Calcium reactor 3172 leaking

[VJV]

Thanks! What pH does Tunze media require to melt? I tried to look it up on Tunze web but could not find the info

 

[rvitko]

Generally for coral skeletons the ph must be below 6.7, for stone media, it has to be below 6.5.

 

[VJV]

Hi Roger, it seems a lot of the Co2 gets sucked by the effluent. As a result it is very difficult to maintain a constant drip as the Co2 bubbles keep coming out of the effluent and interrupting the effluent flow. Is this normal?

One easy fix I believe would be to have the effluent tube protruding about one inch inside the reactor. As the bubbles seem to gather on the top lid before they are sucked either by the effluent or the re circulation, if the effluent inlet is one inch below the lid it will not suck the Co2 out, not sure if it makes sense?

 

[rvitko]

I would agree, I don't think 1" is necessary even 1/8" would be enough to direct the bubbles to the other side, let me talk to the engineers, it should be easy to add just a small pipe. I assumed it would have such a protrusion, my 3170 does, and it is just about 1/8". I had to check one and I saw that it does not.

 

[VJV]

By the way, I’ve done nothing but it seems the leak has stopped.... [emoji848]

 

[rvitko]

I heard back from the engineering team.

1) In early prototypes they had the extended pipe into the reactor, this was where I was confused and expecting it should be there, my 3170 is a prototype that never entered final production.
2) They do not use this as the recirculating line has a much higher velocity of flow and so the bubbles will naturally move to this strong suction instead of the low pressure output.
3) If bubbles exit the drip, either the media is too coarse and loosely packed so bubbles can pass through quickly without dissolving or the bubble rate is too high.

Slow leaks with low pressure can often stop only because mineral crust has sealed the leak.

 

[VJV]

Thanks. Well, the media is indeed coarse but I would not say it is too coarse... I definitely believe it would have made sense to have it extrude at least 1/8 inch into the reactor.

I am still dosing 120ml of balling (plus Kalk in ATO) to keep up with Alk demands. Currently working with a pH setting of 6,3-6,4 inside the reactor.

May try and lower it to 6,2-6,3 and see how it goes. Or perhaps start with 6,25-6,35.

 

[rvitko]

I would not go any lower, I would give it time, 6.3 at most should be plenty. You could try the pipe, but I would make it removable as the engineers were pretty specific that they tried it and did not use it because it worked better without it, this was another potential point to clog and affect drip rate and make purging the air more difficult.

 

[VJV]

Hi Roger,

I lowered the Reactor pH to 6,25-6,35 plus Kalk with the 5074 calcium dispenser plus 72ml of buffer and still mi Alk is slowly decreasing... [emoji20].

I have turned the effluent up to see if I can finally cut with the balling completely but the issue is that this is driving my tanks pH seriously down! Tilt gets as low as 7,50 at night, in spite of the Kalk AND I have re started my refugium in a reverse light mode. Admittedly the chaeto ball is still small so probably not doing much but I am starting to doubt if I did the right thing changing to a CaRX.

I decided to drop balling because I was going through 1000ml a day and had to mix 15L every two weeks, which not only was a pain but also expensive.

Now I have to constantly battle low pH, maintain a refugium and top up Kalkwasser to keep things stable...

I think I will try the Tunze media to see if things improve.

 

[VJV]

 

[dragon99]

Have you tested the Alk of the effluent? Hard to imagine it can't keep up with the demand.

 

[VJV]

Have you tested the Alk of the effluent? Hard to imagine it can't keep up with the demand.

I have not. The Hanna Checker only measures to 300ppm (more or less 16,8dKH) so I guess i will not be able to reach a conclusion. Thought about diluting in RO but I am not sure that the checker would be accurate in a mix of RO and CaRX salty effluent...

It is replenishing something as I have gone from dosing 380ml (1.44dKH) a a day to 72ml (0,27dKH). Kalk (fully saturated, daily evap of about 2,5L) should be providing some or 0,5dKH) which means (assuming the consumptions has not changed) teus reactor is providing the remaining 0,7dKH...

The tank is 700L. I will be trying the Tunze media. Maybe the Caribsea Coarse média I am using is not working properly...?

 

[Marou]

Try tunze media, it is finer media that means more reaction surface that may solve your problem. But to be honest i think you should have bought the 3172 model that has so much more media in it. 1.50 dkh in a 700 liters aquarium is a lot of consumption and i dont think 1.8 liters of media can handle it without creating ph problems in main aquarium.

 

[VJV]

Try tunze media, it is finer media that means more reaction surface that may solve your problem. But to be honest i think you should have bought the 3172 model that has so much more media in it. 1.50 dkh in a 700 liters aquarium is a lot of consumption and i dont think 1.8 liters of media can handle it without creating ph problems in main aquarium.

I believe you are right... [emoji17]. I am having all sorts of problems. I dialed the reactor pH Dow to 6,2 managed to get my Alk up from 7,17 to 7,45 in 24h. That is a 0,28dKH which in Aquaforest balling equates roughly to 72ml, I.e., I should now be able to stop the dosing.

To keep this up I have my effluent set to a constant stream so with such a low pH and high effluent my tank’s pH dropped even further down to 7,45 during the night [emoji15].

The 3171 was rated up to 1200L so the small form factor really appealed to me. I will try the Tunze media to see if it fares any better or the fine media from Caribsea, which I believe I read it has the highest dissolving pH of any media (like 7,0 or higher). This should really help out boosting the pH in the tank which is uncomfortably low.

My refugium should still take some 3 weeks before the chaeto is big enough to start making a meaningful impact in terms of pH boosting at night. I am also considering drilling a hole in the wall for my skimmer air intake but the house is brick and mortar so I need to find a professional that can e sure this can be done and properly sealed to prevent any infiltration.

 

[VJV]

@rvitko the bubble counter base is leaking at the base. Can I use cyanoacrylate and glue it shut or could it react with the CO2 and inject some form of poisonous gas?

Thanks

 

[rvitko]

It should not leak, I would either remove the caps and reinstall or request a replacement under warranty. Their is no danger from the cyanoacrylate but it shouldn't be needed, I think the pressure inside may be too high from a high bubble count?

 

[VJV]

It should not leak, I would either remove the caps and reinstall or request a replacement under warranty. Their is no danger from the cyanoacrylate but it shouldn't be needed, I think the pressure inside may be too high from a high bubble count?

But I have the solenoid before the bubble counter so it should not be under too much pressure right?

 

[rvitko]

I would agree, I think it is a defect but if the hose was pinched or clogged it could build up.

 

[VJV]

Hi Roger, still battling very low pH in my tank so finally decided to take some measures:

Effluent rate: 75ml per min
Reactor pH: 6,1dKH
Effluent Alk: 12,6 dKH

From what I have read Reactor effluent should be around 20-30dKH and mine is surprisingly low even though the reactor pH is lower than usual. This must mean there is a problem with the Caribsea ARM Coarse media right? At such low pH the effluent Alk should be much higher correct?

This also explains why the impact in my tanks pH is so big: I have a very high effluent rate with a very low pH to keep up with Alk demand in the tank. And I need such high effluent rate because the Alk of the effluent is very low.

I am trying to get my hand on some Tunze media to see if it makes a difference.

 

[rvitko]

I would try a finer media, my suspicion is that the flow is channeling through the coarser media and not giving a good reaction. You are correct, the effluent should be above 18 dKH for sure and usually 20-24 is what I would adjust to.