high alk?

[TexasTodd]

When you start your reactor you want your CA and ALK EXACTLY where you want to keep them. You don't want to run them up or down with the reactor. This is the number one mistake with CA reactors.

Start with the reactor putting out slightly lower amounts than you think is needed. Measure 2x a day. If the tank specs have fallen, use B-Ionic's two parts to bring it back to optimum. Then adjust your reactor up slightly. Keep doing this every day until the reactor keeps it even. If you try to do it all just using the reactor you'll keep swinging up and down for a LONG time.

Do you have a single or dual reactor? Shoot for a EFFLUENT ph of about 6.5 out of a single, or, 6.8 or so on a dual.

Todd

[safeuerwehr]

todd.....I'm running a dual chamber square reactor....I had the effluent down to 6.8-6.9 with a drip rate of about 60 drops per min..with the co2 bubble rat of around 30...if u read my original post I had the effluent cranked up all the way so it overdosed the tank...but I did more reading and now I have and idea as to where to start..this system still has a few bug that I need to work out but I'm well on my way to getting an understanding on how a reactor works....thanks for any and all the info and advice.

alfred

[matt]

Gary's right about adding some calcium chloride (wait, did I just say Gary was right about something?) to bump up the Ca to 400 or thereabout. This might knock your ph and alk down a little, no biggie. Here's a link to a site that can calculate how much you need to use, and some other good info.
http://home.comcast.net/%7Ejdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Once that's done, start up the reactor, very slow effluent drip, if you're using ARM go for 6.7-6.8 effluent ph. You can also check the effluent alkalinity with a salifert kit using the low resolution (1 drop of the green reagent) it should be around 25, anything over that is great. If it's under 20, lower the ph to 6.6 and try again. Todd's also right about using the reactor to maintain levels rather than raise them. Otherwise you'll have a real see-saw.

I would keep dripping KW 24/7. Unless your ph is too high (Calfo says 8.6 in the afternoon is fine) there's no reason to stop it. If you have a high calcium demand, KW on it's own won't keep up. Another thing, it was probably the KW that saved your tank during your calcium reactor bath...if you hadn't been dripping KW and you put enough reactor effluent into your tank to send your alk as high as it got, you probably would have had a very low ph.

[GaryP]

Gary's right about adding some calcium chloride (wait, did I just say Gary was right about something?) to bump up the Ca to 400 or thereabout.

I was probably overdue. It happens every once in a while.