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Thread: Control calcium reactor

  1. #1
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    Control calcium reactor

    Hi, I just got an aquarium engineering calcium reactor from Bill Wann. Can I control it with my Apex? If so, can someone explain how? I'm a newbie with programming.

  2. #2
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Yes. You will need a second pH probe if you don't have one already.

    If you have a very good solenoid (either aquarium plants doser or a solenoid rated for short cycling) start with this code.

    Fallback OFF
    If pH2 > 6.5 Then ON
    If pH2 < 6.5 Then OFF
    Defer 001:00 Then ON


    If you don't meet the above requirement use a wider pH band


    Fallback OFF
    If pH > 6.6 Then ON
    If pH < 6.5 Then OFF
    Defer 001:00 Then ON


    And make sure you follow all of the steps below. This comes from a post by AlainB that really helped me dial in my reactor.

    "1) Set secondary CO2 pressure to 15 psi
    2) Set pH to +- 6.5
    3) Set bubble count to 10-15 bubbles/min
    4) Set effluent flow to 50 drops/min
    5) Let this run as is for a few hours to give it time to stabilize and check effluent dkh , should be around 35 .

    When stable :

    1) mesure tank dkh and record value and compare one day later
    2) If dkh increase just reduce effluent drop/min , if decrease just raise effluent drop/min and leave all other setting as set .
    3) If at one point the effluent demand is so high that the co2 outlet is ON constantly and ph is rising in the reactor increase co2 bubble count and/or secondary CO2 pressure
    4) I like to had a 20 % bubble count over the required number to be able to increase without changing other setting .
    5) When you have reach the point of stability record the OFF and ON time of the CO2 outlet"

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  3. #3
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    One probe in the tank and one in the reactor?

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    And how does it know all the failsafes? Like the CO2 stuff.

  5. #5
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    One probe in tank, One in reactor. pH2 is the one in the reactor in the starting code. For failsafes, You need to record the minimum and maximum on and off times once you have it stabilized

    Let's say for example it runs for 20 mins on 40 minutes off usually but went up to 25 minutes on a few times and up to 55 minutes off a few times. Then you would create 3 virtual outlets. Below is how my code was before I downgraded to a biocube and stopped using a reactor.

    FlowAlarm
    Set OFF
    If Outlet CaRx = ON Then ON
    Defer 030:00 Then ON
    Defer 001:00 Then OFF

    CO2Alarm
    Set OFF
    If Outlet CaRx = OFF Then ON
    Defer 060:00 Then ON
    Defer 001:00 Then OFF

    StopCaRx
    Set OFF
    If Outlet FlowAlarm = ON Then ON
    If Outlet CO2Alarm = ON Then ON
    Min Time 720:00 Then ON

    CaRx (physical outlet)
    Fallback OFF
    If pH2 > 6.5 Then ON
    If pH2 < 6.5 Then OFF
    If Outlet StopCaRx = ON Then OFF

    Email
    (Existing code)
    If Outlet FlowAlarm = ON Then ON
    If Outlet CO2Alarm = ON Then ON

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  6. #6
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    What that did is any time the reactor stayed on too long I knew there was something wrong with the flow or my media was getting low. It would alert me once and shut it down for 12 hours. If it stayed off too long I knew something was wrong with the CO2 side like a low tank, bubble count getting low, clogged airline, etc. and it would notify me once and shut the system down for 12 hours.

    When I was notified I would fix the problem, then set the 3 protective outlets to manual OFF and get it stabilized (usually stabilized within 2 or 3 hours) and then set them all back to auto.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  7. #7
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    I have a question about this...

    You mention:

    1) Set secondary CO2 pressure to 15 psi
    2) Set pH to +- 6.5
    3) Set bubble count to 10-15 bubbles/min
    4) Set effluent flow to 50 drops/min
    5) Let this run as is for a few hours to give it time to stabilize and check effluent dkh , should be around 35 .

    Are you saying to set the co2 bottle pressure to its highest at 15psi? I’m currently running at 6psi.

    I currently run my effluent in a stream to prevent clogging. My doser is turning on and off about once every minute putting a lot of cycles through my eb8. I was hoping to try and get it to not cycle on and off so much with this code. Will this help?

  8. #8
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Morangus View Post
    I have a question about this...

    You mention:

    1) Set secondary CO2 pressure to 15 psi
    2) Set pH to +- 6.5
    3) Set bubble count to 10-15 bubbles/min
    4) Set effluent flow to 50 drops/min
    5) Let this run as is for a few hours to give it time to stabilize and check effluent dkh , should be around 35 .

