How do I setup my calcium reactor?
- Thread starter jbaeza83
- Start date
Dude it's so much to explain. Lol
ph probe?
Apex?
Second chamber before it goes to tank?
U have ARM and Neomag?
U wanna shoot for 6.5 ph. Have ur ph controller shut off the co2 solenoid at 6.4.
ph probe?
Apex?
Second chamber before it goes to tank?
U have ARM and Neomag?
U wanna shoot for 6.5 ph. Have ur ph controller shut off the co2 solenoid at 6.4.
I was waiting for you to chime in Nick, hahaha
ph probe? Yes, the one from my tank. I can use it in the reactor for now until I get a second one.
Apex? Yes, full Apex
Second chamber before it goes to tank? Nope..?
U have ARM and Neomag? I have no idea, the guy included the media when I bought the reactor. How do can I tell?
ph probe? Yes, the one from my tank. I can use it in the reactor for now until I get a second one.
Apex? Yes, full Apex
Second chamber before it goes to tank? Nope..?
U have ARM and Neomag? I have no idea, the guy included the media when I bought the reactor. How do can I tell?
Is there a ph probe on the too to the right? Is the feed pump in the sump? I remember looking at it and I was like what the black and decker type calcium reactor is this!
You need tank water to be fed into te reactor. You need to hook up the regulator to the top of the co2 tank. Once that's done you have to add an airline from the regulator to the top of the reactor where the co2 line goes. Sorry I don't have the manual to your B&D. Now you can hook up an effluent line also look at a manual.
Run the feed pump, run the recirc pump and open up the co2 till its stable around 6.55-6.65PH. I would do like 1 bubble every 5 seconds or more.
I notice my rig is more stable in the 6.6-6.8 ph area inside the reactor. Very important to hookup fail safes to the feed pump and even better the regulator or both.
On my set up the regulator fail safe doesn't work. I think it's a voltage issue. But my feed pump failsafe does work. Bad thing about this is when my ph dropped below 6.5 and the feed pump shut down, the ph keeps dropping and that means it melts the media inside the reactor and you end up with goo but ill take tht over nuking the tank. Feed pump off equals no effluent out.
And your head just exploded
You need tank water to be fed into te reactor. You need to hook up the regulator to the top of the co2 tank. Once that's done you have to add an airline from the regulator to the top of the reactor where the co2 line goes. Sorry I don't have the manual to your B&D. Now you can hook up an effluent line also look at a manual.
Run the feed pump, run the recirc pump and open up the co2 till its stable around 6.55-6.65PH. I would do like 1 bubble every 5 seconds or more.
I notice my rig is more stable in the 6.6-6.8 ph area inside the reactor. Very important to hookup fail safes to the feed pump and even better the regulator or both.
On my set up the regulator fail safe doesn't work. I think it's a voltage issue. But my feed pump failsafe does work. Bad thing about this is when my ph dropped below 6.5 and the feed pump shut down, the ph keeps dropping and that means it melts the media inside the reactor and you end up with goo but ill take tht over nuking the tank. Feed pump off equals no effluent out.
And your head just exploded
Last edited:
The phone call was a lot easier then typing for days. Lol
hahaha yeah but I forgot what you said. Can you explain on here again? hahahaha j/k
So I shouldn't run this off my manifold?
hOPE this helps...
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/ too lazy to type.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/ too lazy to type.
Ya what he said
If you can prove that the solenoid shuts off at 6.50 or 6.49ph the. Manifold it up all you want. But if it doesn't like mine F- that and just add a maxijet 1200 for a feed pump. Yours is so high you may need a stronger pump.
I ask you to go and look at other set ups. You will understand it a lot more.
I'm too scared to set up mine
Nothing to be scared of, if you have a couple things.
1)ph probe inside the reactor is a must. Calibrate this every 3 months. Especially when or if the reactor starts to dip in the 6.5 pH area
2) Another is a controller attached to the feed pump and regulator with code so that the controller shuts off equipment if the "melt" goes lower than 6.5ph.
3) a good regulator, if you can afford the electronic one, that's a smart buy. I use the original hardware on the Geo Reactor I bought used. I used others but did not like the sensitivity.
4)The drip tray with media for the effluent to drip into is also good to get rid of some CO2.
5) you need a few hours to get the ph inside the reactor literally dialed in. After you have done this a couple times you can do it with you eyes closed.
6) Familiarize yourself with the bubble count. At first one bubble per like 10 seconds till you get the ph stable between 6.51-6.70 is ideal range IME for stability of PH in the reactor.
7) Read the manufacturers notes and familiarize yourself with all fittings bushings and hoses and do leak tests (soapy water on all joints and fittings) on the CO2 lines. I would only open the CO2 a few turns. Don't need to open it all the way.
8) if you don't have any proven fail safes then yes you can run into issues. But if you test them on purpose the day of installation, you will find a calcium reactor is the best option for calcium, alkalinity and some trace elements. Magnesium is tricky. I still have to dose a few ml (6) which is like nothing. Per day. I think mixing more zeo mag like a 1 mag/3 cal ratio would have made me not have to dose magnesium at all.
El Dude
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So I subscribed to this thread since I also need to set up my CaRX. Good info to sure.
Without hijacking the thread...is it possible to run a CaRX manually? As in without a controller or solenoid?
Edit: This thread gets the sticky treatment.
Without hijacking the thread...is it possible to run a CaRX manually? As in without a controller or solenoid?
Edit: This thread gets the sticky treatment.
I don't see how you could make the co2 literally whisper in with out a regulator. It's like your carnitas regulator. You just want it perfect. Solenoids come with the regulator so why not have it.
This is not difficult. On the regular I only mess with it once a month, I think vibrations sometimes move the knob.
This sure beats mixing a vat of calcium and the rest every so often. Plus the cost now is nothing compared to before with mixing sups.
El Dude
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Sanhchito kicked me down a CaRX and reg. He didn't have a solenoid or I'm sure he would have given that up too! I'm just trying to see if there's a way to do this without having to buy a probe/controller. I just cashed in all my aluminum cans for my new skimmer fund. So I'm being cheap! Lol.
In all seriousness if it is justifiably better/safer to run a solenoid/probe/controller then I guess I'll just have to wait...
...thoughts?
Probes are cheap. And Lurking can sell you a regulator cheap. Probably looking at like 120$. Or you can use my spare but if mine goes out at midnight I expect you here at 1245am with mouth wide open.
I like the reef fanatic but they are pricier than the aquatic life I believe.
El Dude
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New reg, controller and probe? Check. Next I need to go down to Air Gas. They're just down the street. Guess what I'm doing this weekend after I get belligerent at TRFS?
