped way low (like 6.4).

The only thing i can really think of doing that would help is to trim the effluent output line a bit more, but the hose isn't very long....

 

[biggyclops]

is the reactor T'd off a pump? is the media new?

 

[Joel A]

reactor is not T'd. Its on it's own pump, and the pump pushes as much water as it can into the reactor... however the pump is oversized.. and a good deal of that is lost from back pressure on the line to the reactor (does that make sense?).

The media was new when i set-up the reactor, or at least fairly new, about 1 month ago.

 

[this is me]

Make sure your feeding pump is strong enough. I was battling with the same problem you had for two months and couldn't find anything. I clean out the pump, took the reactor apart and cleaned everything and still the effluent was erotic. I finally picked up the phone and called the manufacturer and he suggested to change the feeding pump which is 4yrs old. I bought a new pump and it seems to fix the problem.
Just a thought.


CA reactor is a little frustrating to set up initially.

 

[Joel A]

Make sure your feeding pump is strong enough. I was battling with the same problem you had for two months and couldn't find anything. I clean out the pump, took the reactor apart and cleaned everything and still the effluent was erotic. I finally picked up the phone and called the manufacturer and he suggested to change the feeding pump which is 4yrs old. I bought a new pump and it seems to fix the problem.
Just a thought.


CA reactor is a little frustrating to set up initially.

yeah... i feel like the pump is more than strong enough but i could be wrong i suppose. One issue with this CA reactor is that it is not made anymore... looks almost identical to the MRC calcium reactor, but it's not made by them...

maybe i should see what they recommend for a feed pump on there reactor.

 

[this is me]

I'm using MRC dual chamber. Maxijet 1200 as a feeding pump and Mag3 as a recirculation pump.

 

[Joel A]

yeah, mine is very similar to the MRC 1, single chamber reactor. Same height, slightly smaller diameter. Set-up is identical to the MRC Nano reactor, just has a taller chamber.

It's currently being used on an older aquaclear powerhead... maybe i should switch to a maxi-jet 1200 too?

I've got a few of them around...

 

[Ray]

what I did to fix this problem was to run my drip rate so it was a steady stream and turned my co2 up, you will waste some co2 doing this way but at least I dont clog my effluent valve. every few months I do have to clean the valve for build up

 

[this is me]

That's only valid if your tank use a lot of ALK and Cal.

what I did to fix this problem was to run my drip rate so it was a steady stream and turned my co2 up, you will waste some co2 doing this way but at least I dont clog my effluent valve. every few months I do have to clean the valve for build up

 

[Joel A]

That's only valid if your tank use a lot of ALK and Cal.

yeah, which is why i haven't done that... my alk is pretty high already... i'm not heavily stocked with SPS at all yet, so the reactor doesn't have to work very hard yet.

 

[cakemanPA]

I changed my line over to the softer blue air line, shortened the line, and added a pinch valve to keep things running. Lots of tweaking but things are running smoother now.

 

[Joel A]

I changed my line over to the softer blue air line, shortened the line, and added a pinch valve to keep things running. Lots of tweaking but things are running smoother now.

hmm i wonder if airline might be easier to work with. That would be an easy enough fix, that's for sure.

 

[cakemanPA]

hmm i wonder if airline might be easier to work with. That would be an easy enough fix, that's for sure.

The pinch valve works much better with the air line. And the pinch valve does not clog. Not saying that the line will not clog in turn. That has not happened... YET

 

[biggyclops]

no bubbles in the reactor eh?

 

[Ray]

That's only valid if your tank use a lot of ALK and Cal.

Now I am a little unsure of this because since I started using a reactor I have always had a high demand but if you have a faster drip and more co2 and the effluent is coming out at the same amount ph as a slower drip and less co2 how does the amount of alk and ca become more. I thought it would be the same?

 

[biggyclops]

i think its time for Randy Holmes to jump it *setting up the BatHolmes light*

 

[Jim Tansey]

The most accurate way to feed it is with a metering pump, they can be costly though.

Jim

 

[this is me]

This is a joke right?

...but if you have a faster drip and more co2 and the effluent is coming out at the same amount ph as a slower drip and less co2 how does the amount of alk and ca become more. I thought it would be the same?

 

[biggyclops]

This is a joke right?

if your dripping fast say 20 dpm (co2 at 40 bpm)and your affluent is say 10 dkh.. and then you drop your dripping to say 10 dpm (20 bpm)and your affluent is 20 dkh then is it really a difference?

 

[this is me]

The ALK and Ca of the effluent would be the same. However, don't forget that you're feeding the tank with a faster drip rate, therefore more alk and ca and whatever coming out of the reactor will be in the tank. So if your tank don't have a high demand on alk and ca, it will skyrocket the parameters.