Reactors and what they are about

tony1970 · 08/20/2007, 03:51 PM

Can someone give me a clear understanding of how a calcium reactor works and what the proper adjustment procedure is, i have to say, after a year of discussing this and messing with the reactor, it has the be the most unexplained technique ever. i have read the set up by Simon Huntington about how to set it and things, but the more i talk to people, the more unclear and confusing it becomes

Now we have a tank alk of 11.2 dkh, and its been that way for a few weeks now with a setting of 10 bubbles per minute and 35 drips perminute, simon in his site says to start with 10 bubbles and 40 drips and to keep ph in reactor to 6.5-6.7, we are using gen x, and our calcium dropped from 400 to 350 in one week after doing it up to 400. the lfs store says you must run a lower ph in the reactor to disolve the bigger media, gen x media is bigger then arm or most others. We tried arm and didnt have good luck with it either. so they saying we need to run a ph of 6.3-6.4 inside the reactor, guy tells us to increase co2 rate and increase flow rate to 60 drips. now by reading about reactors, if we increase the co2 you should increase drip rate in ratio so if i were to move it from 10 bubbles to 12 bubbles that means drip rate has to go from 35 to 42 drips. this will increase alk. and on the same note like it explains in simons site, if you decrease the flow rate you increase the ph inside reactor, so do we just decrease flow rate from 35 to 30 and leave bubble count at 10? or do we up the bubble count to 12 to disolve more media, but if we do that we have to increase the drip rate also, other wise alk will rise, and if we increase the drip rate and increase co2, alk will still rise, so lol ok im all screwed up now

oh man forget im so dizzy from all this its not even fun anymore

all i want to know is how do you adjust the reactor so your calcium isnt falling 100 ppm every single week with reactor running 24/hrs a day, people say, you need to dose!! ok well i understand we dosed just the calcium to bump it up but then reactor should keep it there yes? it doesnt, so i have to ask, what is a reactor good for if even running it 24hrs a day you still need to do allt he dosing as if no reactor was set in the first place? we lost enough corals messing with this stupid thing, and right now dkh for the first time in a year has been stable for 3 weeks straight. but calcium dropping like theres no tomorrow and the company that sells the media says we need lower ph in reactor to disolve it, but by doing that arent we going to throw the alk once again off and end up killing entire tank again, trying to avoid this costly mistakes, when i cant get a clear understanding of what exactly a reactor is doing for my tank if anything at all

What does a reactor do? does it only add alkalinty to the tank system? or does it add alk and calcium? can calcium output be adjusted with a reactor? or do you dose your calcium to the level you want and let reactor keep it stable? what exactly is a reactor doing? Ive read every single link and thread i could find, but still confused, im missing something here.

But depleting more media does this raise calcium output from reactor? or does it raise alk, or does it do both, right now were at 11.2 dkh, i dont want it to go higher.

Using instant ocean reef crystals for water changes, its a 90 gal tank 120 gal totla volum water and 10 gals per week is changed. now if water changes are the main source of calcium and keeping it stable, then i have to ask once again, what is the reactor doing for me?

burris · 08/21/2007, 10:26 AM

CaCO3 reactors add balanced alkalinity and calcium to the system in the same proportions that they are taken out. Basically you start with the reactor set low and increase it until your alkalinity stops falling. Once you have the ratio of calcium and alkalinity correct, you can just check alkalinity. Use 2-part solution to bring your calcium and alkalinity back up until the reactor is keeping up.

08/20/2007, 03:51 PM	#1
tony1970 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Hawaii Posts: 109	Reactors and what they are about Can someone give me a clear understanding of how a calcium reactor works and what the proper adjustment procedure is, i have to say, after a year of discussing this and messing with the reactor, it has the be the most unexplained technique ever. i have read the set up by Simon Huntington about how to set it and things, but the more i talk to people, the more unclear and confusing it becomes Now we have a tank alk of 11.2 dkh, and its been that way for a few weeks now with a setting of 10 bubbles per minute and 35 drips perminute, simon in his site says to start with 10 bubbles and 40 drips and to keep ph in reactor to 6.5-6.7, we are using gen x, and our calcium dropped from 400 to 350 in one week after doing it up to 400. the lfs store says you must run a lower ph in the reactor to disolve the bigger media, gen x media is bigger then arm or most others. We tried arm and didnt have good luck with it either. so they saying we need to run a ph of 6.3-6.4 inside the reactor, guy tells us to increase co2 rate and increase flow rate to 60 drips. now by reading about reactors, if we increase the co2 you should increase drip rate in ratio so if i were to move it from 10 bubbles to 12 bubbles that means drip rate has to go from 35 to 42 drips. this will increase alk. and on the same note like it explains in simons site, if you decrease the flow rate you increase the ph inside reactor, so do we just decrease flow rate from 35 to 30 and leave bubble count at 10? or do we up the bubble count to 12 to disolve more media, but if we do that we have to increase the drip rate also, other wise alk will rise, and if we increase the drip rate and increase co2, alk will still rise, so lol ok im all screwed up now oh man forget im so dizzy from all this its not even fun anymore all i want to know is how do you adjust the reactor so your calcium isnt falling 100 ppm every single week with reactor running 24/hrs a day, people say, you need to dose!! ok well i understand we dosed just the calcium to bump it up but then reactor should keep it there yes? it doesnt, so i have to ask, what is a reactor good for if even running it 24hrs a day you still need to do allt he dosing as if no reactor was set in the first place? we lost enough corals messing with this stupid thing, and right now dkh for the first time in a year has been stable for 3 weeks straight. but calcium dropping like theres no tomorrow and the company that sells the media says we need lower ph in reactor to disolve it, but by doing that arent we going to throw the alk once again off and end up killing entire tank again, trying to avoid this costly mistakes, when i cant get a clear understanding of what exactly a reactor is doing for my tank if anything at all What does a reactor do? does it only add alkalinty to the tank system? or does it add alk and calcium? can calcium output be adjusted with a reactor? or do you dose your calcium to the level you want and let reactor keep it stable? what exactly is a reactor doing? Ive read every single link and thread i could find, but still confused, im missing something here. But depleting more media does this raise calcium output from reactor? or does it raise alk, or does it do both, right now were at 11.2 dkh, i dont want it to go higher. Using instant ocean reef crystals for water changes, its a 90 gal tank 120 gal totla volum water and 10 gals per week is changed. now if water changes are the main source of calcium and keeping it stable, then i have to ask once again, what is the reactor doing for me? Last edited by tony1970; 08/20/2007 at 04:10 PM.

08/21/2007, 10:26 AM	#2
burris Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 257	CaCO3 reactors add balanced alkalinity and calcium to the system in the same proportions that they are taken out. Basically you start with the reactor set low and increase it until your alkalinity stops falling. Once you have the ratio of calcium and alkalinity correct, you can just check alkalinity. Use 2-part solution to bring your calcium and alkalinity back up until the reactor is keeping up.