calcium reactor

4everwet

New member
I am currently dosing B-Ionic and occasionally Reef builder! I am not able to get my calcium over 370-380! So I've been thinking about a calcium reactor? I've heard from alot of people that they can be a pain to keep dialed in? Is this true? Is there a specific brand everyone prefers?:confused:
 
I have a Korallin and I think it is a bit of a pain. I've heard nothing but good things about the Geo and Precision Marine ones. Geos seem like the best bang for the buck to me-especially if you want a larger one.
 
Where is you magnesium level at?

You say that you can't get your levels up, a Calcium reactor is not going to help much. Ideally a Ca reactor maintains levels, not increases them. You still need to boost the calcium and then maintain it with a Ca or kalk reactor.

Since your post indicates you are struggling with raising calcium, the first place I would check would be your mag levels. Ca and mag are related and the mag levels need to be up in order to facilitate the raising of your calcium to the recommended level. Once you have that accomplished I would test every few days and you might see you don't need a Ca reactor or kalk reactor yet:)

Good Luck!
 
1200 isn't going to keep your CA low. 1200 is only a tad bit low. If you want to get the CA up, use turbo calc to get it where you want it. You will then need to dose daily with a 2 part or use a reactor-assuming you have corals, coralline etc. If your tank is full of things that use CA, it is going to be at low levels if it isn't supplemented somehow.
 
Iv'e had my knop C reactor for 8 years now and every time I move or have not used it for a year or so (for what ever reason), when I hook it up and adjust the drips aprox. 10 drips of CO2 to 25 drips of water all I have to do is adjust it one, maybe two times and it's done, For me it's pretty much set and forget.
 
mcurl98- I use B-Ionic, reef builder, and reef calcium for supplements.I tried to increase the doses awhile back and all it did was cause a big snowstorm! Anyways I thought Mag was supposed to be 1300-1500? I'm gonna get it up where it needs to be and then prolly dose turbo or something. The way I understand it is you only dose Mag until it comes up to your desired level and then it should hold it(LOL at least until it falls again).
 
My Salifert test kit says 1300-1500 is normal depending on salinity. My Seachem Mag says 1200-1350 is ideal. Anywhere around those numbers is fine. My mag tends to stay level. What is your Alk? If you are getting precipitation I'd imagine you are either dosing too much at once or your balance between your Alk and CA is out of whack.
 
at those levels, I can't see any reason there would be precipitation assuming you aren't trying to add too much at once. I dose, maybe a couple times a day, to get where I want to be and then make sure the CA reactor is keeping it there. I had to shut my reactor off for a while and without it, I could not maintain my levels. I would dose Alk up to 10.5 before I went to bed and it would be at 8 in the morning. These tanks use up CA and Alk real quick if you have coralline and SPS. You might post in the reef chemistry forum or look around it a bit as it covers Alk and CA all the time. Just FYI- I have a Korallin 1502 and it just barely keeps up with my tank. I am planning on getting a bigger unit. I'm going with a Geo 624 which seems like a good deal for $400.
 
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