Aquaph8's 225 Build
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aquaph8
Love The Fish
For sure. Anybody have any experience with dosers? I was looking at profilux, bubble magnus or just a couple BRS dosers. Any thoughts on these? Really all seems the same to me.
NICE Brett! I love GEO equipment. Your Ph issues are over using Kalk topoff water. As for the caclium/alk, the kalk will definitely give you a buffer for both. As for your primary methods, either which way you go be it two part or CR have benefit. However, with a tank the size you have now, automation is key.... especially for vacations. I was pondering going two-part until I recently took my Geo CR apart to clean it. When I set it back up, it worked like it was right out of the box. I think I've fallen in love with it all over again and the fact that I don't have to look at it for the next 6 months makes it even better. The key with CRs are to make sure you use them with a ph controller. This safeguard will protect against adding too much co2 to your reactor. It will simply shut off the solenoid automatically at the ph point that you set, which is somewhere between 6.5 and 6.7. So for example, if your bubble count for co2 is to high and ur Ph drops below your set point inside your reactor, the controller will cut power to the solenoid, which stops the release of co2. As soon as the Ph inside the reactor rises above the set point, the controller will give power back to the solenoid and co2 will began to flow again... This type of control makes it pretty much idiot proof and takes away the concerns of so many people. Two part is great too, but I'm lazy and don't want to mix anything besides salt! LOL... good luck with your choice Bro! By the way, the kalk will counter effect any lowering of the PH of your tank by the CO2 from your reactor. A good suggestion is to allow the effluent to drip into an area of you sump where there is gas exchange. That will neutralize the effect of the CO2 on your tank's ph.
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You got it Bro! That's not such a bad idea. You definitely don't want your po4 to get out of control with the extra feeding. There is just not enough time in the day to do daily manual dosing. I use a Profilux 4 pump stand-alone doser for my tank's drinking habit 
It was pricey, but worth its weight in gold.
Keep a close eye on your phosphates. One of the benefits of kalkwasser, is that it binds phosphates helping the skimmer to remove it from your system a lot more efficiently. If the Kalk does the trick for you, ride it out for a bit without the carbon dosing... Kalk can raise your Alk.. so, watch your level if you decide to go back to the carbon dosing.. High Alk and carbon dosing = burnt and/or blunt tips on SPS.
It was pricey, but worth its weight in gold.Keep a close eye on your phosphates. One of the benefits of kalkwasser, is that it binds phosphates helping the skimmer to remove it from your system a lot more efficiently. If the Kalk does the trick for you, ride it out for a bit without the carbon dosing... Kalk can raise your Alk.. so, watch your level if you decide to go back to the carbon dosing.. High Alk and carbon dosing = burnt and/or blunt tips on SPS.
jjk_reef00
New member
Looks great Brett. I use the profilux doser for carbon on my FOWLR and I'm adjusting on by cube. It is a great doser.
Just a heads up I would make sure the output of your kalk reactor is above your waterline just because I wouldn't trust the cheap check valves.
Just a heads up I would make sure the output of your kalk reactor is above your waterline just because I wouldn't trust the cheap check valves.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
You got it Bro! That's not such a bad idea. You definitely don't want your po4 to get out of control with the extra feeding. There is just not enough time in the day to do daily manual dosing. I use a Profilux 4 pump stand-alone doser for my tank's drinking habit
Keep a close eye on your phosphates. One of the benefits of kalkwasser, is that it binds phosphates helping the skimmer to remove it from your system a lot more efficiently. If the Kalk does the trick for you, ride it out for a bit without the carbon dosing... Kalk can raise your Alk.. so, watch your level if you decide to go back to the carbon dosing.. High Alk and carbon dosing = burnt and/or blunt tips on SPS.
I try to keep at least one task that has to be done daily just to keep my attention and make me keep an eye on everything. Some days its pretty easy to walk right by it with everything else going on. I am trying to make my life easier on this tank for sure though. I like to have more time caring for challenging live stock and not so much spent on maintainance. I like the idea of the doser, I may do that in the future. What are you using to test your po4? I didn't know that about kalk binding po4. See you do learn something everyday. For now I think Ill roll with it for a while and see how things develope but carbon dosing did wonders for me on my 125 so we'll see.
