GHL Dosing Pump vs. Calcium Reactor

[Potatohead]

There are many Euro tank posts and TOTM type of articles that use CaRx - you might be seeing what you want to see on this one. BTW - CaRx is very old school.. 30 years or more.

As long was we are talking old school, the only way to dose back then was with driveway melt and baking soda and places like BRS would not exist since folks knew where to get their supplements from the source and not pay many times more for the same thing. Do a search on kangaroo pumps for reef - there were really precise and awesome dosing pumps back then too. None of this is new school in any way.

Just know this - a failure on a dosing system can crash a tank. A failure on a CaRx will do nothing and you will have days or weeks to notice and fix it while your tank lives on. All of the posts about "emptied my entire alk reservoir" or "apex stuck my dosing pump on" should scare folks a bit. If you are lucky, a dosing system fails off and nothing dies.

Lastly, keep up on your water changes. Chloride ions can build up with all of the two/three part.

The last part is certainly true and that is what I was hinting at when mentioning balanced addition with a reactor. If dosing you need to make sure you are changing enough water so that you are removing/replenishing at least as much of the salts as you are dosing. Most people doing 10% every week or two, this is fine.

I don't remember where I saw the Europe dosing/reactor thing, it was either reading up on Balling method or balling light method. It's possible it's a sales pitch, but I didn't mean to imply nobody over there is using them.

I haven't really seen any/many posts lately about people having dosing pumps stuck on, but I can't say I have been looking. I know it happened to BRS but that was user error, and like most things in life, it will vary depending on equipment used, how it's setup, etc. If the opposite happens and pumps fail in the off position it's the same end result as having your reactor stop working.

 

[d2mini]

At least he's looking at GHL.
Those things just don't fail. Nothing catastrophic anyway.
So if you are going to dose, you absolutely can't go wrong with GHL.

I think I mentioned this above but for me it comes down to tank size.
On smaller tanks I don't mind dosing. But on higher demand tanks, CaRx is the way to go. Plus I like that it adds more than just Calc and Alk to the water.

 

[GardenVariety]

At least he's looking at GHL.
Those things just don't fail. Nothing catastrophic anyway.
So if you are going to dose, you absolutely can't go wrong with GHL.

I think I mentioned this above but for me it comes down to tank size.
On smaller tanks I don't mind dosing. But on higher demand tanks, CaRx is the way to go. Plus I like that it adds more than just Calc and Alk to the water.

Yeah, if I go with a CaRx I'm going to go with the electronic regulator, Geo reactor and control it with a Profilux.

 

[jimmy n]

Calcium reactor, masterflex (or other peristaltic pump, I got mine off amazon and is easy right out of the box). Rock solid.

 

[GardenVariety]

Calcium reactor, masterflex (or other peristaltic pump, I got mine off amazon and is easy right out of the box). Rock solid.

I'm looking at the Geo CR618. Which pump would you recommend? What are the major advantages vs. the recommended Cobalt 1200?

 

[Potatohead]

I'm looking at the Geo CR618. Which pump would you recommend? What are the major advantages vs. the recommended Cobalt 1200?

Cobalt will vary follow depending on how dirty it gets or whatever. However if you are using a drip valve which I guess you would be the valve getting clogged would be more of a problem than the pump, over time your drip rate will change. With a peristaltic pump (which is basically a dosing pump) your flow rate will be consistent 100% of the time. If you use a quality peri pump for feed and a really good valve on the co2 tank that will be the most stable and reliable method.

 

[GardenVariety]

Cobalt will vary follow depending on how dirty it gets or whatever. However if you are using a drip valve which I guess you would be the valve getting clogged would be more of a problem than the pump, over time your drip rate will change. With a peristaltic pump (which is basically a dosing pump) your flow rate will be consistent 100% of the time. If you use a quality peri pump for feed and a really good valve on the co2 tank that will be the most stable and reliable method.

Thanks for the information. Do you have a link to the specific one you recommend? I'm guessing I would leave the effluent valve open when using a peristaltic pump.

 

[Potatohead]

Thanks for the information. Do you have a link to the specific one you recommend? I'm guessing I would leave the effluent valve open when using a peristaltic pump.

Correct, a peri pump controls the drip rate. Most guys recommend a Masterflex, I think they are typically around $300 or so. Anything that is rated for continuous duty is what you want and most guys go with the 600 rpm version.

A MF feed pump with an electronic regulator and GEO reactor would be pretty hard to beat.

 

[ca1ore]

Depends a lot on how fancy you get with the MasterFlex. If you want digital, brushless drive model you'll pay $500, give or take unless you get lucky. I went for a very basic, economy model and paid $100. It's basic indeed, and certainly not silent, but it's worked reliably and continuously now for almost 4 years.

Also, as you look for a CaRx, consider a 2 chamber model. I've come to appreciate the role of the scrubbing second chamber.

 

[GardenVariety]

Correct, a peri pump controls the drip rate. Most guys recommend a Masterflex, I think they are typically around $300 or so. Anything that is rated for continuous duty is what you want and most guys go with the 600 rpm version.

