Do I have to have a Calcuim reactor

[jeyes1]

dkka is talking about the ph of the kalk,not the tank,tank should be around 8.2..

 

[DKKA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6860537#post6860537 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shay2005
I do not have any SPS and don't see any in the near future. I have shrooms , flowerpot, candycane and always wanting more.

You definitly don't need a reactor then. Not now anyway. Stick with the two-parters.

Kalk (kalkwasser) is another caclium/alkalinity additive. It is a powder that you mix with freshwater and drip into your tank. The pH levels I mentioned were the levels of the kalk solution, not of the tank itself.
Kalkwasser is great, but can be a pain because you have mix it up, then drip it in slowly. I'd say stick with the two parters for now.

Good luck,

Dan

 

[shay2005]

I have been reading on the part mix that is home made. Is this stuff ok to use. It sounds a little to simple.

 

[lglamb]

It will destroy your tank and your grandchildren will have 3 ears.



Biff, Reef Supplement Supply, Inc.

 

[tcottle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6875985#post6875985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shay2005
I have been reading on the part mix that is home made. Is this stuff ok to use. It sounds a little to simple.

Yeah it is OK to use. I have been using it for 3 months now, others have been using the original mix for years. FWIW I use Prestone Driveway Heat for the Ca part, widely available now but it is a seasonal product

 

[tcottle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6859939#post6859939 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeyes1
i had problems with the kangaroo also,but by accident,'didn't read the fine print',i bought an iv pump,it'll dose as much as i want but the problem with it is it'll only dose 9999ml. so i have to reset the dosage every other day.

What model of Kangaroo do you have? I leave the Dose setting at zero, press the Start/Hold button to enter Hold mode and set at rate XXX mL/hr. Runs until the Kalk bucket is empty and then trips the alarm

Todd

 

[jeyes1]

kangaroo 224,..the other dosing pump is kinda like this one.http://www.medused.com/InfoZone/IZProdPage.asp?TgtIZProdID=480's an iv pump,i guess the manufacture's didn't want an unlimited supply going into people,thats why it'll only dose 9999ml until it's reset,,the kangaroo's are real hard on drip sets,esp if you drip kalk

 

[jeyes1]

don't know why that link didn't work...try this.http://www.ardusmedical.com/products.cfm?inv_id=49&inv_group=1&show=item

 

[jeyes1]

got the link to work

 

[tcottle]

OK that makes sense - I have a 324 and get 3-6 months on a drip set running kalk

 

[jeyes1]

does your 324's alarm still work,cause i destroyed a 324 trying to resolder it, i think it was because i dripped solder on the board and still had the battery in it,, i should have removed the battery before i did that,,what an idiot huh,so it was back to ebay and a 224 this time,,alarm still works

 

[tcottle]

Yeah the alarm works and I consider this a feature - reminds me to make more kalk. Family is trained to turn the unit off if I am not around though

 

[Sloeber]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6855470#post6855470 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Horace
Im not spending all that money on a reactor, I will buy a Ca reactor before I do that. A kalk reactor has one problem... they have to be constantly stirred to keep the conentration of kalk the same and they also must be used with a feed pump of some sort which is also expensive. I think I am going to hook up my kalk bucket to my float valve that I use for topoff and see if I notice an increase in PH. If not I think thats what Im going to try for a while and see how it goes. Using the drip method just plain sucks.

actually they do not need to be constantly stirred. mine stirs/stirred once a day for 2 minutes. i used digital timers for this.

yes they REQUIRE a dosing pump. caps on "require" because float valves fail (especially dosing kalk) and a kalk overdose kills tanks (unlike 2-part overdoeses ). no biggie tho, as it stabilizes the SG and removes the daily chore of top-off. so it might be as expensive as a calc reactor but it also fills many voids unlike the calc reactor which only does one thing.

FWIW ideally you would use both a kalk and calc reactor. the combination of the two is key as they actually assist each other. the kalk keeps the pH in check from dosing co2 and visa versa.

HTH