New Calcium Reactor Fine Tuning Assisstance Required.

Jasonanatal · 09-10-2007, 03:28 AM

Hello Talkingreef members, I am in definite need of assistance in connecting a tuning my Deltec PF500 Calcium Reactor with CO2 tank and Milwakee Regulator. I had initially followed all the instructions that came with my Calcium Reactor but shortly effects after the introduction of the reactor led to the following:

Alkalinity readings which were normally at a range of 8 KH to 9 KH but were now increased to 11 KH and higher.
pH readings which were normally at a range of 8.0 pH to 8.1 pH but were now decreased to 7.6 pH and lower.
Massive spread of both Hair Algae and Cyanobacterio "Red Slime Algae" even though Phosphate readings are 0.0 PPM with the use of a Precision Marine Phosphate Reactor with Rowaphos media, mostly of what I believe is the introduction of excess CO2 into the Reef Aquarium water.
Return line drip steadily decreases over time and eventually clogs blocking the return of water from the Calcium Reactor to the sump.

The Calcium Reactor has been disconnected for about 2 weeks now and water changes have brought the levels back to an acceptable range. But the Hair Algae and Cyanobacteria "Red Slime Algae" remain. Is their a safe method of seting up my Calcium Reactor so that I didn't waste more then $800.00. If not can I use this unit as a Kalkwasser Reactor as a secondary attempt of integration? Any assistance with this issue would be greatly apprecaited.

**CarmieJo** · 09-11-2007, 10:07 PM

Jay, I don't have a clue but here is a

for you.

Jasonanatal · 09-11-2007, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarmieJo

Jay, I don't have a clue but here is a

for you.

CarmieJo, thank you for the

.

emora · 09-12-2007, 02:26 AM

Hi Jasonanatal

I have a couple of Deltec Ca reactors. They work very well for me.

My main tank has a Deltect PF-601 with a Milwaukee controller.

I do not run the CO2 24x7. It is only on for 6 hours a day starting a couple of hours after lights on.

I use a very low flow rate through the reactor. I found this rather hard to fine tune but I finally found the solution. I feed the reactor with a very small pump. I placed the effluent control valve (the grey and orange mini-ball valve) on the input hose. The output of the pump has a venturi fitting which I leave open so that the pump is not forced to run under pressure. This setup has allowed me to finesse the effluent down to a drip (a drop per second).

I have the CO2 adjusted to between twenty and thirty bubbles per minute.

I make sure that the pH in the reactor does not drop below 6.65 so that my media does not turn tu mush. This is very important because if the pH goes to low the media disolves into a fine grain powder that WILL ruin the recirculation pump. This is what I mean:

I measure my effluent coming out of the reator. The alkalinity is above 40kH and the pH is around 7 something (I dont rememeber exactly and I dont have my notes handy).

My tank pH drops to 7.8 or 7.9 at night and rises to 8.1 during the day. I make sure that my living room is very well ventilated and that there is good air exchange inside the tank stand and canopy. My skimmer intake draws 900 Liters/hour of air from outside the tank stand.

I hope this helps. Please post if you have any specific questions.

emora · 09-12-2007, 05:35 PM

I just thought id clarify something from my last post.

I have my controller set to shut off the Co2 when the pH in the reactor drops to 6.65.
I'm using a mix of media (aragonite, coralith c+ and Korallen-zuch ZEOMag magnesium chips). The recommendation for Coralith is pH 6.5. But I set mine higher because I get more alkalinity than I need withouth pushing it to the limit. I find that it runs cleaner this way (less fine grit in the effluent).

xtmreef · 01-17-2008, 07:41 PM

Hi Jason,

Have you resolved this issue? If not, I'll try to help....you are correct that the excess CO2 in the water might have triggered the excess algae.. however, I wouldn't base this solely on the CO2. There are too many factors to consider-- flow, husbandry, excess nutrients, etc.

The reason you are not getting a consistent drip rate is probably due to the effluent valve getting clogged by dissolved reactor media. Also, how are you supplying your reactor with tank water? I suggest you use an aqualifter pump for consistency. I have found that simply tapping to my return yields inconsistent drip rate.

To resolve your low pH problem, you can do a few things-- you can drip the effluent near your skimmer so the CO2 gets "de-gassed", you can also drip it to a temporary container with an airstone, or you can drip Kalkwasser to help raise the pH up.