Colorado Reefs
here fishy fishy ::…
H&S 90 Calcium Reactor first thoughts.
Thanks to an AWESOME Friend, I made a trade, and we both got what we needed 
. That said, this post will be about the H&S 90 Calcium Reactor I just received. The H&S 90 Calcium reactor is rated for a 100 Gallon tank, which should fit my tank quite well at a combined size of 95 Gallons. The system consists of a 4′ long 75 Gallon Acryllic tank, and a 14 Gallon Biocube, modded to allow for inlets and returns from the shared sump. The Calcium and Alkalinity requirements are quite low currently, so we’ll get to see how this reactor does with the growth of the tank, having started out from a small load. Since this was a freebie(in relative terms) to me, I had to supply a few parts of my own, that were missing or not included with the original reactor. There are a few accessories that help quite a bit in running and maintaining a calcium reactor:
H&S 90 Calcium Reator (90CRX-01)dfds
The reactor feels solid, and is built well. It came very well recomended, and the ease of use is very pleasing. If anything it’s more accomodating to a beginning user, as there are few things that can go wrong. The reactor features a built in bubble counter, which as can be seen in the picture to the left is mounted higher up on the side, making it easily viewable.
Effluent is fed off of the top of the reactor, and the provided valve is makes for easy control of the drip rate. The only minor gripe I had was that there is no re-circulation of co2 built in, but in this configuration, would be hard to do.
The reactor also features a built in pH probe inlet, which, when not in use, seals well. I’ve opted to run a Milwaukee SMS122, and the probe installation was very simple, and made setting up the reactor a breeze.
The Reactor has a twist lock top which is very sturdy, and makes mainenance and resupply of ARM on the reactor very simple. The base is also very sturdy, consisting of an upside down T, which the pump of the Aquabee 500 pump mounts to. Once set up and running, the system seems quite quiet and matches the hum of the rest of the pumps in my tank’s cabinet.
The only reactor I had before this was very hard to work with, and did not have the probe slot, which I think, besides the sturdy build to be it’s best point.
Tags: 90, Ac Voltage, alkalinity, Amp, calcium, calcium reactor, Calcium Reactors, Circulation, Co2, Co2 Reactor, Dfds, Drip Rate, Effluent, First Thoughts, Freebie, Gallon Tank, HS, inlet, Inlets, Milwaukee, Modded, pH, pH controller, Ph Probe, probe, reactor, Relative Terms, Seals, Shut Down, solenoid, Twist Lock
Update on the Milwaukee SMS-122 debacle
I originaly posted a while ago regarding my issue with my Milwaukee sms-122 (link)
After speaking with support and being told to test the unit without a powerstrip in the way, I did, finally, after a month or so of being busy. Unfortunately the result was still the same, so now, I’m back at stage one, sending the unit back to Milwaukee to be fixed.
Tags: alkalinity, calcium reactor, Carbon Dioxide, Co2 Pressure Regulator, Co2 Regulator, Debacle, Milwaukee Sms 122, Powerstrip, Sms, Stage One
Milwaukee SMS-122 Reef pH controller bites the dust
It appears while we were out on vacation over the weekend my Milwaukee SMS-122 pH controller for my calcium reactor bit the dust and appears to have shorted at the relay to supply power to the solednoid on the co2 tank. Pretty lame, but it’s better to be safe than sorry with concern to co2 and calcium reactors… Nothing harmed, except low alkalinity. Considering it’s only a few months old, I’ll be claiming warranty on it and getting it fixed by Milwaukee.
Tags: alkalinity, calcium reactor, Calcium Reactors, Co2 Tank, Lame, Milwaukee Sms 122, pH controller, Reef, Saltwater, Sms, Sms-122, Tank, Warranty
Sketchup Drawing of my 75G mixed reef
48Wx18Dx21H
I just finished sketching up my 4 foot 75 Gallon Mixed Coral Reef tank, drain in the middle chamber in the back, to returns, one on each side. This drawing doesn’t include the canopy, which currently is built to hold 4 46.5″ VHO Bulbs, two Super Actinic and two Actinic White, run off a IceCap 660. Whole tank is made of 1/2″ acryllic. The sump that this tank drains to is a 20 gallon acryllic, with a seperator in the middle, no room for fuge, skimmer in first partition and calcium reactor and header in second partition, before water hits return pump.
Tags: Actinic, calcium reactor, Canopy, Coral Reef Tank, Drawing, Icecap 660, Partition, Seperator, Skimmer, Tank Drain, Vho Bulbs, Water Hits
Milwaukee SMS-122 pH controller addition
Recently I updated my 75 Gallon Show tank with a calcium reactor from craigslist. While cheap, it didn’t come with all of the necesary items, including a solenoid, and a pH controller. The calcium reactor supplies the tank with much needed calcium and alkalinity by dissolving clacium reactor media at a lower pH level(usually between 6.5 and 6.7, depending on the media).
Lowering the pH is done by injecting carbon dioxide(CO2). In order to keep the pH steady and at a low level, a bubble counter is usually used to monitor the rate at which CO2 enters the calcium reactor, and then monitored with pH test kits. Adding a pH controller and a (normally-off)CO2 solenoid to this, simplifies the prodcedure by controlling when the CO2 is allowed to enter the calcium reactor, determined by the pH of the water coming out of the calcium reactor(effluent). This is done via pH probe sitting in an effluent cup. I made mine out of a office style vertical pen holder, cutting holes with a dremel to allow for an effluent line to come in, and a drain out the bottom, allowing a pool of effluent water to be monitored by the pH probe from the Milwaukee SMS-122.
With the pH probe gathering the pH of the effluent water, the Milkwaukee SMS-122 pH controller monitors the pH, and when it rises above the set point, flips on the AC outlet pod attached to it. This is where the CO2 solenoid comes in. The operation of the solenoid is pretty simple. When power is applied to the AC plug, open the valve, when power isn’t supplied, close the valve. Easy enough. The solenoid is put in place between the needle valve connected to the CO2 pressure regulator(on the tank) and the bubble counter(which then goes to the reactor), allowing the flow to be set by the needle valve, and indicated by the bubble counter, when the solenoid is powered ON, and the solenoid valve is open. At this point, assuming the pH controller is already calibrated(mine came calibrated already, but I double checked it with the included fluids), and the set point set to what you would like, the pH will be held close to steady to wherever the set point is(in the case of a ca reactor, 6.5-6.7ish).
Having this setup, now the only thing to determine with the reactor is the flow rate of the effluent from the reactor, as well as to watch the pH of the tank, so that the lower pH water coming from the reactor doesn’t drop the pH of the tank too much, while increasing your calcium and alkalinity.
Tags: Ac Outlet, Ac Plug, alkalinity, calcium reactor, Carbon Dioxide, Co2 Pressure Regulator, Co2 Reactor, Co2 Regulator, Craigslist, Dremel, Effluent Water, Milwaukee Sms 122, Needle Valve, Pen Holder, pH controller, Ph Level, Ph Probe, Ph Test, Reef Tank, Saltater Tank, Saltwater, show tank, solenoid, Solenoid Valve, Test Kits
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