brotherd

Yeah, that works but I honestly do have to twist the handle slightly daily. Sometimes it will work fine for a week or more, then it starts slowing down. I've been told a dosing pump is ideal, but haven't tried that myself.

Ive been using the Masterflex Peristaltic pump for a few years now. I had the valve that you were thinking of before and like Melev I had to do daily adjustment. Since using the Masterflex it has been a set and forget, no needle valve to be constantly tinkering with. Between the Masteflex and the AP regulator my Calcium Reactor is set and forget. You can find the CP pumps on ebay.

Do you still need to run a feed pump or, in Marcs' case, a manifold feed to provide water to the reactor from the sump?

The peristaltic pump (Masterflex) is your feed pump so no additional feed pump or feed off of the manifold needed. The difference is that you can control the flow rate via speed of the master flex which is why you don't need the needle valve anymore.

So the Master Flex is installed before the reactor and the effluent would just drain into the sump unrestricted? Can you recommend a particular model?

Yes it is installed before the reactor and the output flows unrestricted. Its tough to recommend a specific model as there are so many variations. The head and pump are generally sold separately and the head caries a specific tubing depending on which head you choose. What I generally do is look to see what is available on ebay and then check the specs on Masterflex's website to see if it will match what I want. I think that one of the other forums has a long Masterflex thread going as to selection etc.

Long overdue update. I've been slowly making inroads to get the tank back on track. Last night I took the calcium reactor offline and cleaned it up, replacing the media and the skangy looking hoses. My reactor came with a filter sponge at the bottom and it was plugged solid. I rinsed it out and after re reading the set up instructions from Lifereef I chose not to re install it. I am using Reborn media this time. I ran the reactor without co2 for 30 minutes to purge all the air out and get everything stable. No leaks. That's great as I am running it externally. I set the effluent rate and started the co2. Now 24 hours later I'm finding I need to inject more co2 to get the pH down to 6.5 in the reactor with the same effluent rate. I think I'm going to need to check alk daily to see where things are headed and adjust accordingly.

That sounds like a good plan. What is the current pH level? 7.1 works, but you can go a little lower. I used to use 6.5 but I raised it up so it didn't dissolve the media as quickly.

I'm at 6.6 and the controller just shut it off. I was interested when I saw that you run 7.1. I haven't measured the effluent rate but is a steady broken trickle if that makes any sense. The drip is approximately 3 inches from the water surface in the sump.

Tested system alk and it's at 7-8 (api). I'm still having a tough time keeping mag up too. Maybe time for a doser for mag?

Just went to the basement sump room to check on things before bed. The co2 solenoid is stuck in the open position. Unplugged it and it's still letting co2 through. How inconvenient...

Originally Posted by brotherd

I'm at 6.6 and the controller just shut it off. I was interested when I saw that you run 7.1. I haven't measured the effluent rate but is a steady broken trickle if that makes any sense. The drip is approximately 3 inches from the water surface in the sump.

The effluent should measure around 25-30 dKH. A steady broken trickle is what I run as well. I have a pH controller to shut off power to the CO2 tank when the pH has reached the lowest programmed point.

Sorry to hear the solenoid is stuck. Better shut off the CO2 tonight, or slow the bubble rate significantly (1 bubble every 3 seconds).

Originally Posted by brotherd

Tested system alk and it's at 7-8 (api). I'm still having a tough time keeping mag up too. Maybe time for a doser for mag?

You can if you like. In the past I would pour Mg into my sump, but with the 400g I've used a small Icecap doser. It adds 99ml once an hour until the container is empty. It takes about two days to add one gallon to my system.

New solenoid installed and set. Alk is 9-10 so I kept the effluent rate the same but raised the pH in the reactor to 6.8 to try to level off the climb. I've dosed 2 cups of Randy's mag recipe per day to slowly bring that up. Tomorrow I will test the big 3 again to see what's what.

Looking forward to your update.

Now that the reactor is happy with a constant effluent rate I raised the ph again to 7. Alk has been steady at 9 for several days Even with the auto water change system operating so I'm going to leave things be. Calcium is still around 420. Now
mag, that is still being problematic for me.It's come time for a doser to try and get that steady 1300. And see what Marc thinks of Remag when he starts using it