Just setup a DIY calcium reactor and am now in the process of adjusting effluent and co2 bubble rate. Was curious to hear what others are using and their tank size. I dose kalk in my topoff which keeps my tank ph at 8.3. So far my effluent is about 100ml/minute and 50bpm, I believe I will still be bumping up the bpm.
bubble and effluent rates
- Thread starter sgwill122
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DonW
R.I.P.
@ 50 bpm what is your effluent ph?
Don
Don
mmkeeper
Well-known member
What are your starting Ca and Alk levels?
50 bpm seems drastically high to me. I believe most start at 15 or so.
I have a heavily loaded 120G mixed reef with mostly SPS.
I top off with kalk, about two gallons a day, have a DIY reactor that is set at about 19bpm and a drip rate of 70 drips a minute. My alk has been slowly creeping up lately due to too high of bpm.
I have a heavily loaded 120G mixed reef with mostly SPS.
I top off with kalk, about two gallons a day, have a DIY reactor that is set at about 19bpm and a drip rate of 70 drips a minute. My alk has been slowly creeping up lately due to too high of bpm.
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I need to dial my bpm back as my alk is heading up. I do not know the ph of my effluent as my ph test kits don't measure below 7.6. I ordered a Pinpoint PH monitor but the probe arrived broken and the replacement is a week away. I have been measuring alkalinity to gauge reactor effectiveness. My DIY reactor holds 2 full containers of ARM plus a bit of room(I would assume increased reactor size means needing higher bpm?). This mornings measurements are 17dkh of the effluent which is flowing out at 50ml/minute and co2 is 40bpm. My tank alk is up to 11dkh and calcium is at 420 and my PH is now 8.1. My topoff water is also around 2 gallons per day and my calc does keep my calcium around 200 with a dkh at 8.5. I wanted to add the reactor to keep my tank consistantly over the 200 mark and also supplement other trace elements(and mostly for the project). I converted an old wet/dry bio ball acrylic shell into my reactor chamber. My question about bpm's is a result of me lacking my PH monitor and trying to dial in the reactor. I will definitely be cranking it back to bring my alk in line. Adding a pic of my reactor, it is a reverse flow using a maxijet inside the chamber. I feed the reactor using a 1/4 line off my overflow line to sump.
DonW
R.I.P.
If your reactor is only at 17dkh @ 40bpm its not working well at all. I'd sjut it down until you can measure ph.
Don
Don
