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Calcium reactor and Apex


matty

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So I'm going to try my luck with a calcium reactor and am wanting some help getting it going with my apex. I have the reactor, media, Co2 and apex, how should I connect the reactor and solenoid and what programming do you recommend? Should I get a second PH probe for the tank or just use the one in the reactor? I'm totally new to reactors and know little about dialing them in. Any help would be awesome!

 

Thanks.

Edited by matty
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I just went from dosing to a reactor for the first time and am very happy with the decision! I hooked my solenoid up to the 4th outlet on the EB8. Used very simple programing:

 

Fallback OFF

Set ON

If pH1_Ca < 6.60 Then OFF

 

I run my reactor at about 6.8 with ARM media. It's not necessary to have a probe in the tank but if it makes you more comfortable, go for it. I do have a secondary chamber connected to my reactor that's also filled with media to help raise the PH of the effluent and absorb any extra co2. That helps keep the effluent entering your sump at a higher ph.

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The soleined wouldnt power on or off when connected to outlets other than 4 and 8 which work for low wattage devices. Not sure if that's common or just the solenoid I have. Just test on yours.

 

What regulator and reactor did you go with?

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I'm running 2 PH probes, one in the main tank and one in the effluent "cup", here's my programming it's a work in progress

 

IMG_6558_1.jpg

 

Fallback OFF 

Set OFF 
If pH2 > 6.71 Then ON 
If pH2 < 6.65 Then OFF 
If pH < 7.79 Then OFF 
Defer 005:00 Then ON 
 
My calcium reactor is a diy 10"  that holds 5 tubs of the Cari-Sea medium size media
calcium-reactor-1022.jpg
 
 
There was an article on reef2reef about calcium reactors and controllers- good read, all the instructions that come with the reactors are pre controllers
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I love your CR Charles, what a beast!

 

Well, for what its worth, here is my APEX setup.  

 

Hope it can be useful information for someone out there.  I have found so many useful things in this and other forums, it is nice when possible to try and give back.  So here goes...

 

 

First off, it is pretty impressive how much safety APEX can add to a calcium reactor.  

 

You can control the solenoid, great.  But you can also really can avoid some common crash scenarios such as:

 

- Running out of CO2

- Failed solenoid

 

 

 

Here was a recent experience I had:

 



APEX Makes Calcium Reactor Safer - Interesting Real World Story


 

 

 

 

And below here is my current programming, nothing fancy but it does the job.

 

 

 

First off - Virtual Outlets

 

These virtual outlets define values for effluent ph of  high, low, very high and very low.  You can use them in both alarms and to control outlets, without having to edit PH values in several outlets.  This makes changing your values simple, only one place to update.

 

 

 

CR_PH_LOW

 

Fallback OFF 

Set OFF 

If pHCRE < 6.60 Then ON 

Defer 000:10 Then ON 

 

CR_PH_HIGH

 

Fallback OFF 

Set OFF 

If pHCRE > 6.65 Then ON 

Defer 000:10 Then ON 

 

CR_PH_VHIGH

 

Fallback OFF 

Set OFF 

If pHCRE > 6.90 Then ON 

Defer 001:00 Then ON 

 

 

CR_PH_VLOW

 

Fallback OFF 

Set OFF 

If pHCRE < 6.30 Then ON 

Defer 001:00 Then ON 

 

 

And onto the outlets

 

The Solenoid is pretty cut and dry:

 

CR_SOL_4_6

 

Fallback ON 

Set ON 

If Outlet CR_PH_LOW = ON Then OFF 

If Outlet CR_PH_HIGH = ON Then ON 

If Outlet ReturnPump3 = OFF Then OFF 

 

 

The calcium reactor is fed from a cheap 15 dollar pump that is on an apex controlled outlet.  I chose not to do the manifold so that the pump can be shut off in alarm type conditions.  

 

For example, if the tank CR PH is very low (solenoid not working), the calcium reactor feed can be shut off separate from the return pump.  You could also choose to shut it off if the tank PH is very low, considering adding that as well.

 

Here is the programming

 

CR_FEED_4_5

 

Fallback ON 

Set ON 

If Outlet CR_PH_VLOW = ON Then OFF 

If Power EB8_4 Off 000 Then OFF 

If Outlet ReturnPump3 = OFF Then OFF 

Defer 000:15 Then ON 

 

 

The email alarm uses the virtual outlets to send notification if things are not working right.  Here is the programming (CR stuff bolded)

 

EmailAlm_I5

 

Set OFF 

If TempSU > 81.0 Then ON 

If TempOV > 81.0 Then ON 

If TempSU < 75.0 Then ON 

If TempOV < 75.0 Then ON 

If Outlet SW_SumpHi_2 = ON Then ON 

If Outlet SW_SUMPLO_6 = ON Then ON 

If Outlet SW_OvFHI_54N = ON Then ON 

If Outlet SW_SkimHi53 = ON Then ON 

If Outlet PowerOut = ON Then ON 

If Outlet SAL_LOW = ON Then ON 

If Outlet SAL_HIGH = ON Then ON 

If Outlet CR_PH_VLOW = ON Then ON 

If Outlet CR_PH_VHIGH = ON Then ON 

If Outlet PH_VLOW = ON Then ON 

Defer 000:30 Then ON 
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