My calcium reactor setting getting crazy

[machodik]

Dear all,

As my tank need a low Alk due to low nutrient so I set my apex ;

On at ph 7.21
Off at ph 6.90

In the past several weeks it seems working normally but in these couple of days I have observed that my ph keep staying at 6.90 but the reactor won't turn off so it took a long period at 6.90 before it turn off .

I wonder where or what happened why the setting are suppose to turn off the reactor and waiting the next curve reaching 7.21 before turn on again.

Please advise as I am traveling right now and I think my alk will went further up if this disruption was not able to fix.

Cheers,


MD



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[Alain B]

Dear all,

As my tank need a low Alk due to low nutrient so I set my apex ;

On at ph 7.21
Off at ph 6.90

In the past several weeks it seems working normally but in these couple of days I have observed that my ph keep staying at 6.90 but the reactor won't turn off so it took a long period at 6.90 before it turn off .

I wonder where or what happened why the setting are suppose to turn off the reactor and waiting the next curve reaching 7.21 before turn on again.

Please advise as I am traveling right now and I think my alk will went further up if this disruption was not able to fix.

Cheers,


MD



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Calcium reactor pH not raising as expected normally indicate an effluent flow problem , plz describe in details your calcium reactor set up .

[machodik]

Thanks Alain,
My calcium reactor is GEO 618 with Aquarium plant dosing regulator , my effluent flow was connected to a valve that drip 15 ml/ minutes , but occasionally the drop will reduced don't have to adjust the valve every 3 or 4 days , so my effluent drop is fluctuating.

I wonder that before I travel I set it back to 15 ml / min. May be the flow faster so the ph in the calcium reactor hardly went up?

I have manually turn off via Internet the calcium reactor as I am worry that KH will goes beyond my maintain level of 8.2 dkh


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[Alain B]

Thanks Alain,
My calcium reactor is GEO 618 with Aquarium plant dosing regulator , my effluent flow was connected to a valve that drip 15 ml/ minutes , but occasionally the drop will reduced don't have to adjust the valve every 3 or 4 days , so my effluent drop is fluctuating.

I wonder that before I travel I set it back to 15 ml / min. May be the flow faster so the ph in the calcium reactor hardly went up?

I have manually turn off via Internet the calcium reactor as I am worry that KH will goes beyond my maintain level of 8.2 dkh


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Calcium reactor staying at a low ph and not rising as expected indicate a restriction or lack of effluent flow , If the flow would be to high or out of control , Ph would stay up and not lower as expected . I would simply turn the doser outlet on your Apex to OFF and wait till you return to investigate the problem . If you plan to come back in a long time then you really have a problem . A steady effluent flow will turn the co2 oulet ON-OFF in a repeatable manner .There is not much you can do while you are away .

[zombie]

The rule is that pH must be LESS THAN the setpoint before it turns off. Ie ph must be 6.89 not 6.90 to turn off.

Side note: you only need that wide of a range with a solenoid controlling CO2. With the aquarium plants doser, you can narrow your range a lot to sit between 6.89 and 6.91 (ie on at 6.90, off at 6.90)

[machodik]

In the past the graph is very steadily up and down and up and down but recently I can see that it sometimes steadily stay at one point (as you can see thru the attached pictures) for examples at 6.90 and won't stop it self even reaching on 6.89 as you suggest . It is really getting me crazy







I have been setting it on and off thru Internet that I am now about 1700 miles away from home.

Cheers,

MD


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[machodik]

This is another set of photos that taken about less than an hour ago, it's now back to ph 7 . I have notice it rose so fast which means the effluent flow is normal but I can not understand why it will stay a bit longer at some point specially at 6.90 (please check above earlier post photos)





Is there something wrong with my apex setting or the PH probe that I have not been calibrating for a while now?

Cheers,

MD


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[Alain B]

Having an improperly calibrated probe will not change the reactor behavior , it will only change the ph value inside it and it cannot be confirmed just like that . You would need a second probe inside the calcium reactor to confirm the calibration of the first . If the probe get out of calibration , the reactor pH behavior would be the same as the programming is the same . If the effluent flow stop or is slower the doser will be ON for a shorter amount of time or will stay OFF longer . If the effluent flow is higher the doser will be ON longer and be OFF for less . Also if the CO2 is low or empty the doser CO2 will stay ON longer or stay ON all the time . This is the way we set alarm for low or empty CO2 or an effluent flow problem . Those alarms used the CO2 outlet timing as reference . Also remember that the Apex register data at a set interval ( normally 10 minutes ) so this could be the cause of those graphs changes .

