Calcium reactor set up question(s)

[nitr8]

So I got my CO2 tank, solenoid and gauges in the mail yesterday but I'm not sure how it all goes together. My problem is every connection point on the solenoid and gauges are male. Without the the female counterpart I don't understand how they connect. Here are some photos of what I'm looking at:

It looks to me like the solenoid gets connected to the gauge with a piece of air hose. If this is the case is there any way to make this a hard connection?

 

[Conlius]

Definitely looks like it suppose to be connected via air hose. Make it a short one i guess?ds

 

[JohnK]

yup exactly. The make special tubing for this application, but regular airline will probably work in a pinch. It goes regulator barb > tube > solenoid in barb > solenoid out barb > tube > input to reactor.

The metal collars slide over the tube before it's connected, then screw down over the barbs to lock the tube in and prevent leaks.

If the barb fittings are removable, then you could probably hard connect it, but you don't need to.

 

[nitr8]

yup exactly. The make special tubing for this application, but regular airline will probably work in a pinch. It goes regulator barb > tube > solenoid in barb > solenoid out barb > tube > input to reactor.

The metal collars slide over the tube before it's connected, then screw down over the barbs to lock the tube in and prevent leaks.

If the barb fittings are removable, then you could probably hard connect it, but you don't need to.

I put it together like this but it just seems odd to me that the solenoid just hangs from the airline. The solenoid came with a mounting bracket and screws. Would it be alright to have the solenoid mounted to the stand about 2-3' away from the gauge/CO2?

 

[JohnK]

It is strange, but perfectly normal.

 

[nitr8]

alright well at least I know I hooked it up correctly. My only concern is that the the air line connecting the gauge to the solenoid is about 2' long then from the solenoid to the reactor is about 4'. Will I have any issues with that much air line?

 

[JohnK]

No, I dont' think you need to be concerned at all. For that whole length the gas is moving slowly and under low pressure. It will have no problem passing the volume of gas you need to add to the average Ca reactor so the 4' of tube should be a non-issue.

Now how will you be controlling the solenoid/flow?

 

[nitr8]

No, I dont' think you need to be concerned at all. For that whole length the gas is moving slowly and under low pressure. It will have no problem passing the volume of gas you need to add to the average Ca reactor so the 4' of tube should be a non-issue.

Now how will you be controlling the solenoid/flow?

RKE. I'm not entirely sure how this works either. Does the CO2 raise or lower the pH?

Looking at the previously posted picture is the solenoid upside down? The directions that came with it are very vague.

 

[biggyclops]

co2 lowers the ph in order to dissolve the calcium media (think either on here or on reefcentral there is an awesome step by step reactor setup that explains how to put it together and trouble shoot the ph)...

i don't think it would matter if the solenoid is backwards it is just a shut off valve.. i

 

[mchartier]

Heres a good link http://www.melevsreef.com/calcium_reactor.html

 

[MofoCorals]

The co2lowers the ph in the water making it more acidic so it can melt the calcium media. The ph controller controls when the celinoid opens and releases co2 in order to maintain ph at a certain level inside the reaction chamber.

 

[nitr8]

The co2lowers the ph in the water making it more acidic so it can melt the calcium media. The ph controller controls when the celinoid opens and releases co2 in order to maintain ph at a certain level inside the reaction chamber.

Is it recommended to have a pH monitor in addition to using the pH probe with the RKE?

 

[Joshbd]

Is it recommended to have a pH monitor in addition to using the pH probe with the RKE?

I definitely would. If the the RKE can support two PH probes, which I pretty sure it can, that would be ideal. This way you can use one probe to check the ph of the calcium reactor effluent and turn the solenoid on/off accordingly, and the other to monitor the ph of your tank. This can be especially important given that a calcium reactor can drive down the ph of a tank. If you don't already have one, I might consider looking into a kalk reactor as well. I just got the Three Little Fishies reactor, and while inexpensive, seem to work great and has really helped keep my ph up.

 

[nitr8]

I definitely would. If the the RKE can support two PH probes, which I pretty sure it can, that would be ideal. This way you can use one probe to check the ph of the calcium reactor effluent and turn the solenoid on/off accordingly, and the other to monitor the ph of your tank. This can be especially important given that a calcium reactor can drive down the ph of a tank. If you don't already have one, I might consider looking into a kalk reactor as well. I just got the Three Little Fishies reactor, and while inexpensive, seem to work great and has really helped keep my ph up.

It's hard to say what route I will take in order to control the ph seeing how the tank isn't set up yet but I was thinknig of dosing kalk through the ato. I also have a secondary chamber to help with the ph. This brings up another question. I know the main chamber has a circulating pump and a feed pump. The secondary chamber is feed by the effluent line but does this chamber require a circulating pump as well to keep the ARM tumbling?

 

[JohnK]

No. The second chamber is passive. Also the media isn't normally tumbling in either chamber, just water circulating in the primary chamber (it would take a lot of pump to tumble most ca Rx medias).

You may not need to do anything about the PH, I would get the reactor running and see how things go.

 

[nitr8]

No. The second chamber is passive. Also the media isn't normally tumbling in either chamber, just water circulating in the primary chamber (it would take a lot of pump to tumble most ca Rx medias).

You may not need to do anything about the PH, I would get the reactor running and see how things go.

Thanks for the help.

Can anyone give me a ball park number of how often I can expect to replace roughly 12 lbs of media in a heavily stocked 130g SPS dominant tank? I realize that every tank has different needs but just an estimated number will suffice for now until I can figure my tanks consumption. Does the media completely dissolve?

 

[JohnK]

6-12 months at a guess.