calcium reactor problems

[jc]

I have been ignoring my reactor for about a week now and I just discovered that the drip had stopped. Now the media inside looks different and the effluent is milky. When I first set up the reactor the effluent was clear. I'm thinking that may be because it was new. The drip has never been accurate. Sometimes it runs fast and sometimes it runs slower. What is a good way to keep a constant flow? Right now I use the white dial that pinches the tubing.
http://www.marinedepot.com/IMD%5C150%5CFT0002.jpg
I think the flow was blocked at the return pump. I have the uv sterilizer running off the return also and it was running at a trickle. When I opened the valve all the way it cause a "burp" in the line and everything ran at normal levels afterwards.
So is my media sludge? The ph is set at 7 with a controller, but the water was sitting in the chamber for a few days at least. What is the best way to measure the output of the reactor? and how fast should it be for a 180 with lots of corals?.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/8661/1001591ml0.jpg

[Texreefer]

depends on how long the media was in there before this happened,, sounds like you may have turned your media to mush with a buildup of co2.. i would take the top off the reactor and check it.. drip rates ewill vary but i keep mine at about 30-40 drips per minute. i would thnk you want to be at least at that rate

[jc]

What do you guys who use calcium reactors use to drip it into the tank? Also is it ok for the line to be under the water in the sump?

[Bill S]

I prefer not to put any lines under water - too much chance of a backflow siphon if something happens. Just a general practice. It has been suggested that you put it where it has a good chance to completely mix before entering a pump.

[matt]

I think the best way to regulate effluent flow in a reactor is to first tee off a pressure line to feed the reactor, using a J.G. mini ball valve to regulate flow into the reactor, then a pinch valve like the one you have on the way out, although I've seen better pinch valves. Look for the ones that have a roller, like they use on IV drips. Maybe the one you have is fine, but you need better tubing for it. With a small but constant bit of pressure going into the reactor, the pinch valve on the way out should work perfect.

Something's up with your media; usually it's cloudy at first then clears up. If the drip stopped for a while, you could have had a serious ph drop in the reactor and turned your media to mush. That's especially likely if you're using ARM. I'd ditch all of it and start fresh. If it were me I'd try the new schuran media; it's very expensive but supposedly it's much better in terms of reactor flow, and it supposedly has a higher purity than the other medias....I have no verification of that, just something I've read. I think somebody needs to do an exhaustive study of reactor media purity; at the low ph of a calcium reactor, toxic metals are much more soluble in water.

[jc]

Coincidently I did clean the reactor yesterday. The media did not turn to mush, but it was very cloudy. I think the time it spent without the drip caused alot of it to dissolve. The ph controller did shut the co2 off but the media continued to dissolve with no where to go. I made some other alterations to the reactor while I was at it. I do use a tee with a ball valve off of the return pump to feed the reactor. Is schuran the name brand of the media? I also placed the effluent drip above the sump in an area when the water goes around the baffles. So now it hangs and drips into the sump. Where can I find the valve with the rollers?

[jc]

I think I found the problem. The drip line is getting clogged with small bits of media. Is there a larger media I can use? Should I just try a larger tubing size?

[Richard]

Mine is setup kind of like Matt said except I use the needle valve that comes with maxijets. They work well.

[matt]

The schuran media is much larger pieces.

[LoneStar]

The schuran media is much larger pieces.


Matt, which vendor sells that media, either in this area or online?

[matt]

Don't know, but check the usual suspects, Premium, Champion, Marine depot. Anyhow I was thinking that bits of media really should not be in your effluent output line; something's wrong with the way the reactor is circulating if that's happening. Assuming the output fitting is in the lid of the reactor, try running the output line straight up from the fitting several inches so that any media that gets caught in the output fitting will have plenty of time to fall back down into the reactor. The out flow should be no faster than a medium drip.

[jc]

The output line is the blue tubing near the bottom of the pvc. So far so good, after I made those adjustments. Next time I'm just going to buy a new reactor. Forget this diy stuff.
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8007/picture083mu0.jpg

[jc]

Update. After watching it for a few days I think that my problem is not particles getting in the line, but air. I just don't see any particles of arm floating around the canister. Everyday the drip goes down to a 1 per 5 second drip. So I open the pinch valve and the water comes out fast then I have to screw it back in to where it was. I also can get the flow going again if I shake the drip hose. I read on reefcentral that air can clog the line. How do I fix this? Should I increase the feed line pressure into the canister or decrease it?

[hobogato]

i have a little more pressure entering my reactor from the feed pump than i allow out with the valve on the effluent of the reactor. for example, with the effluent valve wide open, i adjust the water input to the reactor so it comes out the effluent tube just faster than a drip (i guess you call that a trickle). then, i tighten the valve on the effluent line to the drip rate i need.

[jc]

I'll try that, thanks.