ca reactor & ph

[spscrackhead]

how do you up the ph due to the drop of ph from your ca rx? is a ca rx enough to drop the ph of your tank? is kalk you would need?

[ReefDent]

Yes, a calcium carbonate reactor can drop the pH of a system, especially if it's not adjusted just quite right.

A Kalk reactor topping off the evaporation will definitely help keep the pH up, as well as adding more calcium.

James

[spscrackhead]

if setup right do i need to bother w/ kalk? what do you suggest i keep my alk at to help keep the ph up?

[ReefDent]

It depends how low your pH is. If it's really low- dropping below 7.9 during the day, something is probably out of whack, maybe magnesium is low not allowing both calcium and alkalinity to remain at sufficiently high levels. There could be excess CO2 as well. Take a cup of tank water and aerate it for a couple of minutes. If the pH really increases from what it was before aeration, then there is too much CO2.

If that's the case, try increasing your reactor pH a half unit or so. You'll also need to be testing calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity levels.

You can also increase the distance the reactor effluent drips to the water surface or place it in a more turbulent area.


James

[spscrackhead]

will having the effluent drip rite over the intake of the gen x that drives my skimmer help?

[ReefDent]

If excess CO2 is the problem, yes.

James

[spscrackhead]

shouldn't the reactor be adjusted so there isn't too much co2?

[BlakDuc]

Imo, it should be adjusted to a target Ph coming from the effluent. Then you need to figure out how much kalk to dose based on total system ph.

[BlakDuc]

Also remember that all Co2 in the water isn't coming from the Ca reactor bottle. some of it can come from the air in the room and drop your Ph. Running the A/C all the time is 1 way that it can drop. Open some doors and windows and watch it go back up a little.

[cnaegler]

I had the same problem with my calcium reactor. I tried everything to raise PH but, the only thing that worked for me is a kalk reactor. If you're good at DIY they're easy to make. It cost me about $ 80 bucks to make mine and they're , what, about $250.and mine is much larger than you generally see. The acrylic tubing was about 1/2 the price of the entire reactor. What cost was the dosing pump. You could also try dosing the effluent directly into the skimmer via JG fitting to try to "blow off" the excess CO2. Worth a shot!

[spscrackhead]

i haven't actually setup the reactor yet. i dont even have it yet. but i just want to make sure i know what o do when i actually get it setup