ED you have too many fun toys, LOL. Thanks again for the reactor. How did your new guys come in? Thanks for the tip, yeah I never trust those things.
Hi Dan, I actually stoped my 2 part dosing when I installed it and its been holding things pretty steady. Im testing daily for now just to see how things develop. Maybe you can help me, how much kalk do you put in your reactor at one time? Geo's instructions said 1/2 cup, can I go more than that?
DanW
Certified Stick Killer
You can just make sure that the effluent at the top of the reactor is not cloudy when it's dosing otherwise you could add undesolved kalk and other impurities. I've got the MJ on a timer that stirs the kalk 2x per day and the dosing stops for 30 mins after the stiring so that the undisolved stuff settles back to the bottom. 1/2 cup should last you a pretty long time though.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Thanks Dan, Ill stay at 1/2 cup then. I too have mine on a timer.
Yeah, that task for me is feeding. LOL.. I was pretty stoked to learn about the effects of Kalk of PO4 as well. I don't want you to think Im against doing both (Kalk and carbon dosing) together because I do myself.. just use caution and watch your Alk.. The Elos kit is what I use to test PO4, but like all of those kits, it's inaccurate, but close enough. I've also had it tested with a hanna meter once as well.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Ha ha ha, feeding doesn't count cause I do it like 5 times a day now. Gotta keep the queens chubby. I ordered a Po4 hanna checker today cause Im not to happy with my ATI kit. Im starting to get a little cyano on my sand now. Not looking forward to dealing with this again but guess I gotta.
pookstreet
Registered Stick Killer
You'll love the GEO kalk reactor. I have my top off going through it and it basically keeps the pH really steady. Although I am considering getting a Bubble Magnus doser to dose the kalk instead to keep the levels steady since top off amounts vary by quite a bit from the colder months to the hot months.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Hi Kenny, Im glad you guys are fans of the reactor cause almost every post I read before getting it told me to just add kalk to my ATO container. I was kinda worried about regreting it. So far I like it and Im glad I got it though. You make a good point about changes in seasons, do you notice alot of difference in your PH from summer to winter or is it more of a Alk/Cal change?
pookstreet
Registered Stick Killer
GEO makes quality stuff. Using kalk in the ATO container can work if it can be somehow ensure that only the saturated make up water is added and not the undissolved kalk slurry. The advantage of a kalk reactor is that even when it's mixing, the top third of the reactor remains pretty clear. That water is saturated and is the portion that goes to your tank. Another reason when it comes time to replace the mixing pump, it's important to replace it with the same model so that it's not mixing the kalk all the way to the top of the reactor.
As far as changes, I've noticed both pH and alk/Ca going up in the summers but the increases haven't been detrimental to the tank inhabitants. I think that's where a doser will come in and maintain steady levels throughout the year. If anything, it sure will make me a lot more comfortable not having to worry about pH/alk/Ca spikes.
To help with the Cyano I would either try some coral snow or Special Blend. get on a regiment of either to build up the beneficial bacteria, which will outcompete the cyano.. As a suggestion, I would do this before you start the vodka dosing because the Cyano will get really happy with a new pure food source like Vodka...
This is how I deploy Kalk to my tank... easy as pie and cheap! Just make sure that wherever the topoff water exits the storage container is a few inches off the bottom of the container, whether you gravity feed or not. I don't gravitiy feed, so I use and aqualifter connected to a float switch..at the end of the tubing that sucks the water out of the Kalk topoff container, is a 2" piece of PVC that I drilled a small hole in just large enough to stick the tubing into... that keeps it from settling on the bottom and sucking up slurry.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Thank-you both for your thoughts. I went years avoiding some of this stuff cause I was a big chicken. Its fun learning new stuff though and great to get some insight from someone with experience.
