Calcium Reactor bubble rate questions

[Tcook]

Just set up my calcium reactor again. Haven't run one for 8 years or so. Currently the CO2 solenoid is set to go on at pH 6.8 and off at pH 6.5 (this is the probe in the reactor). It is set at 1 bubble every 4 seconds (carbon doser) and the solenoid is cycling on and off every 30 minutes. Is this too frequent for the longevity of the solenoid? Should I bump to 1 bubble very 6 seconds or so to stretch out the on/off cycling? This is a log of the pH probe for last 24hrs. Didn't have the solenoid set to log.

 

[SPR1968]

I can’t answer the specific question, but I can bump the thread to see if we can get you some help

 

[Tcook]

Thanks. I decreased the bubble rate to 1/6seconds and that spread the on/off cycling to every hour. Alkalinity continued to rise but I couldn't drop the effluent rate any lower on my peristaltic pump so ordered a Kamoer. I forgot how much fun futzing with a reactor was.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Twice an hour is nothing. Mine turns on/off every 5-8 minutes.

 

[Tcook]

Ok. Thanks. I'll start playing with it again when the new peristaltic pump comes in.

 

[Deep]

isnt a solenoid made exactly for that - turning on and off ? I would in fact be worried if I ran it too long without turning off.

 

[Rick.45cal]

When you say your alkalinity is rising do you mean your tank’s alkalinity is rising? How big is your system? How old is it? What are your daily alkalinity demands (how many dKh does your tank consume daily)? What kind of corals do you have? Are they all big colonies, or a bunch of frags?

The reason I ask is because NOTHING should be happening quickly in a CaRx. You also shouldn’t really have to futz with it much at all if you get it setup and dialed in right. I only have to make one or two tiny adjustments to CO2 input in a year, and my reef consumed about 30 lbs of aragonite last year, and the only time I have to make any big changes to the regulator is when I replace the bottle, I run a 20# bottle that last me almost a whole year.

The pH inside my reactor makes a single daily swing of +/- 0.1 (6.29-6.20) depending on the daily swing of the pH in the whole aquarium. My solenoid NEVER closes, unless I turn it off. (Happens once a year when I add more media to my reactor) My tank alkalinity has a small daily swing but stays constant for weeks and months without me having to do anything to adjust it. It is 100% the way you choose to operate the reactor as to how much work you create for yourself.

The problem is, if your tank has almost no demand for alkalinity then a reactor is just not a good fit... yet.

 

[LuisPerez711]

I agree with the posts above. A solenoid is meant to open and close multiple times and the life cycle of a standard solenoid is something like millions of on/off cycles.

It is also how you run your calcium reactor and the demand needed by your tank. All of it comes together: the flow of the effluent, the addition of CO2, ph level, circulation of the water inside the reactor. When I ran my calcium reactor years ago, my effluent was more of a stream than a drip. I ran the effluent through a 2nd large chamber of media before it entered the tank so the ph was not as low. I also kept the ph a little higher so the media wouldn't dissolve as fast. The goal was to keep me parameters stable and it worked. The consensus is a specific ph, with a specific flow rate, with a specific bubble count but it might not be that for your tank's demand.

Either way, in my opinion, your solenoid is fine with it's on and off cycles.