Doser or CA Reactor for 56 Gallon Reef?

[Hentz]

Hey guys, I'm constantly adjusting my doser. It's slightly frustrating as my dosing amounts vary week to week.

I'm thinking a calcium reactor will be much easier once tuned. Set it and forget it type deal which will be so nice lol.

What do you guys think? I swear I heard somewhere that it's better to have a doser on a small tank due to the swings.

 

[SkullV]

Hey guys, I'm constantly adjusting my doser. It's slightly frustrating as my dosing amounts vary week to week.

I'm thinking a calcium reactor will be much easier once tuned. Set it and forget it type deal which will be so nice lol.

What do you guys think? I swear I heard somewhere that it's better to have a doser on a small tank due to the swings.

If you are using quality dosing equipment and your 2 part isn't evaporating, it won't be any more stable with the use of a calcium reactor (assuming your dosing is broken up throughout the day). The primary reason, in my opinion, to use a calcium reactor over a doser is for long term cost savings. When you have a lot of SPS in a large tank the cost of 2 part can really add up.

It's really a personal preference thing in my opinion.

 

[lynchmob3000]

Ca reactors are better imo but have disadvantages also. Super low ph at night unless you counter with kalk and even then it still dives pretty low at night then jumps back up during the day. On a larger tank this won't happen as bad. I recently went back to dosing on my 60 gallon sps tank bc of this. Ph was dropping to 7.6 at night and jumping to 8.1 almost 8.2 during day! Corals seemed stressed a bit.... Gl

 

[SkullV]

Ca reactors are better imo (...)

Would you ming sharing why you feel this way?

 

[lynchmob3000]

Well, calcium and alk added at same rate every second plus if you get neomag and good media you can have added trace elements and magnesium plus your alk and ca in proper ratios in one fail swoop! Once I started using a masterflex I feel like I didn't have to touch the settings, more of a set and forget type system.

 

[aznxgqb0yx]

Hey guys, I'm constantly adjusting my doser. It's slightly frustrating as my dosing amounts vary week to week.

I'm thinking a calcium reactor will be much easier once tuned. Set it and forget it type deal which will be so nice lol.

What do you guys think? I swear I heard somewhere that it's better to have a doser on a small tank due to the swings.

If you dont mind spending the $ then go for it. But a doser is better for that tank size imo. If your dosing amount vary week to week youll have to fiddle with the calcium reactor just as you do the doser.. same problem

 

[SkullV]

Well, calcium and alk added at same rate every second plus if you get neomag and good media you can have added trace elements and magnesium plus your alk and ca in proper ratios in one fail swoop! Once I started using a masterflex I feel like I didn't have to touch the settings, more of a set and forget type system.

So to clarify, it is exactly the same as a quality 2 part (Seachem Reef Fusion for example) that adds magnesium and trace elements in proper ratios? I know that sounds like I am trying to be argumentative, but I'm just trying to understand whether a calcium reactor actually does anything better than 2 part if using proper equipment. I use a medical dosing pump that adds a single drop approximately every 7 minutes at most and will go up to several drops per second if necessary (I would imagine no one could need that much 2 part). It adds Calcium and Alk at exactly the same rate as well as trace elements and magnesium in proper carbonate building proportions.

 

[lynchmob3000]

They say they add proper amounts of mag but it's not true. I actually like b ionic better mainly bc of price and it has all the added goodies also. But with both you end up with 3 dosing heads and fiddling with how long each one runs.

With stability in mind I ask you is every second being dosed or every 7 min more stable?
It's not arguing until someone's feelings become hurt!

 

[SkullV]

They say they add proper amounts of mag but it's not true. I actually like b ionic better mainly bc of price and it has all the added goodies also. But with both you end up with 3 dosing heads and fiddling with how long each one runs.

With stability in mind I ask you is every second being dosed or every 7 min more stable?
It's not arguing until someone's feelings become hurt!

Not true according to who? And you are absolutely right, every second is more stable than every 7 minutes, but that is the lowest speed it will dose, it can dose several drops a second as well depending on needs. The real question is does every second matter to the coral compared to every 7 minutes.

I'm very interested in your info about reef fusion not having the correct amount of magnesium though. I have been using it for years and my Mg is always rock solid.

 

[lynchmob3000]

I may have to look into this product! I've had great results with bionic but it hits the pocket book pretty hard! Reef fusion is really the only one like this that I'm aware of now?! I see on the analysis they say it adds 100 mg of calcium and 5 mg of mag so it may just add the proper amount.

 

[Hentz]

If you are using quality dosing equipment and your 2 part isn't evaporating, it won't be any more stable with the use of a calcium reactor (assuming your dosing is broken up throughout the day). The primary reason, in my opinion, to use a calcium reactor over a doser is for long term cost savings. When you have a lot of SPS in a large tank the cost of 2 part can really add up.

It's really a personal preference thing in my opinion.

How do I know if it's not evaporating? I'm just so clueless when it comes to dosing honestly lol.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

How do I know if it's not evaporating? I'm just so clueless when it comes to dosing honestly lol.

evaporating or precipitating?
if you dose your cal and alk at the same time or even too close together you'll find a white snotty material collecting. a tell that you need to spread things apart a bit better.

 

[Hentz]

Oh my gosh, I was finding a totally clear snotty substance developing in my middle chamber of my sump (Alk/Cal is dosed in return chamber AFTER the middle chamber).

It was like snot that you can pull out of the water and it all stuck together. That explains a lot.

I use the Eshopps Doser and can't really have them dose at completely different times except for when they start. I have the Calcium start at 8AM and Alk start 8 PM so it "keeps" the ph risen at night

 

[SkullV]

Oh my gosh, I was finding a totally clear snotty substance developing in my middle chamber of my sump (Alk/Cal is dosed in return chamber AFTER the middle chamber).

It was like snot that you can pull out of the water and it all stuck together. That explains a lot.

I use the Eshopps Doser and can't really have them dose at completely different times except for when they start. I have the Calcium start at 8AM and Alk start 8 PM so it "keeps" the ph risen at night

That is not related to cal/Alk dosing and more than likely related to bacterial dosing or carbon dosing. I would however try to split the doses to opposite ends of the sump in high flow areas. My doser drops each part at the same time (and same amount) as well but I have the output hoses on opposite sides of try sump.

 

[C.Eymann]

You can have equal successes using either one, and while some supplements like B ionic say that they have all trace elements in proper ratios, how do we really know they got it right??

Proof is in the pudding, or in this case coral bones we use in reactors. We are melting coral skeletons to liberate all the minerals and elements that they uptake during calcification in the proper ratios. Not just the big 3 -carbonate, calcium and magnesium. There is probably some iron, strontium, molybdeum, etc etc in there as well.

Will agree to Cal Rx slightly depressing pH levels, which can be helped by using a 2nd chamber as well as kalkwasser use or reverse light cycle refugium.

Bottom line, again, success can be had with either a doser or Cal Rx choose your flavor and roll with it.

 

[rovster]

I like the idea of the calcium reactor becuase it adds things in proportion. My BRS dosers are terribly off, actually by about 17% by my last calculation, so I'm constantly having to use a calculator every time I need to change the programming. Not sure why your levels fluctuate, are you testing at the same time each time. If you spread out your dosing over a 24 hour period you will have some degree of fluctuation. For example during the period of lights off your consumption decreases so levels go up and while lights on they go down. This is how my tank behaves, but if you are testing one day in the morning and one day at night, you will get different levels. Sometimes a few hours will give you a different result. Just thought I'd throw that out there.