REEF SMAC (or any one else with CA-RX experience)
....Id love your input here and ties in perfectly to the OP. I have been wondering if I should go CA-RX, but I love the simplicity of dosing and not sure if I will see a benefit tank wise or cost wise. What all equipment would you suggest for this?
If you already spent the money on a nice dosing set up and like it, then it will probably take you awhile to recoup your costs by going to a CA RX. Might not be worth the hassle to switching over just to save $50 a year.
I haven't tried out enough CA RXs out there to be able to recomend to you which ones are of any quality.
The one I use today is a DIY.
I would recomend one that is oversized for your demand. (holds more media) Not one that is undersized that you will have to use too much CO2 to keep up with your demand. If it holds more media you can run it for months between refills.
I prefer a second chamber to scrub off CO2, keeps your DT PH a lot higher.
I have 250g DT & 100g frag/grow out tied together. Between that and sump im looking say 325 net gallons SPS dominate.
I'm confused here. Seems like this should add up to 350g of SPS plus the sump.
I am currently dosing 310ml/day
That does not seem like much really for that size tank. At least not yet I guess.
I get ~ 7gal solution /1g powder ALK...35g/5g OR 132,425ml solution/5g powder $68/5g bucket
I get ~ 8gal solution /1g powder CAl.....40g/5g OR 151,400ml solution/5g powder $68/5g bucket
at 310 ml per day I have 427 days of ALK & 473 days of ALK
So basically total cost for 1.2yrs is $136. or ~ $110/yr of solution
So as a comparison I'll use your calculations. You made this easy for me.
My DT is 340g and my attached frag tank is 70g, for a total of 410g that has SPS in it.
My system will use 900 to 1000 ml per day if I use two part. My system uses pretty much the same (same per gallon ratio) as what MammothReefer says his 65 uses in post #14.
But for easy math lets say 930 ml daily. That way I can just triple your numbers and come out with $330 a year for two part.
To use my CA RX for the year to do the same thing I use 6 gallons of reactor media. 1.2 buckets ($90/5g bucket) = $108
20# bottle of CO2 Last one year = $ 23
California electricity/ 20w/ avg of all 4 tiers/ $0.19 per KWH = $33
Total of $164 per year.
For me it works out to about half the money.
Not sure if one needs to consider MG cost or if that is a wash since both methods need to add MG? If not then lets add like $70 for MG yrly cost
I agree. It's the same either way.
And if we want to throw out electrcity cosy, my doser uses 3 w, which equates to less than $2 for the yr in electricity.
If my electrcity was a cheap as yours it would only cost me $19 a year.
Calibrating Ph probes every month for a CaRx seems like PIA
If your PH probe is such a POS that you have to calibrate it every month, it would be a PIA.
Sounds like you need a new probe.
I have done both methods for years and without debate for me I have seen my best results with B-Ionic Period!! They sell 5 gallon Pails of part A and B.
So if a five gallon pail once or twice every few months is what it is IMO worth every penny!!
Today I'm dosing B-Ionic on a Profilux Stand alone unit to keep it simple.
The OP says he is concerned about how much money he is spending/going to spend on two part.
So you throw out the most expensive baller stuff out there?
If it is worth spending all that extra money to you, then go with it.
I can only fit 1liter bottles for 2 part so refilling is quite often
(120mL a day of each part)
This is what I hate the most about two part. Mixing it up and having to constanly fill reservoirs.
I can go 3 months before I have to refill my CA RX.
I would have to have two 25g reservoirs for ALK and CA to last that long with dosers. Not to mention storing all these buckets of two part I would be buying. (six at a time to get my 10% discount) Ha.
Where do you guys store all this stuff? My little townhouse is full of way too many buckets as it is. Lol.
Plus bionic has trace elements mixed in also
What exactly are these wonder elements that cost so much?
True, but you would think that you'd want it on some sort of controller just in case the regulator malfunctions and the bubble rate increases and nukes your tank
So if we're going to throw out totally paranoid scenarios-
I would think that you'd want some sort of controller just in case your doser malfunctioned (or you did while programming the timer) and completely empties your Alk reservoir and nukes your tank.
A lot more likely scenario IMHO.
I still have a lot of kalk left over from the 2000 pounds I bought in 2004. I'm a firm believer in kalk reactors.
I'm a believer as well. I knew someone would bring up kalk here pretty soon.
When you buy in bulk, you don't mess aroundl
there should be some type of way to shut off the co2 if the PH falls too low.
I am more concerned about shutting off the kalk when the PH gets too high actually.
I'm done with Ca reactors, I just gave mine away to a very good friend.
I really like using a CA RX along with kalk. Their PH of one cancels the other out.
The regulator is mechanical, once its adjusted it cant change unless you do it. I havnt touched the regulator in 9 years. I adjust it through the needle valve.
A pH meter is handy but a pH controller on a reactor is totally unnecessary.
+1
Like you said, mechanical. Anything mechanical can fail.
If I were to set-up a CaRx, I would definitely want some sort of fail safe.
So considering your paranoia of anything mechanical, I assume you dose your tank by hand?
I suppose it can fail but it doesnt mean it will let deadly amounts of Co2 into the tank if it did.
They do have controllers for those who do worry about such events but It is usually a controller related issue that causes the problem. There are plenty of other things you can spend time on worring about, this isnt one of them.
I agree...^^^
I'm more worried about being struck by lightning honestly.
