Calcium REactor Newbie, need help!

I just got a Geo 618 Reactor system, complete. Got a good deal on the whole setup and now that I have it i realize I have no idea how to set it. I understand how it works but i understand you can crash your tank in a day if its not set right.

Can anyone assist me with a first time install? Do I have to limit the amount of effluent that comes out and if so how much do I cut it back? I know there are three levels that have to be set but Im getting a headache just thinking about how im going to find the right balance of CO2 and effluent for the demand of my tank. Uhg, I thought my days of constant daily testing were over with when I got this thing, but I see now there is going to be quite a bit of it and fiddling with this and that, isnt there?

 

Set the bubble count to about 30 per minuet and the effluent to about a quart to 1.5 qts per hr and let it ride test it in about 7 days increase bubble count or lower PH inside reactor to raise DKH lower Bubbles or raise the internal PH to decrease dkh about 12 is what you should have , These are more of a Carbonate reactor rather then a Ca. reactor the Calcium is simply a good by product of getting the carbonates . Just have to be patient with these as any changes will take at least a week to truly show up .

 

TY man. I'll follow your advice. I read up a bit more on these things and it doesnt seem as confusing anymore. But please tell me I didnt spend hundreds on a carbonate machine. I was hoping Ca and Mg would also be maintained cuz if its just an alk buffer I wouldve been content in spending my money on something else and just using kalk or a 2 part.

Thx again Tangster, just when I think forums and me dont fit, I get a great helpful reply like this

 

The best advice comes in the form of the written directions right on the Geo's Reef website found here:

http://www.geosreef.com/caReactorInstructions.pdf

No one has clearer and easier to understand directions.

 

Most media will only produce Calcium and Alkalinity, there are ways you can add magnesium to the reactor as well. I'm going to be using the ZeoMag product (at marine depot etc) to add magnesium as well.

Also, a link to one guide on setup/tuning for further reference (not that I disagree with anything said already).
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php

 

If you want to bump up the magnesium a little I use simple old dolomite from about any farm feed or gardening center , I would first set it up get it dialed in then worry about the magnesium . Now a little tip the malefactor does not tell people with this unit it will hold a hell if a lot of media . But that does not mean you have to fill it full , And this CEO unit does better with the larger media also like the Shuran or the large ARM media not the small stuff as they will foul up and slow the circulation flows .

This is the problem with adding to much media as it will degrade and catch waste from water and become a undergravel filter almost then the lower portion of the overfilled media will simply dissolve into mush all by itself overtime .

I have owned , operated and used many different types of reactors and and for my money I prefer a smaller units something that hold 8 lbs of media to any that would hold 20 lbs of media . I refill mine now about twice a yr and get by with a single 20lb bottle of Gas yearly and I never have CO2 to saturate my systems water .. Less is more with these reactors and using a little one holding 5 lbs over a larger unit holding 20lbs of media there is no differences in what one will do the other can't except wasting gas and material and the added C O2 to the systems water and then you will need a degasser !

This one I now run on a 90 did just fine on a 180 and would do well up-wards of 500 gals . I have a large SPS only load of corals now about 40 to 45 different species ands variations of SPS corals

 

I have read the Geo site, thats one of the pages I read that made things less confusing. I do have the large type media, Carib Sea's. Im not sure whats happened in my tank as a result of my first attempt with the reactor. Without realizing the true risk of an improper set up, I overzealously set it up overnight with the effluent unrestricted and the bubble counter at a rate of about one bubble per second. Its been about 3-4 days since then and things dont seem right in there. I have some yellow polyps frags that seem to be withering away while the main colony seems to open up. Theres a few xenia frags that also seem to be withering.

Another thing that has me worried is when I first turned on the gas, quite a bit bubbled into the water through the supply pump. I dont knwo if this sudden short burst of CO2 injection did anything but its weird that I would have this hugely oversized skimmer and quite a bit of polishing media, including Rowa Phos and ChemiPure Elite and still get a good deal of the non-coralline rock surface starting to turn green. I know my TFC membrane needs replacing cuz the flow out of it has become intermittant. Maybe thats the reason for the algae.

Everything else in there seems to be doing ok. But the rock surface just isnt the same. By the way I do have a degasser. Ive stubbornly held onto my wetdry with blind faith in its ability to oxygenate the water, breakdown ammonia and nitrite and provide a site for degassing. Another thing I have is a very large refugium with alot of cheato and caulerpa. Maybe if I did cause a problem with that brief injection of CO2 the macros and wetdry assited in stabilizing the mistake?

