siskiou Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 After using mine for a few weeks, my tank seems to hold at Alk 9 and calcium 420. Does that sound like reasonable numbers to keep sps corals happy? Whenever I try to speed up the output, the Alk in the effluent falls to about 14dkh, even though my controller keeps the pH in the reactor at 6.6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I dont know a single thing about calcium reactors but I keep my tank at about those specs dosing and my sps are doing fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 dont speed up the effluent speed up the co2 a little try adding 10 bubbles per min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 I dont know a single thing about calcium reactors but I keep my tank at about those specs dosing and my sps are doing fine. Thanks for the input! dont speed up the effluent speed up the co2 a little try adding 10 bubbles per min. When I do that, the pH in the reactor gets too low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Sounds perfect to me, it will move a little up or down on its own depending on others factors in your tank but that seems dialed in pretty good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kshack Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 First of all, I think your numbers are just fine where they are. The Zeovit guide recommendations are pretty close: Ca 380-420 Mg 1200-1350 dKH 6.5-8.0 K+ 380-400 salinity 33-35ppt If you did want to raise your alk, you have to increase your flow (the alk will drop) then you increase your CO2. Your PH will not drop because there is more flow getting rid of the water. You will again be in balance, just at higher alk output...IF you wanted to increase that is. The goal is to keep the ph about 6.5 and change the output up or down to get the desired alk in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 I still check the parameters pretty obsessively, but it seems to be pretty much at those levels. Good to know they sound okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 If you did want to raise your alk, you have to increase your flow (the alk will drop) then you increase your CO2. Your PH will not drop because there is more flow getting rid of the water. You will again be in balance, just at higher alk output...IF you wanted to increase that is. The goal is to keep the ph about 6.5 and change the output up or down to get the desired alk in the tank. The thing is that I have a probe in the reactor, and my controller keeps the pH around 6.5-6.6, no matter the flow. But the Alk is still lower in the effluent, when the output is higher. Not sure why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 The thing is that I have a probe in the reactor, and my controller keeps the pH around 6.5-6.6, no matter the flow. But the Alk is still lower in the effluent, when the output is higher. Not sure why. You might want to check the data log in your controller and see how much the C02 is actually running, maybe its cycling it on and off to often. Test the Alk of the effulent and confirm its 12-20dkh I run mine around 20 at 1 bubble every 4 seconds and a "broken" stream from the reactor tube. If the alk is not there maybe the Ph reading is off a little and you can adjust accordingly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 It takes alot longer to dile in a single chamber cal reactor, if you were to add a second chamber like a phosban with reactor media and run your effluent through that before going into the tank it makes it much easyer to adjust because the second chamber helps deal with the lower ph that gose along woth the more co2 and slower effluent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Test the Alk of the effulent and confirm its 12-20dkh Ah, okay! I thought the Alk needed to be at least 30dkh. It's at 20 with slow drip (4 drops per second), and with a broken stream, Alk reads at 14-16dkh. It takes alot longer to dile in a single chamber cal reactor' date=' if you were to add a second chamber like a phosban with reactor media and run your effluent through that before going into the tank it makes it much easyer to adjust because the second chamber helps deal with the lower ph that gose along woth the more co2 and slower effluent.[/quote'] I have a second chamber, but my pH has been running high for a couple of months (up to 8.69, mostly around 8.55) and I like the low pH of the effluent, to counterbalance it. If the pH starts going down, I'll use the second chamber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I have a second chamber, but my pH has been running high for a couple of months (up to 8.69, mostly around 8.55) and I like the low pH of the effluent, to counterbalance it. If the pH starts going down, I'll use the second chamber. I do run a second chamber but i put it in because i have low pH Which is the other test you want to monitor at the beginning, your tank pH. I know some people monitol and control the C02 but if you get it set and monitor your tank pH and Alk Thats what you are looking to maintain, you may be better off setting your controller to turn off the C02 if your tank pH drops more than .2-.3 which I do mine, it is set to turn off at 7.8 my normal pH is 8-8.2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Yeah, I have my controller set to turn off the co2 if tank pH falls below 8.2. I have two ph probes on the controller, one in the reactor, the other in the tank. At first, I tried getting the co2 dialed in without the controller, but the bubbles would always slow down more and more after a few hours, and by morning the output pH was above 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Got it, Thats not good maybe look at some other regulators. I've been happy with mine, it came with the set up and has the tall gauge with the ball that goes up and down (like Nitrus at the dentist office). The only problem I've had is with the check valve, some times when I turn it down a little it turns to fizz instead of bubbles and I have to flick it a couple of times to get the bubbles back anyway good luck Sounds like you have it on the right track, it takes a little time to fiddle and adjust then you'll get used to what its doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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