Calcium Reactors What do they do?

My uncle a fellow 3reefer shy fella (NAPOLEON). He set up his calcium reactor and callibrated it and all but was confused as to how the controller regulates the ph and how does the system know when to turn on and off? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

any one use a calcium reactor?

 

He has a controler with it? not sure what you mean by turning it on and off.
Please let me know if he is running a controler

J

 

reactor

calcium reactor are very simple ,the ph in the reactor must drop below 6.7 to create carbonic acid that will dissolve the media inside in order for you reactor to function properly flow rates must be regulated so there is enough contact time in the reactor for the carbonic acid to do its thing . in my case my reactor has a place for a ph probe to monitor the effluent ph when the ph goes above 6.5 it will turn on the co2 and bring the ph back down in the reactor . some people think the amended water that comes out of the reactor should have a good ph 8.2 or better this could not be further from the truth . it actually comes out low in ph that is why the flow should be slow if not the ph the in tank will crash calcium reactor increase alk which in turn will give the water better ph buffering ability . the ph in my system will go up to8.5 in the day and drop to 8.2 at night if you donthave a place for a probe you can dump your effluent into a container with a probe inside this will give you an accurate reading of effluent ph but make sure you get the right controller (one that will turn on when the ph rises above a set value)

 

he does have a ph controller and read the thread and did some google reasearch, coastal you nailed it he ubderstoog exactly what you meant it will be a while before I get there. thanks guys.