    Are you saying to set the co2 bottle pressure to its highest at 15psi? I’m currently running at 6psi.

    I currently run my effluent in a stream to prevent clogging. My doser is turning on and off about once every minute putting a lot of cycles through my eb8. I was hoping to try and get it to not cycle on and off so much with this code. Will this help?
    When I had my reactor set up, I used a bit different settings that might help for you. I also used a high effluent flow because I has a mj1200 to feed mine rather than the variable speed peristaltic he had. To offset that I used 5 psi, lowered the bubble rate and changed my target pH to 6.7 you will need to experiment to find what will meet your tank demand and I found it easier to keep effluent flow constant, make minor adjustments to pH and if the cycling took to short or too long I would just adjust the knob on the doser.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    One probe in tank, One in reactor. pH2 is the one in the reactor in the starting code. For failsafes, You need to record the minimum and maximum on and off times once you have it stabilized

    Let's say for example it runs for 20 mins on 40 minutes off usually but went up to 25 minutes on a few times and up to 55 minutes off a few times. Then you would create 3 virtual outlets. Below is how my code was before I downgraded to a biocube and stopped using a reactor.

    FlowAlarm
    Set OFF
    If Outlet CaRx = ON Then ON
    Defer 030:00 Then ON
    Defer 001:00 Then OFF

    CO2Alarm
    Set OFF
    If Outlet CaRx = OFF Then ON
    Defer 060:00 Then ON
    Defer 001:00 Then OFF

    StopCaRx
    Set OFF
    If Outlet FlowAlarm = ON Then ON
    If Outlet CO2Alarm = ON Then ON
    Min Time 720:00 Then ON

    CaRx (physical outlet)
    Fallback OFF
    If pH2 > 6.5 Then ON
    If pH2 < 6.5 Then OFF
    If Outlet StopCaRx = ON Then OFF

    Email
    (Existing code)
    If Outlet FlowAlarm = ON Then ON
    If Outlet CO2Alarm = ON Then ON

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
    dont mean to hijack, but what would the alarms look like if your co2 reg never shuts off. Mine is set so I hold 6.65ph in the reactor and it never hits my on/off points of [email protected] [email protected]?

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    What’s the purpose of the defer statements?

    I’m also feeding mine with an mj1200 and run with 6psi and around 2 bubbles per second but keep my ph between 7.0 and 7.10. Believe it or not I’m running this on my biocube 29 since kalk wasn’t able to keep up anymore in my ATO and manual dosing isn’t an option. It’s working fine for me and maintaining my alk but I was mostly concerned about the doser being turned on and off about every minute or so.

  12. #12
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    What’s the purpose of the defer statements?

    I use them so the system doesn't "over-react" so to speak. I don't want the CO2 to turn on or off for a quick spike. It needs to be at my set points for 60 seconds before it changes.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by boozeman27 View Post
    dont mean to hijack, but what would the alarms look like if your co2 reg never shuts off. Mine is set so I hold 6.65ph in the reactor and it never hits my on/off points of [email protected] [email protected]?
    If your CO2 never shuts off your bubble count is too low.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  14. #14
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    I guess you need to elaborate on that. I would say it’s perfect. It never deviates from my range (6.6-6.7) holding as steady as possible right in the middle. My ALK, cal and mag are steady and keeping up with consumption. Why do I want it bouncing back and forth of the low and high points, cycling my regulator on and off creating wear and tear? Unless I’m missing something my setup is ticking like fine watch.

    No offense either btw, just want to learn all I can.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by boozeman27 View Post
    I guess you need to elaborate on that. I would say it’s perfect. It never deviates from my range (6.6-6.7) holding as steady as possible right in the middle. My ALK, cal and mag are steady and keeping up with consumption. Why do I want it bouncing back and forth of the low and high points, cycling my regulator on and off creating wear and tear? Unless I’m missing something my setup is ticking like fine watch.

    No offense either btw, just want to learn all I can.
    Because the slightest variation be it cylinder pressure, line friction etc will push it out of that range and then you lose your consistency. Having it take a very long time (like several hours) to ramp pH down to 6.6 is a good thing, but it needs to be able to reach it to remain consistent. The other disadvantage is that you have to adjust the reactor itself if your tank demands change. If it can reach the bounds, you can fine tune the dosing by adjusting pH bounds.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

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