Calcium Reactor vs. Two-part System
- Thread starter Rovert
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NanoCube-boy
New member
davidryder, thanks for the replied.
Snarkys
.Registered Member
Ya know , i hear this a lot but i don't really understand it. Id say the average 100 gallon tank uses around a gallon of two part every 3-4 weeks. If you have a 200 gallon system you could just as easily use 2 gallon jugs which are just taller . Anything over 200 has a fish room or a lot of room under the tank so you could use 5 gallon buckets or stack 10 gallon rubbermaid tubs.
I'm sure if it cost too much you would be motivated to find someone local that can sell you 50# bags for cheap. A CA RX system that can legitimately keep up with a 200+ gallon tank won't come cheap either.
I guess if you were still baking the baking soda it would be a pain .
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NanoCube-boy
New member
Yea, having a big tank and dealing with water chemistry seem hard to maintain, I don't know how people does it with Part A and B/1 and 2 bottle supplements.
bubbletip2
Premium Member
below
bubbletip2
Premium Member
I have been dosing two part ESV for 12 years and have had no issues. I have been dosing a 65gallon and 30 gallon tank though. I think it woul db eexpensive to dose the 156 gallon I am waiting on. It may be somewhere between $250-400 for the first couple years and probably $500/ year after that. With thousands of dollars invested and not to mention the livestock. $400/year on the average sounds ok to me considering a dog costs plenty more than that to raise each year. A dog compared to a whole ecosystem seems like apples and oranges too. A lot more death can happen in our tanks. Anyway if water quality is the single most important thing in our tanks, I don't see any problem in spoiling our tanks. Now when things start to mature 2-4 years from now I may think differently and want to add on a Calcium Reactor or Kalk Reactor or maybe just dose Kalkwasser as well as 2 part.
The problem I have with everyone thinking it is ok to always dose soda ash/baking soda and calcium chloride is that eventually your ionic balance will be way out of whack and you will be wondering what happened to your tank. Don't know what that's like obviously and I don't think I want to know. I think in moderation it could be ok but from what I have been reading in Julian Spring's new book, it is not a long term solution. I think I will try the 5 galon buckets of ESV for a year and see how things go. More gadgets when the tank matures. If you get a doser for two part eventually you can switch that over or add on another pump for Kalkwasser to keep the costs down. If a few hundred dollars a year is too much to maintain water quality than I think you should rethink having such a big expense. Just my thoughts.
The problem I have with everyone thinking it is ok to always dose soda ash/baking soda and calcium chloride is that eventually your ionic balance will be way out of whack and you will be wondering what happened to your tank. Don't know what that's like obviously and I don't think I want to know. I think in moderation it could be ok but from what I have been reading in Julian Spring's new book, it is not a long term solution. I think I will try the 5 galon buckets of ESV for a year and see how things go. More gadgets when the tank matures. If you get a doser for two part eventually you can switch that over or add on another pump for Kalkwasser to keep the costs down. If a few hundred dollars a year is too much to maintain water quality than I think you should rethink having such a big expense. Just my thoughts.
bubbletip2
Premium Member
Hey Rover,
Dogs swim too:rollface:
Dogs swim too:rollface:
Obi-dad
Active member
I am wondering if I have a problem with my tank/dosing system. I am using 1 gallon of each part every 10 days, for a 75g tank in order to maintain alk/ca levels. That seems excessive when compared to the post above. I don't see any place where cac03 is buidling up from precipitation. My corals are growing well, and I have halimdeda which grows fast, so there is a good demand, it just seems odd that my 2 part usage is so much higher.
Does anyone else use 2 part at this high a rate for this size tank? Is there any other reason why a tank would require this much to maintain alk and ca levels besides growth and precipitation? (wondering if I have a problem in the tank)
jdieck
New member
A 100 gal system that consumes around 1.75 dKh per day will use one gallon each of formula 1 every 30 days and formula 2 every 15 days.
If the system is heavy loaded with sps and clams the consumption can be as high as 3 dKh per day which will increase the consumption to one gal each of formula 1 every 18 days and formula 2 every 8 days.
If the system is heavy loaded with sps and clams the consumption can be as high as 3 dKh per day which will increase the consumption to one gal each of formula 1 every 18 days and formula 2 every 8 days.
jdieck
New member
Obi-Dad there is a couple of posibilities:
a) There is unnoticed precipitation, Inspect pumps and heaters
b) The baking Soda has not fully transformed into Calcium Carbonate. Extend the time of baking by 50%
c) The tank is so loaded that you might be getting above 3.5 dKh per day. When my system was heavy loaded with corals overflowing their place my consumption reached 4.2 dKh per day.
d) A lot of Nitrification going that consummes a lot of alkalinity. Usually the guilty are mechanical filters, bio-balls, ceramic biological media being used.
a) There is unnoticed precipitation, Inspect pumps and heaters
b) The baking Soda has not fully transformed into Calcium Carbonate. Extend the time of baking by 50%
c) The tank is so loaded that you might be getting above 3.5 dKh per day. When my system was heavy loaded with corals overflowing their place my consumption reached 4.2 dKh per day.
d) A lot of Nitrification going that consummes a lot of alkalinity. Usually the guilty are mechanical filters, bio-balls, ceramic biological media being used.
RichConley
New member
Rovert, the problem is that the Margin For Error in building a DIY calcium reactor is very small, because of the fact that it is pressurized. Building DIY kalk reactors, or using dosing pumps, is a completely different story.
Rovert
Premium Member
Nevertheless, what I'm pointing out is:
1) Used reactors are very affordable, and the cost comparisons that have been made have all been done assuming list price.
2) There are, in fact, those who can make a reactor as a DIY solution.
3) That 2 part systems are a low-tech solution and comparing them to reactors is as disproportional as it would be to compare a wall unit from Ikea to an armoire from Maurice Villency.
RichConley
New member
And you're talking about this thread jumping the shark?
Reactors are no more high-tech than 2-part. Theyre just significantly more expensive. Peristaltic pumps are MUCH higher quality pieces of equipment than any Ca Reactor you can buy.
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