Will my calcium reactor handle my tank upgrade, or should I get a bigger one?

[trmiv]

I currently have a My Reef Creations Nano calcium reactor. The reactor holds 4 pounds of media. It's handled my moderately stocked 37g just fine. But I'm currently upgrading to a 90. The new tank will have all my current stuff (various LPS, 2 monti digis, green slimer, one other acro sp, crocea clam). I also plan on adding more monti digis, some caps, and likely 2 more crocea clams along with more LPS. The clams alone are going to add some serious demand to the system. So should I just bite the bullet now and sell my Nano reactor and upgrade? If I keep it, am I going to be replacing the media every two weeks with that load?

[trmiv]

^

[starmanres]

I don't think that you would have to replace the media that often but it might not be able to keep the levels where you want them.

I would say try it out and see. If it doesn't do the job then replace it later.

Just my .02

Robert

[trmiv]

How I've always understood calcium reactors is, pretty much any size can keep up with the demand on any tank, but with a small reactor I'd have to dissolve the media so quickly I would end up having to replace it frequently. I'm not sure how true that is though.

[starmanres]

I would think that you would need to watch it and make the decision when it had been up and running for a couple of months.

I really don't think you could dissolve it that quickly and not have other issues that might come from it... i.e. cloudy water, unstable perimeters, etc.

I would tend to believe that it would not be able to keep the calcium and magnesium levels up with the under sized reactor, but it might surprise you.

Like I said, you can always spend the money later if it doesn't work.

Robert

[trmiv]

I guess I'll see. Only reason I was looking for opinions now is, I just moved my tank, and I haven't setup the reactor again yet. I was either going to set it up, or sell it before I do.

[starmanres]

Your call. It might save you the $$$ if you can use it.

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7084128#post7084128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trmiv
How I've always understood calcium reactors is, pretty much any size can keep up with the demand on any tank, but with a small reactor I'd have to dissolve the media so quickly I would end up having to replace it frequently. I'm not sure how true that is though.

Not really, The disolution rate depends on four things:
a) PH level,
b) contact time of the media with the acidified water
c) surface area of the media.
d) Level of saturation of the water in the reactor chamber at the set PH

Because basically the right effect is achieved with a minimum PH of around 6.3 to 6.5 once reached that level the actual capacity of the reactor will be limited by the other 3.

Usually while you can increase the reactor capacity by lowering the PH to the minimum say 6.3
At that level there will be a limit to the amount of Calcium and Alkalinity added which is given by a balance of saturation vs contact time at constant media area.
In other words as you increase the effluent flow from zero the total addition increase, as you continue increasing the effluent volume to increase addition the contact time decreses thus reducing the dissolution and the saturation and increasing the amount of unreacted CO2/carbonic acid in the effluent resulting in a decline in total addition at this point you have reached that reactors maximum capacity and beyond this point the media will not dissolve faster. Another issue of running at maximum capacity / minimum PH is that the PH of your main tank also tends to drop more.
To increase capacity you will need to have more media (increase the area by increaseing the chamber size) and increase the contact time (larger recirculation pump).
My guess is that you may need a reactor with about 10 to 12 pounds of media for a well stocked 90 gal tank but install this one
and see how it goes. You most probably will be able to use the same feed powerhead and output for the larger reactor so if you use quick JG connectors the switch to a larger one will be easy and quick.