Calcium Reactor vs 2-Part in a 200g+ SPS tank

gcarroll

gcarroll

Active member
Just curious how many out there with 200g+ tanks are doing 2 part over a calcium reactor. 6 months ago I switched to 2 part and did not see much difference but since setting it up on a doser all I can say is wow. My ph is more steady (especially at night), the corals seem happier, and growth seems better. Looking to see if others are seeing the same?
 
That's EXACTLY what I'm seeing. Well that and I'm no longer frustrated all the time by the reactors ability to actually keep things inline. I fought with my reactor for 6 months before giving in. I've now switched to BRS 2 part mix and a couple of their dosers being controlled by the reefkeeper and I'm MUCH happier. I'm making up 4 gallons at a time (which yields me about 50 days of dosing). The downside is cost, certainly for my system which burns up 300ML a day of two part in the long run a reactor would be more cost effective, but the overall stability of the tank and the ease of use with a few dosers is worth it for me, without question even. I figure long term this is a much healthier way for me to keep my tank inline and save my sanity, that's worth a few bucks right there!
 
The display is a few gallons shy of 200, the total system volume is just under 400 gallons. I pulled the reactor offline about 6 weeks ago, been using the dosing pumps for about a week. When I was manually dosing twice a day, I would get some real PH swings, sometimes dropping under 8 at night, since I put the dosers on line my PH graph still swings up a bit during the day because of the lighting, but never dips below 8 at night.

I'm not really sure what to say about the 300ML a day, I have no idea where it's all going. I have a couple of huge colonies (18+ inches) that have grown really fast but I can't imagine they are sucking up that much everyday, but I've tested and tested and tested and it's soaking it up, so that's what I give it...
 
I'm in the same boat, however dosing 1000ml+. Right now I am slowly raising the alk but will cut it back soon as I am just about at 8.5DKH which is right where I want to be.

I love the tank pic in your avatar. I would like to try the Japanese spotlight method however electricity rates here in So Cal prevent me from doing that!
 
Make your own 2 -part.
I bought a 50lb bag of Dow flake for like $15. Last forever.
Costco and 5lb bags of Arm&Hammer is like $4

Only real expense is obtaining the Mag Flake.
 
gcarroll said:
I'm in the same boat, however dosing 1000ml+. Right now I am slowly raising the alk but will cut it back soon as I am just about at 8.5DKH which is right where I want to be.

I love the tank pic in your avatar. I would like to try the Japanese spotlight method however electricity rates here in So Cal prevent me from doing that!
Click to expand...

1000+ WOW... well at least you make me feel better about how much I'm using, or make me sad that I don't have enough nice corals to be burning that much up ;)

Thanks for the nod to my new avatar, I actually just changed it a few minutes ago. The spots burn up a bit of electricity, but the thing that gave me a 750+ electric bill was cooling the sump room (which is really a poorly insulated garage) during the Arizona summer months.

A.VOID said:
Make your own 2 -part.
I bought a 50lb bag of Dow flake for like $15. Last forever.
Costco and 5lb bags of Arm&Hammer is like $4

Only real expense is obtaining the Mag Flake.
Click to expand...

I'll probably experiment with home made 2 part sometime in the future, I really like the worry free ease of use of the BRS stuff myself. With gcarroll's massive burn off of two part I can see it, for me a couple of extra bucks to ease my concerns that I foobared something... it's worth it ;)
 
dmorel said:
1000+ WOW... well at least you make me feel better about how much I'm using, or make me sad that I don't have enough nice corals to be burning that much up ;)

Thanks for the nod to my new avatar, I actually just changed it a few minutes ago. The spots burn up a bit of electricity, but the thing that gave me a 750+ electric bill was cooling the sump room (which is really a poorly insulated garage) during the Arizona summer months.

I'll probably experiment with home made 2 part sometime in the future, I really like the worry free ease of use of the BRS stuff myself. With gcarroll's massive burn off of two part I can see it, for me a couple of extra bucks to ease my concerns that I foobared something... it's worth it ;)
Click to expand...

Good lord $750! How many killowatts are you using. In CA you would get that kind of bill with 3000 kw. In AZ I imagine you have to be using at leest 6000 kw.

As for the DIY 2-part. Not really for me. Unless Dow Chemicals guarantees the purity of the cal and mag I will stick to trusted sources. I don't see that happening as it is used primarily for driveway de-icing For some it may be fine but I'm not a gambler. I've invested 6+ years into my SPS collection and I have way too much to loose.
 
Greg,

I am not quite in the 200+ group with my main tank (180) but with my fuge (30) and frag tank (30) I am well over.

I switched over to 2-part using Drews dosers from BRS in Jan. I mix up 1 gallon of each and use RKE to dose every 4 hours for a set period of time. I stagger the CA and ALK so that they don't dose at the same time. My levels stay very steady and I can tweak it very easily. I can also keep track of the dosing with graphing that I can monitor over the internet to ensure there isn't an accidental overdose.

My SPS has never seemed happier and I am seeing at least what appears to be much better growth and much higher more steady PH.
 
I used 2 part in my 160 Gallon Lagoon and used 900 ml a day of each solution. I also experienced an increase in growth after switching form a Ca reactor to 2-part.

Leonardo
 
so those of you using 1 and 1.5L of solution per day,.... how much is this costing you guys. My reactor plays havok with my PH... 7.8 and 7.9 being the norm and Ive been contemplating the shift to two part, just didnt know how much id use and what that would equate to in cost. From the sounds of it my arm and half of my right leg, as the final system will be around 700 - 800 gallons.....
 
Very interesting thread. If Greg is doing it then obviously I'm going to have to do it. :reading:
 
Well I'm using a 2 pt over a calcium reactor however I never used a CA reactor so have no real comparison to... but yeah having gone from "2 cups dumped in the morning" to peristaltic pumps off my controller things have been great.

I mix up 4 gallons of solution, stick them in old salt buckets, and also mix them to half strength so I don't dose too much at once. It takes roughly 15 minutes or so of dosing.. which is about 2 cups worth a day. Check the calcium and alkalinity whenever I mix up a new batch and adjust as necessary.

My only concern is the stuff might settle over time, and I really don't want to throw a pump into the solution since the heat will cause the solution to precipitate to the pump (I already notice this when I use a pump to mix it up for 30 minutes when I first make it!).
 
Same thing. Pulled the reactor off line and month ago and have not looked back. Dosing BRS 3 part on a Profilux doser along with Brightwell POtassion and Ferrion. I ordered some powdered POtassium so I am mix that in with calcium instead of doing the liquid. I dose 30ml 4 times a day of the three parts and parameters stay rock sold.
 
gcarroll said:
Just curious how many out there with 200g+ tanks are doing 2 part over a calcium reactor. 6 months ago I switched to 2 part and did not see much difference but since setting it up on a doser all I can say is wow. My ph is more steady (especially at night), the corals seem happier, and growth seems better. Looking to see if others are seeing the same?
Click to expand...

What was your pH while using a calcium reactor? With my calcium reactor I never see it at 8.3 pH, its usually around 8.0 :(

But a disadvantage I see with automated 2-part dosing is that your not dosing Strontium and trace elements, which calcium reactor media also releases.
 
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