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Unread 06/08/2015, 04:54 PM   #1
Ontheway
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CA reactor pressure increasing

Hi, I finally setup my aqua macro (coralife) reactor, with Ista 1L CO2 tube, ista regulator and weipro 2010 pH controller.

I turned it on in the evening and followed until midnite, while all seems fine in the beginning, I realized that number of drops in water inlet drop count chamber and effluent drops are started to slightly shift. In translation, inlet drop count was about 1 in 3 seconds, effluent was like 1 in 5. Since its night time, turned CO2 off to preserve pH level in tank, reactor motor was still working. A couple of hours later, inlet rate was same as above, but, no effluent. And the water level was increased from 1/4" to a hair to top of reactor. Turned the reactor motor off, since water is coming and not leaving, means undesired levels of internal pressure, do not want to wake up to surprises, turned everything off now. Will test the whole thing tomorrow morning again, meanwhile, wanted to hear if experienced ones provide me some clues about whats going on (I am not limiting the effluent side to reduce output, just inlet).


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Unread 06/08/2015, 06:59 PM   #2
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I didn't read anything about your reactor pH which is kind of important.

What I can tell you is that your pH in the reactor was probably much lower than you were aiming for. 1-3 Co2 bubble per second is a lot for 1-3 effluent drips a second. I have a large reactor that is flowing at 25 ml/min and my Co2 bubble rate is 1 bubble every 3.5 seconds. That keeps my Geo 818 reactor at about 6.8 pH. My guess is that your reactor media was breaking down faster than you expect and the effluent line was clogging as a result. That said, effluent line clogs are probably one of the biggest issues most face with a calcium reactor. The worst thing is that when the flow through the reactor changes which usually is slowing down like you are dealing with, the pH rises and clogs the line even faster.

There is however a solution for that issue which many of us like myself use as part of their reactor setup. It's a Cole Parmer Masterflex dosing pump to manage the reactor flow. The Cole Parmer eliminates the need for the needle valve on the effulent line and also can eliminate the clogging issues that are all too common. Then the only thing you need to worry about is a decent regulator. I use an Aquarium Plants Carbon Doser which is a digital regulator that allows you to select a Co2 bubble count and from there, the Co2 rate will stay perfectly stable until your bottle is damn near empty. The other great alternative is a dual stage regulator.

If you are serious about you calcium reactor and really want it to be stable and not have it be something that you have to continually futz with, I would suggest reading this thead. FWIW, since using this method, my flow through the reactor never changes, my pH in my reactor has been perfectly stable and my controller doesn't ever have to intervene and shut the regulator off and clogs are a thing of the past.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2368618


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Unread 06/09/2015, 02:32 AM   #3
Ontheway
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Thanks for the information. Since I fired up the setup a day ago, clogging is not an option I guess.. Today I restarted it, 1 drop per sec on effluent and CO2 side, PH controller set to 7.5pH.

In order to get serious on calcium reactor, I think I need a serious reactor first. This thing is like a joke. Motor connection started dripping on the very first bench test. Used teflon tape to make it work.

I am aware of the equipment you suggest, but do not have funds for the moment. Especially carbon doser. For the moment, may blowing through the effluent line help on clogging issues ?


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Unread 06/09/2015, 08:45 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ontheway View Post
Thanks for the information. Since I fired up the setup a day ago, clogging is not an option I guess.. Today I restarted it, 1 drop per sec on effluent and CO2 side, PH controller set to 7.5pH.

In order to get serious on calcium reactor, I think I need a serious reactor first. This thing is like a joke. Motor connection started dripping on the very first bench test. Used teflon tape to make it work.

I am aware of the equipment you suggest, but do not have funds for the moment. Especially carbon doser. For the moment, may blowing through the effluent line help on clogging issues ?
Not much you can do about the effluent line clogs with a needle valve setup. I suppose you can try to blow through it but that is likely an effort in futility since the water pressure is accomplishing the same thing with the added benefit of including water. You might try increasing the pressure coming into the reactor or a different type of valve. The better alternative would be to open the valve up a bit more so you increase the effluent rate. Also, you said pH of 7.5, did you mean 6.5 pH? If so, unless you are using Reborn media, that is on the low side. In fact, I use Reborn and have my pH set to 6.75ish which keeps my Ca and Alk stable but I also don't have a ton of SPS.


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Unread 06/09/2015, 10:53 AM   #5
Ontheway
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Actually, for the beginning, I especially kept it high, to very slowly change things, therefore its 7.5 at the moment.

edit. I am using caribsea extra coarse, plus Grotech mg pro, about 10%.


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Unread 06/09/2015, 02:53 PM   #6
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try to set up the effluence with high flow so it doesn't clog up . You can always control the output by dialing the CO2 per minute and the size of the CO2 bubble.


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Unread 06/09/2015, 04:12 PM   #7
Ontheway
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One another thing I am experiencing is, when controller shut off CO2 flow, effluent flow also reduces slowly, and with start of CO2, it flows (not drip) for a short while, a couple of secs, then returns to normal (pre-adjusted) drip rate. Then, slows down again. This cycle appears repeating.

If I am not wrong, there are reactors in the market, with ability to release high pressure, by some gadgets on lid. Is it any useful?


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Unread 06/09/2015, 06:13 PM   #8
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The correct way to set up the reactor is to run it for at least 2 days with no CO2 until u have a steady consistent effluence then you add CO2 and measure the Ph inside the reactor. Example you set bubble count 8 per minute effluence 120 per minute and PH inside reactor is 6.7 produce ALK at 9. Now you need to keep testing ALK for 2 days and make sure it's steady. If it steady and your desire ALk level is 7 then you need more effluence or less CO2 either way will lower the ALK output for you. The reason to run the reactor without CO2 for 2 days is to purge all air and make sure you have a steady output.


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Unread 06/10/2015, 11:52 AM   #9
Ontheway
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Thank you for clarification. Although it seems more or less going for now, if I restart the system for some reason, I will certainly apply the waiting stage above.


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