reactors

[tgoeujon]

ok here is another dumb question. if i was to take an old media reactor (i have an extra tlf reactor at the moment) and add calcium media to it instead of carbon or phosban would it have any effect , good or bad? im kinda doubting it but curiosity makes me ask.

I don't think you will get much benefit without dropping the ph. Aragonite media will be pretty stagnant in water that has normal tank ph.

[mark]

Need to drop the pH to dissolve the media but finding a reactor can be rather simple.

I picked up a second chamber to a DIY reactor, that I was going use for the tubing to make another Ca reactor. While trying to decide uni-seals or threaded fittings for the recir pump, I just hooked up my CO2 system.

As is, basically just a capped cylinder with feed water and CO2 tee'd together then fed to the bottom flowing up through the media then out the top back to the tank, easily keeps Ca and Alk up in a moderately stocked SPS 145g reef.

[BlueAbyss]

Am I to assume that you are already running a calcium reactor? If so, I would run the effluent from that through your media in the second reactor, just to grab the last little bit of carbonic acid from the water. Short of that, simply running your tank water through any calcium media will add 'some' buffering capacity against low pH... but not much, and you run the risk of it becoming a biological filter.

I once assumed that doing something like this would help maintain pH... after all, the ocean stays relatively constant and it's full of aragonite. Unfortunately, chemical mechanics in a tank are a little different than the ocean

[BCOrchidGuy]

If you aren't already using a ca reactor you could you the "reactor" you have with your calcium media you could run your top off water through it. To lower the pH of the top off water try using a bit of white vinegar in it. If you do a search of kalk reactors you'll find the directions to add the vinegar with the proper amount. The vinegar being acidic will lower the pH of the water and you should get more calcium media reacting with the top off water.

Douglas

[tgoeujon]

hmmmmm, maybe just buying a ready made calcium reactor would be the way to go.

[banditpowdercoat]

I've been wondering the same thing. I'ts almost time for me to look at a Ca reactor. I have a Phos Reactor, but my Ca is allways to low.

Do you need Co2 with a Ca Reactor? Would like to not have Co2, as I dont have room to add it. Maybe Kalkwasser?????

[fkshiu]

A calcium reactor works by using co2 to lower the pH in the reactor which dissolves the media (dead coral skeletons pretty much) thereby releasing the Ca, Mg, Alk etc into your system. As others have stated, simply leaving the media in a reactor without co2 wouldn't do very much for a reef system since nothing is being dissolved into the water.

Using a kalk reactor can only take you so far. Kalk is limited because it gets saturated at a certain point and you can only add as much as your evaporation rate. Vinegar does increase its potency but it still cannot keep up with a high demand system.

Your other option is to begin dosing a two-part system with either stock chemicals (cheaper) or name brand chemicals (more expensive) - CaCl, NaCO, MgSO4/MgCl.

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

A calcium reactor works by using co2 to lower the pH in the reactor which dissolves the media (dead coral skeletons pretty much) thereby releasing the Ca, Mg, Alk etc into your system. As others have stated, simply leaving the media in a reactor without co2 wouldn't do very much for a reef system since nothing is being dissolved into the water.

Using a kalk reactor can only take you so far. Kalk is limited because it gets saturated at a certain point and you can only add as much as your evaporation rate. Vinegar does increase its potency but it still cannot keep up with a high demand system.

Your other option is to begin dosing a two-part system with either stock chemicals (cheaper) or name brand chemicals (more expensive) - CaCl, NaCO, MgSO4/MgCl.

Heres an article on choosing supplementing schemes to further detail what fkshiu is saying http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm