Some of the items I am juggling right now are related to the solienoid for the co2 tank, and if the reactor is built to acommodate a controller probe.
Here are the two methods I understand of hooking one of these babies up. Let me know if I have got this wrong. If there is a power outage and co2 gas makes it into the tank, basically I end up nuking my livestock. Bad. The co2 is there to help break down the media. It does so by dropping the
pH whish helps dissolve the media.
You can add a switch, also known as a solenoid, that can be installed it into the line between the co2 source and the reactor. If the power goes out, co2 is turned off, no gas gets into the tank to destabilize the
pH.
That's the cheap way to go.
A fancier way to do it is to connect the solenoid valve to an electronic
pH controller. A
pH probe is housed inside the calcium reactor. The valve then switches the co2 on and off to maintain a constant
pH level inside the reactor chamber.
Of course Option #2 is more expensive. I don't know if the solienoid is more expensive or not, but the controller sure is, anywhere from $120-200 more.
Is the solienoid the same?
Is the controller method and the accuracy it produces worth the extra expense?
