Cali Kid Corals

Calcium Reactors and Pressure

iani

iani

Supporting Member
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Most reactors need to be pressurized in order to saturate the reactor with CO2 (to bring the pH down). There are only maybe a few CA reactors that run with zero pressure (schuran reactors are an example). I would try to run it pressureless and not put a valve on the effluent side. I'm not sure how much pressure I would be comfortable running through that reactor.
 
High enough pressures that I've seen people make diy's that crack. Like I said, I would try to run it wide open with out restricting.
 
My Koralin has 7 metal bolts holding the lid on and it recommends using a wrench and scewdriver to get them sufficiently tight for the pressure.
 
But... in every picture or diagram of a calcium reactor that I've seen, it's fed from something like a small powerhead, a tap off of the return pump, or even just a venturi on the reactor's recirculation line. None of those are capable of holding back significant pressure, much less generating it. If there were high pressure in the reactor, it would just push water back through the intake line.

What do you guys use as a feed pump for your calcium reactors? How does it maintain high pressure inside the reaction chamber?
 
Erin, you are forgetting the co2, which is how the pressure can build up. If you put a valve on the effluent you can produce pretty high pressures within the calcium reactor.
 
what iani said... I'm sure you can still find a way to MOD this and make it work. Kudos to you for doing the DIY. I'm watching with interest here. Would like to do one for my 29g.
 
I'm not forgetting it. If the CO2 increased the pressure in the reactor, it would be impossible for a low pressure pump to push water in. Granted, it you closed valves on the intake and outlet and let the CO2 run, it could build up pressure, but i'm not planning to do that. :)
 
It might be impossible for a low pressure to pump water into it. However, the low pressure pump may not give way to the pressure in the calcium reactor. Even if its not pumping water into the canister the pressure can still build. I was running a korallin fed by a aqualifter and the pressure would build quite a bit.

Also can you label the last shot

influent, effluent, and co2 input. I only see two lines going in or coming out, is it short one? Why are the two fittings on the right connected by the RO tubing?
 
I just don't buy it. I think the only way you'd get high pressures is if you closed off both the intake and effluent and let the CO2 run. I'm planning to set it up with a valve on one or the other, but not both, so that should never occur.
 
That's fine if you don't want to buy it. However to be safe I would not run it with any kind of valve on the effluent side (using a feed pump). Or do a gravity fed syphon for the influent which would solve the problem and allow you to put a valve on the effluent side.
 
I don't buy it either. ;D If my calcium reactor is being fed by a maxi-400 then there is no way there is any pressure in that chamber. If there was then I'd have no control on where the water flowed. I mean, what would stop it from pushing back against the fill pump? I think you'll be fine with the uni-seals. I doubt they have any less grip than the vinyl tubing attached to my mixing pump right? I don't see water squirting out of there.
 
I still disagree and I don't believe that there's a safety issue here. If it explodes and kills me, though, I give you all permission to have "we told her so" inscribed on my tombstone. ;)
 
You know I've been thinking about it there may not be a safety issue after all. The only thing I could think of would by trying to keep the co2 in the chamber long enough to dissolve the aragonite substrate. If the receptacle is not tightened down enough you may just wind up wasting co2 and going thereby going through faster.
 
[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=5970.msg75497#msg75497 date=1232345411]
Hmm. This is the first I've heard of pressurizing a calcium reactor. Is there some benefit to that?

I suppose that depending on how the reactor is fed and how much the outflow is restricted there could be some pressure, but I wouldn't expect it to be more than a few PSI, which the uniseal and cap should be able to manage.

[/quote]

A soda bottle holds CO2 saturated liquid under pressure as well. I'm sure your reactor will be fine.

V
 
[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=5970.msg75726#msg75726 date=1232416717]
I still disagree and I don't believe that there's a safety issue here. If it explodes and kills me, though, I give you all permission to have "we told her so" inscribed on my tombstone. ;)[/quote]

If you accidentally frag yourself, we'll just put all the pieces in DBTC :D
 
[quote author=Vincerama2 link=topic=5970.msg75925#msg75925 date=1232482447]
[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=5970.msg75497#msg75497 date=1232345411]
Hmm. This is the first I've heard of pressurizing a calcium reactor. Is there some benefit to that?

I suppose that depending on how the reactor is fed and how much the outflow is restricted there could be some pressure, but I wouldn't expect it to be more than a few PSI, which the uniseal and cap should be able to manage.

[/quote]

A soda bottle holds CO2 saturated liquid under pressure as well. I'm sure your reactor will be fine.

V

[/quote]

Apples and oranges. Sure DIY CO2 with a soda bottle will hold fine if you have an airstone diffuser. However if you put any resistance on the line like a ceramic diffusor you run the risk of the bottle exploding.

Erin, you may be fine however to be safe, I would do a gravity fed reactor. Gravity fed can be simple and safe (just put the feed tubing right under the water line in your tank) another plus is that it will allow you to forgo another pump. This way you will be able to valve off the effluent with NO risk at all.
 
Honestly, I don't see where the danger part is here. If the thing is under pressure, then OK, it's pressurized. What's going to explode? Why would it explode? If the fear is that the chamber will explode...then it's the same danger as ALL the CA Reactors on the market. If the fear is that the top can't handle the pressure, then the top will slowly be forced off. If a "commercial" CA Reactor is built such that the top won't pop off, then that means that ALL the pressure is contained within the chamber. So if pixelpi's reactor's weak point is the lid, then there is no way the chamber will explode since his reactor actually has more pressure relief than a commercial reactor? Know what I'm saying?

As a kid I tried to make firecrackers (OK "bombs") out of homemade gun powder. They always ended up as flares because there was no easy way to contain the pressure for an actual explosion. Only if you could hold the pressure in until a catastrophic failure of the entire case could you get an explosion. Dry ice bombs work because the dry ice takes up a lot less volume than the sublimated CO2 would so the pressures are immense. In a CA reactor, we're doing a bubble a second or two AND the system is not closed (there is input and effluent lines). The effluent will be set to drip out...if the pressure inside the reactor is too much, the effluent will simply spray out instead of dripping out. Even if the effluent valve is opened just a tiny bit, it'll be enough to relieve the pressure before it can build up. Try taking a deep breath and blowing though the John Guest valve when it's set to whatever effluent rate you desire and I'll bet you can blow thorugh it easily.


OK, it's back to work time ...

V
 
[quote author=Vincerama2 link=topic=5970.msg75938#msg75938 date=1232485254]
John Guest valve when it's set to whatever effluent rate you desire and I'll bet you can blow thorugh it easily.[/quote]

I can promise you that you will have a very tough time trying to blow through a valve that is set to drip slowly from a pressurized calcium reactor. However that is not the issue, the issue is if the pump would be forgiving enough to let enough pressure out if co2 were to overfill the chamber. In reality it might be, but would you really want to take the chance? Why risk it when you can solve it with a simple solution by gravity feeding the reactor?


I think you misread I never said her calcium reactor would explode. I only said a soda bottle could explode because that can (dry ice in a soda bottle). I never said her reactor would explode. I was concerned about cracking and leaking. She might come home one day to an empty sump.
[quote author=iani link=topic=5970.msg75508#msg75508 date=1232346123]
High enough pressures that I've seen people make diy's that crack. Like I said, I would try to run it wide open with out restricting.
[/quote]
 
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