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CO2 for calcium reactor.

P

PMolan

I never owned a calcium reactor. I am looking into different models and none seem to come with co2. Where would I buy a canister and are they refillable like propane. If they are refillable where would I go? Can anyone offer me some direction?
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
A lot of people buy them and refill that at industrial welding supply places. There was some traffc a while ago about using food grade C02 but I'm not sure what ever came of that. I use the stuff from a welding pace and it seems fine.

HTH
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I have a 5lb and a 10lb and They last a really long time. I've been running the 10lb for at least 6 months now, probably longer. The 5lb is sitting there filed and waiting for its turn! I just got into the red zone of the 10lb (around 400lbs left), so I should have about 3 - 4 weeks left on it. I would say two 5lbs is probably good. It's nice to always have the backup ready to go.
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
John,

i have a 5-lbs, and almost ready to hookup to use, was thinking to get a bigger one like 10-lbs.

when you say, have a backup, did you mean you only keep a spared tank? or you mean to have a full spare sets (including the regulator/bubble counter...etc.)

thx
 
C

Carlo

He means spare tank filled in case your primary runs out. You can switch it and then get the tank filled at your leasure. Nothing like running out on a saturday evening and having to wait until Monday to get it filled.
 
S

steve68

the size of the tank should depend on water volume.
if u have a small tank a 10lb will last u a long time
i have a 20lb tank & it lasted over 2 years the first time i filled it,
that's doing 4 bubbles per second, most of the time people start with
1 bubble per 3 seconds to find the sweet spot.
now just because i do 4 bubbles per sec does not mean that everyone with
the same amount of water volume should try that a lot of things come in to
factor when setting up Ur calcium reactor like acrylic chamber size
& also what kind of pump u use to circulate the Co2 in the chamber & not to
mention how Ur Co2 is mixed with the type of media u use.
for example i made a DIY spray bar for my CR & i went from 6 BPS to 4BPS
to have my PH fluent come out at 6.8 with the same drip rate & that mod
made a big difference mixing my media.
some ask how often i change my media & i tell them never it just melts & i add.
i use ARM media if u add to much Co2 & Ur fluent is slow it will become like mush
& u will have to replace it, that has only happend to me one time when my recirculating
pump went bad & the Co2 just melted the media & not to mention dropped my PH that's
why it's good to have a PH controller that turns the Co2 off when Ur PH drops to danger levels
 
P

PMolan

Can anyone recomend a calcium reactor? This is going to be used for a 210 + 110 + 110 sump/refugium. I was looking at this

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=M3-C-1502&Category_Code=creactor

I was going to buy it in the June group buy. Just planning ahead.
 
S

steve68

P

PMolan

do you happen to know about the marinetech site? I don't see prices, are they wholesale? They are only 2 towns away.
 
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