PH issues w/Octopus Calc Rx

[Jan]

I have broached this subject before but I didn't resolve it and it rose up and bit me in the behind this morning.

This dual chamber reactor doesn't have an internal ph probe. I have an Aquacontroller Jr with a ph probe in my sump however.

Last night when I came home from work the Calc Rx was turbulent but I thought it just got air in it somehow. I didn't notice that my effluent line into the sump had stopped dripping. I noticed it this morning, and opened up the valve more to clear the salt creep out and hopefully reduce the turbulence in the reactor.

That is when my ph started to drop like a stone. It was 7.88 when I first looked at it, and after an hour of having the drip restored it had dropped to 7.83 and it continued to drop even after I turned off the CO2. I was starting to panic and ended up just turning off the feed pump, circ pump too in addition to the CO2. So the whole thing is off now, and I added ReefBuffer 8.3 to my sump. When I was finally able to leave the house, the ph had stabilized at 7.92, and the alk was up to 6.5 dhk after being down at 6.0 dhk during the midst of this mess.

So...I have some questions. If something ever happens like this again, what procedure could have prevented the too-acidic effluent from dropping my tank ph? I assume that the CO2 built up in the reactor for 24 hours or so until I noticed the effluent valve was clogged. Then when the drip restored, the dissolved CO2 got into the tank (?) Should I have run the effluent outside of the sump to clean out the reactor for some period of time, and only returned it to the sump when the ph measured a certain level?

Second question, with my situation not having an internal ph probe on the reactor, should I mod the reactor to have one so that my ACJr can turn off the CO2 when the effluent ph is too low, or should I use the sump's ph probe to do that job? What would be a safe shut-off point, ph-wise?

Any other advice? FWIW, I recently replaced both the feed pump (now have an Eheim) and the solonoid to a good quality one with needlewheel adjustment. Oh yeah, also had to replace the circ pump because the Octopus one died on me. Everything's been replaced except the reactor itself.

 

[DonW]

If you had a ph controller in the reactor it would have turned off the co2. That poses another issue with the probe alway being out of calibration. These are easily fixed by just feeding the reactor differently.

Don

 

[class clown]

Hey Jan,

I had my first occurance of the same nature last week actually (different reactor though) - My effluent hose became clogged and no water was dripping out and bunch of bubbles were collecting inside. For me, I tried to clean out the effluent nozzle as best I could, then just emptied out the water in the reactor chamber into another bucket and hooked it back up and this seemed to work fine.

Hindsight 20/20 right? I think you'll be alright. obviously the PH swing isn't good, but it doesn't sound like it'll be enough to be detremental to anything. Let me know if it does though. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

As far as preventing it in the future, you may want to add cleaning of the effluent nozzle to your monthly maintanence list. I think I'll be adding it to mine from here on out after my adventure last week too.

Ben

 

[Jan]

yeah, a 5 gallon bucket would have been much more effective than the empty coffee mug I was using temporarily, just until I had a plan of attack, you know? :lol: It kept filling up and as soon as it started to overflow into the sump, that ph meter would start to nose down again. That was my first clue.

 

[tamarindthai]

jan,,flush the Ca reator once a month,,by wide open the e -valve for 5 mins then adust it back to where it belong,,it will good to go again for the next 30-45days,,it doesn't matter 50$or 1000$ reactor they all plugged,,that's bummmp.

 

[Jan]

effluent valve....check!

 

[barrierreefcf]

We had something similar happen with a client of ours. We now use a pH controller with the reactor's solenoid plugged into it. We put the probe in the sump where it reads the tank's pH. We set the Controller to shut off the CO2 regulator (via the solenoid) at a pH of 7.7-7.8 depending on where the tank normally dips to during the night. Like Don said...gotta keep the probe calibrated frequently. Like Dang said...flush the effluent line frequently.

Hope this helps and glad you didn't lose anything!

 

[Jan]

Thanks, Cy,

I came home from work at 6:30 pm, immediately looked at the ACJr readout, and the ph reading was 8.3. I was like, "Damn, that Reef Buffer 8.3 is good stuff!" :lol: (Now it's dropped to 8.27...about normal for this time of night.)

I think I can do what you described Cy, with my ACJr and the ph probe in the sump. When the ph gets to a preset value, I'll have the ACJr turn off the CO2. Suddenly the programming of the ACJr has made it high on my priority list.

 

[Skimmy]

also jan, put your extra german gardena valve on the outlet, those work better and are harder to clog, and then soak in vinegar at least once a month.
and yes, i'd say either reprogram the ac jr. to swich off the ozone, or better yet, get a dedicated controller for the carx so that you can monitor ph in the tank and reactor...what the hell, it's another $150.

 

[Jan]

what the hell, it's another $150.

ROFL...yeah, the only $700 Octopus calc rx in use today.