Calcium Reactors

[fire999]

I have been running a Deltec 600 Ca reactor for 8 months .... Not a great movement in the media :unsure: So dont regular check on Ca . Not great . maybe 380 to 400 ppm....... Turned up the Co2.. not much better.

So tonight . took the whole lot to the garage , stripped it right down. :o set up and hey presto :D the flow was tripple .. the media moving very well indeed..


QUESTION IS... is this actually going to inprove my CaCO3 output?

OR is it just going to look better ? ......... Have just reinstalled my Kalc stirrer for the night time just in case ....

Any help welcome :cheers:

[fire999]

any takers ? :rolleyes:

[Sweetlips]

I'm having much the same running problems and much the same results, I have been running mine for about 6 months, I'm still on the first fill of media but it does run milky so I'm told it is disolving the media, the fluidisation isn't great but again I'm told that as long as the Co2 is passing through the media then all is well, I am getting around a 60 kh reading on the effluent, which again i'm told is about right, but still my Ca is only 380, I have to buffer it from time to time to maintain that, I'm a bit fed up with it to be honest, I'll give it another month or two to see if any change after that, Kalk... I defo won't be renewing the C02 bottle inless I see some changes...Cheers.. Steve

[Stevielad]

Tried ARM media? By Carribsea I think - supposed to dissolve at a higher pH i.e. more easily.

[Sweetlips]

Thanks M8 I'll try that.

[17000ltrs]

thing with arm is that it dissolves really quickly and so you will use a lot more.

the amount of ca taken from the media is dependant on 1:flow and 2:Co2 bubble rate.

i found that using a spur off a pump is really bad as the flow rate through the reactor varies all the time.

the best way i have found is to use a peristaltic pump ( this gives you a constant flow rate ).

start the Co2 flow rate at 1 bubble per second.

after 2 or 3 hours , check the outlet for dkh. you are aiming for a dkh of around 30-40.

if low , inclease Co2 if high decrease

mark