A MF feed pump with an electronic regulator and GEO reactor would be pretty hard to beat.

It does look intriguing. I went on Ebay and found a couple. I have no idea what I'm looking at but I'm guessing I need something that has an adjustable flow rate. I have much more research to do.

Depends a lot on how fancy you get with the MasterFlex. If you want digital, brushless drive model you'll pay $500, give or take unless you get lucky. I went for a very basic, economy model and paid $100. It's basic indeed, and certainly not silent, but it's worked reliably and continuously now for almost 4 years.

Also, as you look for a CaRx, consider a 2 chamber model. I've come to appreciate the role of the scrubbing second chamber.

I've seen the CaRx with 2 chambers but have no clue what they are for. I'm guessing more media? I'm planning on using ZeoMag as well. I hope I can find a more quiet solution for a feed pump because the tank will be next to me all day at work. I found something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer...039520?hash=item3ae2f87f60:g:A8AAAOSwX61ZCQV0

 

[Potatohead]

I've seen the CaRx with 2 chambers but have no clue what they are for. I'm guessing more media? I'm planning on using ZeoMag as well. I hope I can find a more quiet solution for a feed pump because the tank will be next to me all day at work. I found something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer...039520?hash=item3ae2f87f60:g:A8AAAOSwX61ZCQV0

As you probably know the ph inside the reactor is low, roughly mid 6's. You can drip this low ph water into your tank but depending on drip rate and/or tank size this can cause the ph in the tank to be lower than it could otherwise be. The second chamber is only fed with the feed pump, not the recirculating pump and gives the effluent more time and another pass through media which allows the ph level to rise before being dosed to the tank. There are some homemade workarounds to this, but they're not as clean.

 

[Stolireef]

I ran the GEO for years with just a feed off of my return on a gate valve. I used an Aquarium Plants regulator and had the ph on my apex. Other than replacing the 25 cent effluent valve once a month, it was a very easy setup.

I actually set up my new tank with a Neptune DOS system. I don't need to supplement yet so I can't comment on ease of use or quality. I just wanted to try something new.

 

[GardenVariety]

As you probably know the ph inside the reactor is low, roughly mid 6's. You can drip this low ph water into your tank but depending on drip rate and/or tank size this can cause the ph in the tank to be lower than it could otherwise be. The second chamber is only fed with the feed pump, not the recirculating pump and gives the effluent more time and another pass through media which allows the ph level to rise before being dosed to the tank. There are some homemade workarounds to this, but they're not as clean.

Nice. I see that GEO has some dual chamber models as well. I'll definitely consider those.

I ran the GEO for years with just a feed off of my return on a gate valve. I used an Aquarium Plants regulator and had the ph on my apex. Other than replacing the 25 cent effluent valve once a month, it was a very easy setup.

I actually set up my new tank with a Neptune DOS system. I don't need to supplement yet so I can't comment on ease of use or quality. I just wanted to try something new.

I used a Koralin reactor for several years without issue as well. Did you say that you change the effluent valve every month?!

 

[tkeracer619]

I hope I can find a more quiet solution for a feed pump because the tank will be next to me all day at work. I found something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer...039520?hash=item3ae2f87f60:g:A8AAAOSwX61ZCQV0

You'll certainly want to get a brushless model. The one you linked has brushes and will be a little noisy and often the brushes squeak. It's more than most can tolerate unless in a dedicated filter room.

Here is the thread with all of the in and outs of the setup. It's a very long read (2,300 posts) but the first few posts still hold true after all these years. This is as set and forget of a system you can use.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2368618

There are many digital models that are not brushless so you really need to check the part number to make sure. Throw the part numbers in their website and if it say economy it is a brushed unit. Brushless units will clearly state they are brushless.

This is a brushless unit... but it has the wrong head on it. You really want a head that takes ls17 tubing as it is cheap and readily available per ft. The same seller has other units (brushed) with the ls17 compatible heads so it may be possible to get them to swap the heads. This isn't that bad of a price considering it comes with a head (if you can get one from their other listing). The easy load heads go for about 90 to 100.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer...307933?hash=item4d587163dd:g:qkoAAOSwzqFZAPFQ

This is also a brushless but is only a 100rpm model. It would work but I typically recommend the 600rpm models because they tend to be silent at the speeds we typically run them at. The 100rpm models spin the actual servo motor 6x faster to get the same flow rates as the 600rpm models. Nice thing about this one is they take offers, who knows what the lowest they would take. This seller has 3 of them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-RPM-Col...266889?hash=item3adf1c2549:g:Ii8AAOSwhQhY6Um5

 

[Stolireef]

I used a Koralin reactor for several years without issue as well. Did you say that you change the effluent valve every month?!

Yep. I used those really cheap gate valves that you use on 1/4" vinyl tubing. Never worried about a clog because I changed them so frequently. 10 seconds of work saved a world of clogged effluent tube issues. Of course, using a dosing pump to pull or push effluent is a much much better solution. I just didn't want another piece of equipment to maintain.