Geo 818/SMC415 Calcium Reactor Setup for my 240 Reef

[mitch91175]

I do want to share my experience with @geo customer service. I had an air leak and it had to do with my manifold. Reactor was still performing beautifully, but the air in the chamber was causing some pump noise. Well first to say that is definitely no longer an issue. @geo took care of the noise issue with a simple fix. Top notch in my book.

 

[mitch91175]

Here is a good one to show the benefit of both the Geo 818 and the Alkatronic when working in conjunction. So I replaced the manifold on the Geo 818 and dKH consumption really showed up during the down time.

 

[Water Dog]

I do want to share my experience with @geo customer service. I had an air leak and it had to do with my manifold. Reactor was still performing beautifully, but the air in the chamber was causing some pump noise. Well first to say that is definitely no longer an issue. @geo took care of the noise issue with a simple fix. Top notch in my book.

Agreed... Serdar is awesome with his service. Are you not using the Kamoer to feed your CaRx?

 

[mitch91175]

Are you not using the Kamoer to feed your CaRx?

Absolutely using it. Heck I wouldn't want to do it any other way really. There was still air getting into the chamber from the manifold somewhere.

 

[Water Dog]

Oh, the manifold on the reactor... gotcha!

 

[mitch91175]

Oh, the manifold on the reactor... gotcha!

I'm loving this setup @Water Dog. To have almost absolutely no worries about mixing 2 part, filling containers, etc. is a blessing . I had a CaRx in the past and it definitely didn't seem soo easy back then as it today. I guess when you get a decent setup it helps make tuning, etc. seem too easy.

 

[implusebuy]

I do want to share my experience with @geo customer service. I had an air leak and it had to do with my manifold. Reactor was still performing beautifully, but the air in the chamber was causing some pump noise. Well first to say that is definitely no longer an issue. @geo took care of the noise issue with a simple fix. Top notch in my book.

I have the 818 and I have that issue. What was the fix?

 

[mitch91175]

I have the 818 and I have that issue. What was the fix?

I ended up getting a different manifold. You may be able to fix the issue by zip tying everything. This is one of the differences with the new manifold

 

[mitch91175]

 

[implusebuy]

All my fittings are push fittings. I’ll see if they will send me that nipple. Did he provide you with the clear hose as well?

 

[Water Dog]

Mitch, did you end up pushing or pulling through your reactor?

 

[mitch91175]

Mitch, did you end up pushing or pulling through your reactor?

I am pushing through it.

 

[biecacka]

Mitch, I love my geo reactor too! I have a prototype from George himself before Serdar took over.
Here’s my question to you since I’m thinking of the alkatronic or a unit similar to it. Do you use a ph probe in the reactor as well as one in the sump?
Is your unit set up like this, (numbers are random picked);

Want a dkh of 8.5, so set alkatronic to that
Set calcium reactor to 6.4-6.5 range and monitor that.
Alkatronic tests tank water and it comes in at 8.5 so you let things be
Over time as your consumption increases you will retune you CaRx


Corey

 

[voooooo]

hey mitch did the change in manifold solve your issue with air bubbles? geo sent me the same manifold replacement and it did not solve it for me. thanks

 

[mitch91175]

Mitch, I love my geo reactor too! I have a prototype from George himself before Serdar took over.
Here’s my question to you since I’m thinking of the alkatronic or a unit similar to it. Do you use a ph probe in the reactor as well as one in the sump?
Is your unit set up like this, (numbers are random picked);

Want a dkh of 8.5, so set alkatronic to that
Set calcium reactor to 6.4-6.5 range and monitor that.
Alkatronic tests tank water and it comes in at 8.5 so you let things be
Over time as your consumption increases you will retune you CaRx


Corey

That is correct with how the Alkatronic works with the reactor. You can plug in pump into the BT adapter and it will turn off the pump if the dKH is higher than your ceiling for your range.

hey mitch did the change in manifold solve your issue with air bubbles? geo sent me the same manifold replacement and it did not solve it for me. thanks

Unfortunately I still have air bubbles but not the air crunching noise that I had before. @geo I think did everything they can do to get rid of the bubbles, but I think that this is something that I will just have to live with at this point, unless there is a legitimate fix to the issue. I am almost thinking about moving to my manifold to see if that does any better than the Kamoer. But then again, it does kind of seem that others have the air issue as well, so maybe we can try to actually identify the root cause of the air bubbles? I think one wau to maybe combat the air bubble would be a change to the manifold on the output portion of the reactor. Obviously the bubbles travel up so maybe instead of having the output to the side maybe having it to the top will work. Still using a "T" so the air will have a chance escape the chamber.

BTW, I don't have a single air bubble in my SMC415 though so is that just how the reactor is supposed to operate? Is that just all of the CO2 being recirculated?

 

[voooooo]

yes having pressure will solve the air bubbles situation. when i push thru my manifold and had my masterflex pull to control effluent it work flawlessly. but since i started to just use the masterflex only, that is when i started having issues. thanks for replying.

 

[voooooo]

double posr

 

[mitch91175]

double posr

I am going to switch to the manifold pushing and the Kamoer pulling to see if that takes care of the issue. Will report back once switched.

 

[mitch91175]

Well switch to CaRx being feed by the manifold and pulling back to the tank and no bubbles thus far. Hasn't been a long time running, but it is looking promising. Will report back in a few days.

 

[voooooo]

Well switch to CaRx being feed by the manifold and pulling back to the tank and no bubbles thus far. Hasn't been a long time running, but it is looking promising. Will report back in a few days.

i have done the same. went back to push with manifold and pull thru masterflex for almost a week now without any issues. i used this method for 3 months without any issues before changing to just the masterflex. i believe the issue is when there are no pressure the recirculating pump is somehow drawing air back.