Is calcium reactor worth the buck?

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jmichaelh7

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I count for 15 seconds and multiply x 4. Fairly simple.
You need a watch with a second hand and I use a flashlight to see the bubbles. My bubble trap is not clear and hard to see.
So my dkh has been at 8.3 2 days now. I think this is where I am going to keep it. My magic ratio is the bubble count and the “ml” of the effluent right now. Anytime I refill the co2 tank i go back to the magic ratio number.

When my corals start growing I will start increasing dkh by slowing effluent down or increasing bubble count.

am I missing anything? I don’t think it’s that bad. I may look at upgrading to kamoer maybe I don’t know. At first it seemed like a lot of work but now that it’s setup hopefully stability is what I see here on out.

I’m running ARM right now and took crush media out. I might also add “magnesium” media in the future
 

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So my dkh has been at 8.3 2 days now. I think this is where I am going to keep it. My magic ratio is the bubble count and the “ml” of the effluent right now. Anytime I refill the co2 tank i go back to the magic ratio number.

When my corals start growing I will start increasing dkh by slowing effluent down or increasing bubble count.

am I missing anything? I don’t think it’s that bad. I may look at upgrading to kamoer maybe I don’t know. At first it seemed like a lot of work but now that it’s setup hopefully stability is what I see here on out.

I’m running ARM right now and took crush media out. I might also add “magnesium” media in the future
What is the dkh of the effluent?
This should be over 20dkh or close to it to start.

When you change your co2 tank you dont change anyhing.
Just verify bubble count is the same. In other words you keep the same bubble count and effluent mlpm that your were running on the old tank.

You increase bubble count and effluent both and keep the same ratio to adjust for more alk useage in your system.

I hardly ever check effluent now.
When I do its always 20+ and that works for my system.
I check and log alk every day but its just a habit I got into.
I could go every week and be fine as I do on my frag system.
 
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jmichaelh7

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What is the dkh of the effluent?
This should be over 20dkh or close to it to start.

When you change your co2 tank you dont change anyhing.
Just verify bubble count is the same. In other words you keep the same bubble count and effluent mlpm that your were running on the old tank.

You increase bubble count and effluent both and keep the same ratio to adjust for more alk useage in your system.

I hardly ever check effluent now.
When I do its always 20+ and that works for my system.
I check and log alk every day but its just a habit I got into.
I could go every week and be fine as I do on my frag system.
I have salifert , the test doesn’t go to 20dkh
 
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jmichaelh7

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What is the dkh of the effluent?
This should be over 20dkh or close to it to start.

When you change your co2 tank you dont change anyhing.
Just verify bubble count is the same. In other words you keep the same bubble count and effluent mlpm that your were running on the old tank.

You increase bubble count and effluent both and keep the same ratio to adjust for more alk useage in your system.

I hardly ever check effluent now.
When I do its always 20+ and that works for my system.
I check and log alk every day but its just a habit I got into.
I could go every week and be fine as I do on my frag system.
I looked up how to do the effluent check with salifert.

I took 1:3 ratio. So 1ml of Effluent with 3 ml of RO water.

This result put me around 2.7 on the Salifert test. I multiplied x4 and i'm at 10.8 dkh inside the Carx.

I don't have any corals at this time. My dKh this morning was 8.3

is this a normal reading for effluent? I've read 20dKh , 25dKh is where the effluent should be at
 
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jmichaelh7

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Does dkh have to be in 20s to know the media is dissolving or that’s just a safe number to go off of
 

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Does dkh have to be in 20s to know the media is dissolving or that’s just a safe number to go off of

Any value higher than the tank means some is dissolving. How high it needs to be depends on the tank demand and the water flow rate through the reactor..
 
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jmichaelh7

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Question for those utilizing carx..

Do you guys find you dose with your carx or do you mainly get your trace elements from your media?

I'm doing 10% weekly wc , i was wondering if anyone has benefited from carx media to dose trace elements
 

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You still need some water changes. I just use a CaRx and change some water. This is all that I need unless I am growing a lot of chaeto, and then I do dose some Iron.

Natural media has some trace elements, but it is not comprehensive.
 

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What do you dose and test ?
I dose DSR EZ trace at 6ml a day.
I control my dose by the mag and K levels.
Just sent out my first ICP test the first of the year and it confirmed my dosing amount was correct.
I also test Mag and K with Salifert but only every 4-5 months.
All ICP test came back in range and were very close to my own testing levels. Check my build if you want to see levels.
 
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jmichaelh7

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I’ve been looking at setups. Is it necessary to have a continuous duty pump for the effluent ? What’s wrong with the stock setup calcium reactors come with?
 

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I’ve been looking at setups. Is it necessary to have a continuous duty pump for the effluent ? What’s wrong with the stock setup calcium reactors come with?
I used my Tunze stock.
Perestaltic pumps give consitant accuracy and need to be continuous duty.
With that said I modified a Skimz media reactor into a carx.
I used the tunze method and utilize the thumb screw on the intake. Been running for over 1.5 years with no issues.
No feed pump needed also.
 

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Anyone turned an old media reactor into a second chamber for their calcium reactor? I am getting ready to put my reactor online and have thought about a second chamber mostly for potential ph issues.

corey
 

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Anyone turned an old media reactor into a second chamber for their calcium reactor? I am getting ready to put my reactor online and have thought about a second chamber mostly for potential ph issues.

corey
No, but I turned a media reactor into a carx. I drip the effluent into a small open top reactor. No ph issues.
It works well in my 120.
20220107_185547.jpg
 

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I knew that you turned one into a calcium reactor. I might not even need to add a second chamber, I ran it in the past without one.
what sort of reactor are you dripping it into.
I can just drip mine into my chaeto and help

corey
 
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jmichaelh7

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i have mine dripping straight above the skimmer . no issues with pH. I thought it was going to be a lot worse initially but pH has been around 8.1 at night 8.25 in day. Refugium is on 12 hours though
 

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