calcium reactor help pls.

[workn2hard2day]

we have a deltec pf501 fluidized bed reactor on our tank for 2 months. we have noticed the reactor media is not dissolving, is this normal? calcium levels are @ 340, and have not risen with the set up of the reactor.

[mark]

what's the pH of the effluent?

Depends a bit of the type the media but should be around a pH of 6.5-6.7.

[untamed]

Ca levels may not have risen....but have they fallen? If your Ca (and Alk) level hasn't moved then your reactor may be perfectly adjusted to the Ca/Alk demand that you happen to have. It isn't suppose to raise those levels..it is supposed to maintain them at a stable point.

Anyway...pay more attention to Alk level than Ca level. The Alk level moves more quickly and will give you a better reading on whether your reactor is keeping up or not.

With the reactor, you control how fast water moves through it and how much CO2 is added. Each reactor is different, but you generally don't want too much water or too much CO2. You can increase the output by increasing the flow or CO2...but only to a point. Too much CO2 turns your media to mush and too much flow actually reduces the output.

You can measure the output of the reactor by doing an Alk measurement on the output. (Use half the normal sample size and multiply your answer by 2 so you don't use up all your test kit reagent).

How much your reactor is contributing is a measure of Alk delivered per minute. If your tank is at 8dkh, then getting 20 dkh at 50ml/min is actually contributing more than a setting of 15 dkh at 80ml/min.

I'm sure that has confused the ^&*( out of you!

[RuGlu6]

we have a deltec pf501 fluidized bed reactor on our tank for 2 months. we have noticed the reactor media is not dissolving, is this normal? calcium levels are @ 340, and have not risen with the set up of the reactor.

Possible reasons are:
-not enough co2 in the chamber,
- pinched co2 line and co2 is not getting in to the reactor
- your co2 tank is empty
At any rate, good indicator is PH of the effluent (shuould be below 7 to dissolve media)
hth