Flow rate for Ca reactor and CO2 regulator

[mladencovic]

I am thinking of making a Ca reactor for my 75 gal tank that should support the aggressive growth of SPS, so I would like to hear your practical recommendations and experiences about how much flow of water there should be through the media (media/flow reaction time), the amount of media, and amount (bubble count) of CO2. I am also looking for recommendations about CO2 regulator valve. The system is in the area (basement) that is not so well ventilated so I need a very reliable regulator.

 

[mladencovic]

No one ?

 

[Phyl]

There's so much that goes into tuning your Ca reactor for your system (Your system's demand, the size of the reactor, two chambers or one... ) that I'm afraid there isn't an "easy answer" to your question. Here's a link to an arcicle that helped us quite a bit:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php

We use an ACII to control the setup (PH monitor of effluent used to turn the CO2 soloniod off/on). Good needle wheels are critical. Milwalkee makes a very reputable guage/solonoid setup that a lot of people use.

 

[Brian]

I bought the GenX Co2 gauge and needle valve. The only input I can give is don't buy that brand, the needle valve is terrible!

I too use my Aquacontroller to control my reactor. For my tank I have my bubble count as one per second (or thereabout) and the flow meter is set to 3ml for the effluent.