Tomorrow Im going to try and set it up again. An American MArine PH Controller came with the reactor but I cant seem to find the darn probe. Pending any advice, Ill either wait til it comes in the mail (still have to order it) or just go ahead and try a modest rate of effluent and CO2 use.

 

I have a geo 618 on my couple moth old system. I like it a lot, I had it on my old 90g for about 5 months or so. Mg is supposedly added with the large ARM that you and I are using.

I personally would not run a reactor without a ph controller on it, as you can really make a tank go south quickly if you don't watch the C02 dispersion.

Take your time, and get it dialed in slowly. I am still dialing mine in, but I can tell the coral growth is amazing with it not even dialed in all the way.

 

Look forget all the stuff you have read at their site or around the net at any site . If you set the effluent to about 1 to 1.5 Qt's per Hr and set the bubble to about 30 to 33 per min and let it go . it will settle in . One bubble per min is 60 and that would lower the internal Ph to way below 5.9 with a somewhat close effluent rate.

Faster effluent outlet lowers the internal Ph and if you blast alot of the systems water through the reactor then you have to really increase the CO2 fed to lower the Ph to get any effect But then you overdose the system with excess CO2 and that bangs your PH out toward the bottom.
For get about media type and all only reason they suggest the larger stuff is because they want you to fill it up and if you used the smaller granules it would restrict flow as the mush on the bottom turns to carbonate silt . Put about 1/2 the media in the reactor set the effluent to 1.to 1.5 qts per Hr and set the bubble to 30 and let it go it will reach totally dissolution in a few days to a week . As I mentioned it take on average 7 days to set the base line .. Don't tweak /touch or adjust anything for 7 days .

On the regulator adjustment set the second stage presser to about 5 lbs and dial the bubbles in use mineral oil in the bubble counter so as not to foul the regulator out make sure to have a check valve between the reactor Gas inlet and the bubble counter . I see more people ruining their regulators with using saltwater or freshwater in the bubble counters rather then mineral oil.. Humm I guess they want to keep selling more regulators LOL My regulator set here is over 25 yrs old and Its never needed anything to be done I use mineral oil and not water in my counters the oil never evaporates or needs refilling or caused any need for a any cleaning or servicing as of yet..

These things are very simple if the owners allow them to be , And most of what I read from links guys have sent me trying to sort their problems out confuses the hell out of me also.
People suffer for the idea of that if someone sells or build something then they know it better then someone else Wrong they build to sell ! I call it the cha ching factor. Reactors are simple as 123 if you allow them to be

As for the need for a controller Not trying to argue or have anyone think I'm getting on anyone I could really care less what people use on their tank. But I can tell you that 90% of the users of a reactor do not understand these fully . If you set the bubble count and effluent rates then set the controller up as a back up then you will be far better off . Or you are setting yourself up for a tank to go south super fast. Never become totally dependent on any electronic device used around saltwater and are as cheaply made as a 100.00 P.H controller I can see bubbles unlike the gas or the physical state of the P.H probe or controller circuits, the regulator if maintained properly will not allow bubbles to flow non stop out of control . I have my gas solenoid set on a relay in a water tight box power goes off gas shuts off the CO2 gas I use a Honeywell U/L approved control relay rated for natural gas shut off on a furnace pilot light ..

P/M me if you want you are not the fisrt guy in the last month who needed to get their reactor dialed in I do not like going into much detail on the sites nowday..

 

that was a great reply, very easy for the reactor noob to understand. Honestly I think it was geos site that made it sound more complicated than it is. There are risks but just start with a modest setting on effluent and co2 and monitor results.. something like that should be among the first statements in instructions.

For my 75 gallon tank, its possible I have a larger than average demand on Ca. Not that I have lots of sps but I have a good amount of Halimedia, alot of Coralline and several encrusting type corals among other things. The system is actually a 55 gallon + 75 gallon + 55 gallon sump (2/3s full). Im also planning on splitting off another 40 breeder as a frag tank early 2010. All of this will have its calcium/alk/mg demands.

So all that considered, what might be a reasonable start as ill be setting it back up tomorrow. Stay with 1.5 quarts/pr hr and 35 bubbles per min? Again its a Geo 618, filled to top with large Arm. Replacement PH probe on the way from MarineDepot, along with about a dozen Geisemann T5 bulbs ;D

Thanks Tangster, premium reply.

BTW, about that possible CO2 problem. WIll the trickle chamber + jam packed oversized macro fuge help in stablizing the water column after a CO2 overdose? Trying to figure out if those levels have returned to normal as I dont have a Co2 test kit. Suppose that would be another thing good to have eh?