Geo Calcium Reactor with Pax Bellum Algae Reactor

[Wrasse-cal]

I am having some concerns that I may not be installing the CA reactor assembly properly. Presently, I have the Pax Bellum N18 algae reactor hooked up to a Geo 618 calcium reactor with a 415 secondary media chamber.

I have the output of my secondary media chamber feeding into the low pressure side of the CA reactor assembly. I have a drip counter to measure the CA reactor output drip before it enters the low side of the CA reactor assembly.

The weird thing, and why I think something is wrong with how the reactors are set up, is that the drip counter chamber appears to completely fill up with water from the bottom, i.e., from the output side of the drip counter. The flow seems to be reverse to what it is supposed to be.

I have the smallest restriction disk installed in the assembly. The reactors are fed off of a dedicated manifold powered by a Varios-2 pump running at 100%. (The CO2 tank is not yet hooked up.)

In a nutshell, I suspect how I have my reactors set up does not seem to be working. Does anyone have any guidance regarding what may be wrong?

 

[jda]

So the output from the GEO goes into the algae reactor? If so, this will not work. The output from the CaRx will have a pH in the 6.X range which will not work for marine life. You need to drip this effluent back into the sump (let it fall so that any extra CO2 goes into the air and not the water). You also need to feed the algae reactor with it's own pump.

It also looks like the input to the geo is fed from the same manifold that the output from the second chamber goes into - isn't this an equal pressure situation? Manifold to drive the CaRx is OK (some find it unreliable over time, but others do not), but the output needs to just drip/fall back into the sump.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

So the output from the GEO goes into the algae reactor? If so, this will not work. The output from the CaRx will have a pH in the 6.X range which will not work for marine life. You need to drip this effluent back into the sump (let it fall so that any extra CO2 goes into the air and not the water). You also need to feed the algae reactor with it's own pump.

It also looks like the input to the geo is fed from the same manifold that the output from the second chamber goes into - isn't this an equal pressure situation? Manifold to drive the CaRx is OK (some find it unreliable over time, but others do not), but the output needs to just drip/fall back into the sump.

Thanks for the reply. The CA reactor assembly (how the algae reactor interfaces with the CA reactor) is supplied by Pax Bellum, so the algae reactor is theoretically supposed to be fed CA reactor effluent.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Update: GREAT support from Pax Bellum. Tristan told me the problem was likely the diameter of the mur-lok tubing, which is 1/2 inch outside diameter. He suggested switching to 1/2 inch internal diameter tubing. I did, and it worked!

 

[jporter17]

Glad everything is working now. I’m thinking of adding the CO2 injection to my PB N24. Is or easy to read the drip counter now? I assume it would be like an IV drip at the hospital? It’s nice to not worry about another effluent pump with this configuration. Please keep us updated. JP

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Glad everything is working now. I’m thinking of adding the CO2 injection to my PB N24. Is or easy to read the drip counter now? I assume it would be like an IV drip at the hospital? It’s nice to not worry about another effluent pump with this configuration. Please keep us updated. JP

Will do!

 

[Water Dog]

That’s really cool. I’m actually planning on trying very something similar. I have a Watson Marlow peristaltic feed pump for my GEO 612 CaRx and intend to feed the effluent into the water intake of my Turbo’s Aquatics L2 algae turf scrubber. Hopefully, any excess CO2 will be beneficial for the growth of the GHA and any further excess CO2 will be degassed through air exchange as the water and effluent flows down the screen.

 

[KStatefan]

Update: GREAT support from Pax Bellum. Tristan told me the problem was likely the diameter of the mur-lok tubing, which is 1/2 inch outside diameter. He suggested switching to 1/2 inch internal diameter tubing. I did, and it worked!

Can you post a pic with your changes?

The geek in me really wants to do something like this along with building a regulator for the CO2 bottle

 

[Water Dog]

So the important thing is that you must have a peristaltic feed pump for your CaRx for the effluent to overcome the back pressure of the ATS feed pump. The PVC fittings for my ATS are 1/2”. So I just put a 1/2” slip tee with a 1/2” slip x 1/4” FPT bushing with a 1/4” MPT John Guest quick connect fitting between my ATS feed pump and spray bar. My CaRx effluent line will connect to the John Guest fitting.

 

[roberthu526]

So the output from the GEO goes into the algae reactor? If so, this will not work. The output from the CaRx will have a pH in the 6.X range which will not work for marine life. You need to drip this effluent back into the sump (let it fall so that any extra CO2 goes into the air and not the water). You also need to feed the algae reactor with it's own pump.

It also looks like the input to the geo is fed from the same manifold that the output from the second chamber goes into - isn't this an equal pressure situation? Manifold to drive the CaRx is OK (some find it unreliable over time, but others do not), but the output needs to just drip/fall back into the sump.

I am not sure about your statement as many people have their effluent dripping into the refugium with good result. Plants use up the extra CO2 and maintain a relatively high PH. Also by dripping the effluent into the sump does not promote extra air exchange, maybe a little bit. Tanks running calcium reactor usually have lower PH because the water has higher CO2 level.

 

[Water Dog]

@Wrasse-cal - So how is everything running? Now that you’ve been running your GEO CaRx with the ARID for awhile, I’m curious as to how well the CaRx feed system works for feeding your GEO CaRx. Any clogging issues? Are you getting consistent effluent flow? And has feeding the CaRx effluent into the ARID reactor helped with improving the pH of your tank?

 

[Wrasse-cal]

@Wrasse-cal - So how is everything running? Now that you’ve been running your GEO CaRx with the ARID for awhile, I’m curious as to how well the CaRx feed system works for feeding your GEO CaRx. Any clogging issues? Are you getting consistent effluent flow? And has feeding the CaRx effluent into the ARID reactor helped with improving the pH of your tank?

@Water Dog : It's a mixed bag. I'm not 100% sure I'd set it up this way again.

The drip counter from the CA reactor fills up with water within 24 hours no matter what tweaks I run--and I've done everything Pax Bellum has suggested to fix the problem. This is not per se impacting the performance , but it does make it hard to verify at a glance what my effluent drip rate is and if the effulent is indeed draining into the ARID reactor manifold as it should.

I have not had an issue with clogs, but I run my effluent output at a beaded stream and pretty high pH. I also installed a fuel filter inline so clogs should really not occur.

It is hard to judge what effect running the effluent through the ARID has had on pH, since I have never dripped the effluent straight into my tank. That said, before I started my CA reactor, my pH was between 8.1-8.25 (with a CO2 scrubber). Now, it's between 7.95 and 8.15.

 

[Water Dog]

Thanks for the update. I picked up a used n18 because of space constraints in my sump (I’ll keep my Turbo’s ATS for a larger tank down the road). I’ll continue to use my Watson Marlow peristaltic feed pump for my CaRx and plumb the effluent into the ARID similar to my photo above with the ATS. I was just wondering if it was worth getting the CaRx feed manifold from Pax Bellum. I really appreciate your input.

 

[jporter17]

Put a check valve at the input of the drip tube. That fixed the same issue I had with mine. Works lika a charm now. Love it. JP

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Put a check valve at the input of the drip tube. That fixed the same issue I had with mine. Works lika a charm now. Love it. JP

Did that. Didn’t work. I ditched the manifold and couldn’t be happier.