New Calcium Reator Setup

Laura and Jim will be hosting the May meeting this Saturday the 12th and it will be the usual of food, drinks, raffle and fun.
 
Doors will be open at 6:00 pm for social talk and the meeting will start at 7:00.  Parking gets a little tight and the city says you can't park on 4th but there is a parking lot a block away.   Meeting is usually held in the backyard so feel free to bring your favorite lawn chair, weather permitting of course.

If you need address/directions, contact a club member.

Best if you park at Mini Mall (where the spaghetti establishment use to be)
 
You will get to see his new frag tank set up in the making.
 
Hope to see you there!

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[mikeydog]

Check it out.  The new Calcium Reator is built and up and running, Thanks to Matt.  Matt built me this DIY Calcium Reactor and I must say it is near perfect.  Very nice and profesional looking.  So Go ahead and drewl.



Thanks Matt...


Mike

[mikeydog]

Had a couple review questions on this Matt..

The PH in the reactor should be around 7.6?
And just use those test strips from Petsmart?
My calcium in the Tank should be around 450?
What should my Alk be?
1 drip per second from the Calc to the tank
2-3 bubbles per 5 seconds from the CO2

I adjust the PH in the reactor by increasing the bubble count from the Co2, which in turn increases the amout of Calcium going into the tank?
So to control the Calcium in the tank I adjust the valve on the hose going into the tank. Right?

Also I think I need help testing my water, cause I did it this morning and it was right at 450.  Could that be right with dosing Kalk

Thanks
Mike

[MikeMc]

Looks great!!!!!  Were did you get your CO2 tank??  local and what did it cost if you don't mind me asking??  Thanks
Mike

[Ed]

Wow...looks awesome!...I can hardly wait to see this baby in action.   I also see you got your Titanium heater indicator placed neatly in your stand.  You guys keep showing me neat ways to improve. :shock:
Thanks
Ed :shock:

[mikeydog]

Mikemc..

I ended up buying it at Oxarc..  I found a real nice 5lb'er on ebay for $59 plus about $10 for shipping, and then I would have to go over to oxarc and pay $10 to fill it.  So I ended up just going to Oxarc and paying $85.  It's not as nice looking but way easier.  When you run out your just exchange the bottle and pay $10..

[MikeMc]

Cool thanks for the info
Mike

[Yellotang]

Had a couple review questions on this Matt..

The PH in the reactor should be around 7.6?

Yes 7.4ph to 7.6ph for A.R.M.

And just use those test strips from Petsmart?

not test strips. I use the freshwater mid range test kit.

My calcium in the Tank should be around 450?

Yes. Ideally

What should my Alk be?

3.0 - 3.6 meq/l ideally

1 drip per second from the Calc to the tank
2-3 bubbles per 5 seconds from the CO2

Good starting point. Adjust as needed.

I adjust the PH in the reactor by increasing the bubble count from the Co2, which in turn increases the amout of Calcium going into the tank?

Yes but increasing the CO2 also causes the ph to go down with causes (I think) the Alk to go down (or up. I can't remember).

In order for you to increase the Calcium, without farting with the alk, if the calcium dips is to increase both the effluent rate (water coming out of the reactor) and the CO2.

So to control the Calcium in the tank I adjust the valve on the hose going into the tank. Right?

adjusting that valve (water out) only adjusts the effluent rate. increasing that rate causes the water to CO2 ratio in the first chamber to increase which causes the PH in the first chamber to increase. you only want to increase that rate to either adjust the ph up to 7.4-7.6ph or if your also increasing the CO2 rate.

Also I think I need help testing my water, cause I did it this morning and it was right at 450.  Could that be right with dosing Kalk

Yes it can be. Also if you set up this reacotr last night, the reactor may have bumped it up also. If your calcium is at 450 right now then maintaining it will be easy since your calcium is already ideal.

Thanks
Mike

No Problem. Any Questions I can answer I will.

[Yellotang]

Mikemc..

I ended up buying it at Oxarc..  I found a real nice 5lb'er on ebay for $59 plus about $10 for shipping, and then I would have to go over to oxarc and pay $10 to fill it.  So I ended up just going to Oxarc and paying $85.  It's not as nice looking but way easier.  When you run out your just exchange the bottle and pay $10..

Do not forget to secure that canister. You do not want that thing flying around your house at millions of feet per second causing whole crap loads of damage. :shock:

[mikeydog]

Ok just retested my calcium and ALK and they are pretty much the same as last night 16hrs later..

The calcium is 455
The KH in dKH is 7.2
The Alk in Meg/L is 2.58

[mikeydog]

Also my efluent rate is 46 drops per minute
And my CO2 rate is 31 bubbles per minute

[Yellotang]

That's good, the Alk is coming up. it was at 2.28

[mikeydog]

Ok I don't know if this is a feature or a flaw, but air seems to be building up at the top of chamber #1.  It takes a couple days but after a couple the water level has dropped an inch or so, at the top of chamber 1.  I have to turn off the pump and then open the PH check valve and drain out the air.  Is this supposed to happen.?

Also My calcium is steady at about 455
my dKH is at about 8

Should I do anything to adjust this, the dKH is down from 8.6 on Tuesday same calcium.

Thanks
Mike

[Yellotang]

Sounds good, what you need to do though is slightly increase the drip rate of the water leaving the calcium reactor by about 1 drop every two seconds if possible. What is happening is slowly the CO2 is building up in the reactor and is causing the water to be pushed out of the calcium reactor. This is normal but not wanted. The increased out flow of water should slowly recompensate for the amount of CO2 imput.

Adjust the water out by a hair.

[mikeydog]

I'm pretty much at 1 drop per second already.  46 drops per 60 seconds and 31 bubbles per 60 seconds of Co2

[Yellotang]

Increase the water drop rate to 1 drop per second and then monitor the mid chamber ph after 24 hours and then see what you get.