ph probe for cal reactor,do you need it???

[mikid]

i was just wondering if the people out their,do you all use ph probe or controllers on your reactor,do you have to if you just control the bubbles(10 etc,,)adjust them or is that playing with fire!!!!!!!!!,mike

[Doahh]

I use a PH Probe/Controller on mine

[iriejp1]

I've taken the lead from my friend Ben who has been reefing for over 10 years...he's had a CR on his tank for many years and has never done anything but set his bubble rate and forget it. Obviously he does some maintenance and readjustment whenever the little valves get clogged. But that's about it.

It should be noted that he does not really keep much SPS. Mostly LPS and softies. I've just started my tank with some SPS and all is well so far. I've had my reactor running for about a month now.

[mpoletti]

Mike, I do not use one on mine.

[reefer334]

Mike

I use a controller to shut off the C02 if the PH in the Tank
drops below 7.89.

But not sure it is necsary, as I have bumped the C02 valve by accident and opened it up quite a bit to the point were the reactor filled up with C02 and my PH never dropped below 7.99.



Chris


PS
did you ever find some Chaeto?

[besl]

All you need is a monitor as you should not rely on a controller to shut the CO2 flow on and off - CO2 should be a constant flow. If you rely on the controller to assure proper melt rate of the Ca, then you don't have it set up properly. Having said that, all you need is a pH monitor. Do you absolutely need a pH monitor - probably not but I highly recommend this or you will need to do alot more manual Ca and Alk testing to make sure parameter stability. I would absolutely not rely strictly on bpm count and effluent flow rate to set Ca and Alk replenishment rates. Each time I change the media I find that the previous setup conditions for bpm and flow (or at least the values I recorded) will not provide the same water chemistry after the change. Plan on Ca and Alk measurments as you should anyways and a monitor is a great tool to help steer your settings.

[mikid]

SO MARK YOU JUST ADJUST YOU FLOW TO KEEP ALK/CAL AT THE LEVELS YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN?,THAT MAKES ALOT OF SENSE,IVE
HAD MY REACTOR FOR 4 MONTHS AND HAVE NOT TURNED IT ON,SHOULD YOU BE THERE IN THE BEGINNING TO SET IT UP OR SHOLUD YOU JUST SET IT UP THE NIGHT BEFORE,SAY SET THE BUBBLE COUNTER ON 10 ,AND CHECK WHEN YOU GET HOME OR IS THAT TO LONG BETWEEN CHECKING?,MIKE

[mpoletti]

Originally posted by mikid
SO MARK YOU JUST ADJUST YOU FLOW TO KEEP ALK/CAL AT THE LEVELS YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN?

Yep, I ran a ph controller on my last tank and that reactor and controller are still in may garage. I just set my bubble count and deal with the effluent. I was checking twice a day. Now I test every 2-3 days.

[Jim_S]

I use a PH monitor to tell me what the PH is inside the reactor, but set the drip rate and bubble count on my own. I don't use a controller.

When setting it up, you want to test often, but once you have a feel for how the reactor is working, its really easy.

[mikid]

HOW LONG FROM THE TIME THAT YOU SET YOUR CO2 DOES IT TAKE TO START GETTING READING CHANGES IN ALK/CAL?,MIKE

[Nuuze]

I was testing my Alk every 24 hours until it came into range. Then every couple days to make sure it stayed. Now that I'm used to the setting a couple times a week.

I actually have two pH controllers. One Pinpoint controller to read reactor pH set at 6.45-6.7 to turn C02 on and off. The second ACjr to read tank pH. As a secondary failsafe, I have the ACjr set if tank pH falls below 7.85 then the ACjr will shut off the Pinpoint cutting off C02 that is plugged to DC8.

[mikid]

so far the reactor has been up and running since the beginning of this post,15-20 bubble per minute, alk at 8.6, cal at 410?, ph 8.3 and testing every day,seems to be leveled off,was wondering what the word effluent was refering to?so if i seem dumbbbbb,mike