Help picking out a CA Reactor

R

rwessels

New member
I have finally decided that I have picked up enough frags at PROP and FRAG meetings that I need to add a Calcium Reactor to my setup. I have a 300 gallon tank and 40 gallon sump with about 400 pounds of live rocks and about 40 frags varying in size from 1/2" to 6". Most are about 2". I have been dosing kalk occasionally and using Randy's 2 part recipe, but I think a calcium reactor will make things much more stable. The problem is that I have no idea where to start. I understand that I need the reactor, a bubble counter, CO2 tank, regulator, and some media. I have also read that PH is lowered (mine is 8.6 in the day and 8.4 at night) so I believe some people use a second chamber to allow more time for the PH to raise before returning water to the tank.

So I am looking for recommendations. As for spending money - used would be great, but I am not opposed to buying new. I am not looking for top of the line, just something that I don't have to completely replace later. I did that with a generic skimmer and eventually bought an ASM. I would like it be easy to setup and maintain so that is worth a bit more to me as I have never had any help with my tank and would probably have to figure it out for myself.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. BTW: I am the guy that bought the $80 clam today at the auction. Actually it was my wife - she decided that she HAD to have it.

Thanks,

Randy
 
Randy,

I can't tell you much about the calcium reactor because I haven't set up mine although I bought it a year ago. But you are going to have to have more calcium with that clam. And I have been doing pretty well since I used Randy's two part formula.

You are a smart man. Getting your wife what we wants is important when keeping a reef tank.
 
Randy, take a look at the Shuran Jetstream 1. They have it at Premium Aquatics. Its not cheap but many consider it one of the best calcium reactors. Some others I would consider are from GEO and MyReefCreations (MRC).
 
Randy,

I have to recommend the My Reef Creation CA reactors. http://www.myreefcreations.com They are a little pricey but you get what you pay for, quality it bar none!! Andy at MRC is by far one of the most customer friendly merchants I have ever dealt with!!

BTW, how did the acclimation of the clam go? How is he settling in?

JMO,
Ed
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Well the clam seems right at home. He moved himself a bit but he is in a spot with good light and I will feed him tonight.
 
There is a great DIY on a square reactor you might want to give a try and save tons of money in the process.
 
I looked at that thread before I bought mine, but if you don't find a free co2 tank, you're still looking at like $300 and he had some problems. Granted, it looks like he got them worked out, but for the same price or not much more just buy one with engineering experience built in.

Of course, JMO.
 
Well I ended up with buying a MyReefCreations reactor (CR-2). And of course I needed a Co2 tank, regulator, pump, ph meter, and media. My $587 package arrived yesterday. So my question is where do I go to fill the Co2 tank?
 
Try What Ale's Ya on Bell Rd and 63rd Ave next to Pep Boys. Just be careful or you may take up homebrewing before you get out of there as I did! Other options are places that service fire extinguishers or welding suppliers but welding places usually only exchange tanks while the others fill on the spot.
 
i know sports authoriy and paintball places fill tanks i don't know how big or if they coult fill yours though
 
So anyone have any tips getting this this set up correctly? If I turn on the knob on the regulator and set it to a bubble every few seconds, after about 2 minutes it appears to stop. The PH in the water coming out of the second chamber doesnt seem to drop in ph much. If I turn the knob on the regulator higher I get lots of bubbles and the ph coming out is much much lower. It seems that I cannot find a happy medium.

So a few questions: I am using the MaxiJet 1200 powerhead, but it appears that I need to turn the flow way down on the 2nd chamber exit. Almost seems like overkill on the MaxiJet then. Is that right? And if so how slow should it be? It seems like the instructions hinted at the water exiting the 2nd chamber should be dripping. Right now I would fill about 8 cups a minute. Finally the instructions mention I should be checking the ph of the water exiting the 1st chamber if possible to get an accurate reading. How would this be possible if the tubing between chambers 1 and 2 is 1/8". Is there some sort of thing you can buy that would allow you to hook up a ph probe between chambers? Last question. My Co2 container says 1000 psi and the instructions say to refill at 500 psi. Do both numbers sound correct?

Sorry for all the stup
 
Sent you a PM with my phone #, please give me a call I can answer all your questions. I had a lot of the same ones when I first setup my MRC reactor. You are so close just need to tweak it a little.

Ed
 
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