After reading our inital Aquacare post, our friend and experienced hobbyist Steve Norvich was one of the first in the U.S. to get his hands on the newly imported Aquacare Turbo Chalk Calcium Reactors. We asked Steve to give a review on his initial experience of the Model 3 which he currently has running for [...]
After reading our inital Aquacare post, our friend and experienced hobbyist Steve Norvich was one of the first in the U.S. to get his hands on the newly imported Aquacare Turbo Chalk Calcium Reactors. We asked Steve to give a review on his initial experience of the Model 3 which he currently has running for 10 hours a day on his 500g heavily stocked SPS reef. He liked the Model 3 so much he purchased the Model 4, for his other similar sized set up.
A huge thanks to Steve Norvich for taking the time to write this extensive review. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below.
Aquacare Turbo Chalk Calcium Reactor Model 3 Review
By Steve Norvich
What comes in the box:
Most of the items you will need come in the box, all nicely assembled and mounted on a board. Screw holes are predrilled but one of the four is in an awkward location which requires manual tightening. I strongly recommend ordering the optional CO2 controller; this is a relatively expensive option but well worth while. I recommend getting a good multi-interval digital timer with battery backup for the circulation pump and CO2 controller. You will need to purchase an air pump such as a dolphin (costs about $14).
Also, unless you are feeding water to your reactor from a T on the return pump, you will need to feed water to the reactor with a pump that is reliable but relatively slow flow. This water supply is always on. I wish that a flowmeter had been supplied, but you can measure flow into a graduated cylinder and time adjusting.
Assembly:
Since this reactor must be mounted vertically, you have to devise a way of mounting it to a wall. In my case, I mounted 2×4′s and mounted it top and bottom with the screws that came with the unit. If you are mounting directly to plaster board (dry wall) you will have to use the supplied inserts to screw into.
The directions, once you understand them are actually pretty good. But since this is a German translation of German into English there are a few turns of language that must be thought through properly. It is important that water flow out of the reactor flow down hill to the return point whether it be aquarium, sump, or in my case refugium. The air pump and the CO2 supply must have a safety loop above the reactor to reduce any possibility of water flowing backwards to the source. The CO2 supply must have a good check valve; the air pump, because of reduction in air pressure using a check valve does not have one.
Reactor Description:
In the picture, the left chamber is the calcium chamber which is Aquacare calcium carbonate plus a very small amount of Aquacare magnesium. There are about 2 spoonfuls of magnesium in that chamber in addition to the calcium carbonate. There will be an add-on product that is an in sump magnesium reactor but as of 6/30/08 it has not been release in the USA.
The tube on the right is the CO2 tube. The contents of this tube are controlled by the Basitech III controller which is attached to a solenoid that controls CO2 entry into the chamber. Once the appropriate amount of CO2 is in the chamber, the solenoid stops more CO2 from entering. When it needs more, it adds more.
The tube at the top is the sedimentation chamber; this is the final tube the effluent flows through before returning to the aquarium/sump/refugium.
The tube next to the media chamber is the neutralization chamber. This reduces PH to approximate 7.3 prior to its return to the aquarium/sump/refugium
Operation of the reactor:
This reactor needs timed periodic breaks which are used to flush air and other gases out of the reactor prior to CO2 refilling the reactor to melt the media. If these gases are not flushed, CO2 will not reduce the PH to an appropriate low level to melt the media and it will lose efficiency.
I have the circulation pump and the CO2 controller on digital timers. The on time is 2 hours and the off time is one half hour with multiple cycles during the day. Dialing in the reactor could reduce or increase the number of these cycles. You want ALK between 9-10 (ideal is between 7-11) and calcium around 420 with Magnesium at 1380. If your magnesium is too low, it will be difficult to maintain appropriate calcium levels.
Copyright Steven N. Norvich 2008, all rights reserved. No publication without permission.