[machodik]

Hi there !

I am getting really crazy with my apex , ph of the calcium reactor give the below graph ! He never turn off, I wonder why ?







It seems that this situation happened every month to me , I have readjust the on a a off ph level but it does not go back the same up down up down trend pattern as in the past . Is this something wrong with my Apex control or my Ph probe.......


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[Alain B]

Post your calcium reactor CO2 doser setting .

[machodik]

On at ph 7.20 , low at ph 6.90




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[Alain B]

5 things you need to check that could create this : first , your co2 doser is erratic and does not supply the co2 as needed by the outlet , second : You secondary co2 pressure is too low , third : you have a gas bubble inside the reactor , fourth : your calcium reactor effluent flow is not steady and last : your bubble count per minute is too low .

[machodik]

Non of those you mentioned should be the issue , I wonder that before this thing happen , I have readjust the effluent drib as it slow down normally I need 15 ml / min but I adjust it to almost 20 ml second, I have added baking soda to increase my Dkh of 7.90 to 8.2 but when this thing happens , my dkh goes up to 9 so I readjust the effluent flow to 15 ml/min , but it then never goes back to the normal up down up down trend as before


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[Alain B]

If all the setting are correct and stable you will get a steady sawtooth shape graph , it cannot be any other way : it is a chemical reaction . Stop chasing number and start with some basics setting and give it time to settle down . Calcium reactor might take up to 24 hres to react to some new settings .Calcium reactor are not designed to re-balance chemistry in a tank . They are made to maintain the levels . Set your chemistry level first , then use the calcium reactor to maintain them . Set a very slow effluent drip ( 10 Ml/min ) , secondary co2 pressure between 12 and 14 psi , co2 bubble count at 20 bubble per minute and stick to those for at least 24 hres . Post the graph here after 24 hres . What are the dkh, calcium and magnesium level of the tank water ?

[machodik]

Noted . The dkh maintain at 7.90. - 8.20, calcium plays between 415-420, mg at 1335 range +/-.

I wonder how apex setting will react to any setting , as I have noted that even co2 continue to supply the ph never goes down to 6.90 but maintain at 7 for a long time and even goes up without hitting the 6.90 marked. This is what I was confusing at. The reason why I add baking soda because I have seen the dkh drop due to some changes in the rate of effluent drip , this is understood as the clogging over there is expected. But after a slight alteration then the apex get crazy with this result . I feel relief whenever I saw a constant sawtooth pattern but I have not seen that pattern for almost three days now


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[Alain B]

Change your co2 outlet programming to this :

Set OFF
If ( calcium reactor pH ) < 6.90 Then ON

You should get a graph like mine if all is right , post the graph after 24 hours here .

Capture.PNG

You will notice on my graph that i had increase the effluent flow on Mars 29 at 2.00 pm and also on April 1 at 12.00 by noticing the sawtooth being tighter . all other calcium reactor setting had stayed the same .

[machodik]

That's a nice graph.

Can you teach me where and how to set that setting , because this is the window I got when I hit the wheel icon



Can you pinpoint me step by step and where I can write this setting you mentioned , perhaps an attachment picture will help a lots. Thanks !

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[Alain B]

On the fusion dashboard , on the upper left line of icons , select the outlet , then chose yours from the list .

[Alain B]

Capture 1.PNG

Here is my complete CO2 outlet programming .

[machodik]

You mean this dash board?




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[Alain B]

Yep , the fifth one from the left at top of the page .

[machodik]

Sorry , I am not so much familiar on the setting , which icon you hit to show you the output configuration ?


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[machodik]

Got it but this is what it appear and I don't see the space for you to write those commands







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[Alain B]

Capture 3.PNG

From the dashboard , click on this one , it will bring you to the outlet list , choose the right outlet on the list and click , you will see the outlet programming window .

- - - Updated - - -

Got it but this is what it appear and I don't see the space for you to write those commands





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In the control type window change from pH to advanced .

[machodik]

Yes , I got that and when I hit it then this windows comes out ;



And when I select the CXR then this comes out





I have not seen any spaces for me to write those commands as you show



How can I got to this windows?




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