Best CA reactor?

[Millepora_Maniac]

HI All,

I'm getting a CA reactor in the next week or so and wanted some opinions on the best ones. Currently looking at the Korralin 150, and the reef octopus 200. i am open to look at other units too though.

I used to run a 6" PM reactor, but the chamber has spidered and i think it could potentially leak. This reactor will eventually run a 200 gallon tank so it has to be able to handle that amount of SPS. The PM CA-6 worked flawlessly on my 180 for years, so looking for that kind of stability and reliability again.

Cheers!

[Millepora_Maniac]

I didn;t get any replies, which is unusual for this forum.

I chose to go with the Korralin 150, it won because of the footprint, 6'5 inches total? Sweet!

It has been shipped this afternoon and i should see it at some point next week.

[Richard_Dicosimo]

Congrats on your new toy!

[Bblinks]

Awesome buddy! I just got one too but went with vertex. It’s a decent unit for the price.

[Millepora_Maniac]

It has been running for 24 hours now, I'm, about to do my first test of effluent and test of tank water. Got lots of SPS going now so need it. It didn't leak! hahahha

Cheers dude!

[smokinreefer]

Awesome.
I didn't respond because I've been too lazy to set my reactor up.

How will you be running yours?
Fast drip?
Controlled by pH?
Full open method?

[Ken]

Hi there, you won't regret it, the korallin 150 is an awesome reactor, been using them for years. regards ken

[Millepora_Maniac]

After reading up on this reactor a bit, i found the best way to do it is to have the effluent line dripping at two drops every 3 seconds, and the bubble counter to be around the same.

I have the bleeder valve dripping at one or two drips per minute to avoid any air locks.

Apparently this unit shouldn't need a probe, but i will likely get a ph controller in the near future and add it since the port is already there in the lid. In fact, i have a reefkeeper lite, and i have a PH controller for it already, so i just need a decent probe, and that will be all dialled in.

Cheers!

[msjboy]

I recall Jason fox uses Georeef calcium reactor for a reef builders video a whiles ago.... he even uses that brand on his small tank.

[Millepora_Maniac]

This thing is finicky, my last one was easy to run. This one i am having problems with drip rates and air locking.

I just reduced my CO2 bubble rate. hoping that fixes it, but really annoying. Been adjusting this thing for days...

Gonna get a controller for it, and see what happens from there.

[blacknife]

Have not been on much, congrats.. I love my vertex, and used to have a small shraun that worked good too.

though i ran without a probe for a while, having a probe hooked into my apex is magical.. once your semi dialed in you can walk away from the reactor for months <except for checking its still dripping lol>

hopefully you can get it sorted propper. My vertex has never got airlocked but occasionally it gets noisy if its sucking a little extra off gassing through the first chamber.

The one peice I love about it that i never had with my old one and i never could source was the gate valve that fits ro tubing. so much easier to dial in a consistent drip.

[Millepora_Maniac]

Well, F'k it!

I ended up buying a probe, and dripping my effluent into a cup, measuring it as it comes out. I increased my drip rate by a drip per sec, (Two drips per second now) My PH is set to 6.3, and the effluent varies from 6.33 to 6.27. Bubble counter is at one per second.

When i started the reactor my tank had been running for over a week without dosing, the KH was at 4.5 or something ridiculously low.

Now that i am getting dialled in it is raising by .1 per day or so, it is now sitting at 7.3 so getting closer to the optimum. The first week it raised up to 6.5 The rest of the increase has been slower. The controller has stopped the air locking, that was definitely over saturation and the Co2 was condensing at the top of the chamber. in a different reactor that wouldn't matter as much, but on this one, the recirc pump is mounted on the top of the chamber, so it air locks. They have a bleeder on the top for that, but it can only handle so much and if you're putting too much Co2 through it, it will air lock eventually, or you will be dripping too much through it.

A controller always has been the way to go, i should have done it immediately. I'm all good now!

Cheers!

They recommend a KH increase of one per week, so i am within that now.

[Bblinks]

I can't seem to lower my alk lol dosing 11ml per minute and its still sitting at 11-12dkh, just added a whole bunch of corals so hopefully it will come down a bit. Glad you got your $hit figured out, ph probe control ftw.

[Millepora_Maniac]

I can't seem to lower my alk lol dosing 11ml per minute and its still sitting at 11-12dkh, just added a whole bunch of corals so hopefully it will come down a bit. Glad you got your $hit figured out, ph probe control ftw.

I read that the ideal KH is 8-12, so maybe you don't need to bring it down? Is there a reason you;re trying to decrease it?

[Bblinks]

I read that the ideal KH is 8-12, so maybe you don't need to bring it down? Is there a reason you;re trying to decrease it?

Just wanna keep it around 10 so if there is any fluctuations than I can fix it without $hit hitting the fan if you know what I mean 😂

[Millepora_Maniac]

Just wanna keep it around 10 so if there is any fluctuations than I can fix it without $hit hitting the fan if you know what I mean 😂

I feel ya man, Frags aren't 20 bucks for killer anymore, hundreds and hundreds.. WTH happened? lol

When i was running my Old PM reactor, i couldn't get it down less than 12... but it was constant. I think i didn't really mess with that one though, was likely over dosing everything at that point in my life. I remember the dude who sold it to me telling me one bubble per second and one or two drops per second of effluent... I set it and didn't look back. hahaha.

This one i am trying to dial right in properly so the solenoid hardly turns off and on at all.