how many of you running succesful sps tanks w/o Cal reactor?

J

johnvu713

New member
So which one of you are able to run a healthy sps tank without the aid of a cal reactor? Im finding it hard to maintain cal and alkalinity and was just wondering if i need to purchase a reactor to make my life a little easier.
 
I am however it I have to use a ton of 2 part. My growth is phenomenal. I have to dump about 6-8 oz of calcium mix a day in my tank to keep my levels about right. If I forget to dose for a few days, my calcium will drop from 450 to 300 and very quick. My alkilinity requires 2 heaping TBSP of baking soda a day as well.

For me, the risk is too high. I have a CR on order now and I hope to get it soon. I'm trying to use up all my calcium mix as I can and then will switch. I go through a gallon fairly quickly. Imagine if I used bionic or another brand. Talk aabout expensive.
 
how often do you test your cal and alk? Im thinking about getting a CR myself. I bet you got tons of sps can you name a few in your tank.
 
I dose Randy's two part - 90 ccs each part daily and test once a week. It is a bit of a pain to make the mix but much cheaper than b-ionic, which I was using before and going through a gal each part a month.

I have more problems w keeping the alk up than the ca. Alk runs around 2.98 and ca 435 and pretty consistent if I dose equal parts. I started trying to add more of one than the other and everything got all screwed up for a while.
 
I do.

IMO, a lot depends on the size of your tank, and how large/mature your colonies are. As my corals have grown from frag to colony - I'm finding a Ca Rx would be far more desirable.
 
Look into kalkwasser, or perhaps a Neilsen style Kalkwasser reactor.
It's all I've used for years, and works just fine.

- Mac
 
I have a decent mixed reef that is pretty quickly becoming SPS dominated w/o a calcium reactor. I use Randy's formula twice daily, low pH version (washing soda) as well as dripping kalk for most all of my topoff. I test once or twice a week and usually add in extra washing soda to keep the balance. I typically use 2 gallons or so of alk and calc every month as well as something like 50 gallons of kalkwasser. This seems like a tremendous amount of calcium and alkalinity to add however the system is using it.....if I dont dose for a couple of days, the pH will drop below 8.0 and the calcium will go back into the low 400s.
I do want to run a reactor however space under my tank is really limited. Pretty much just enough space for the sump and ballasts. Oh well.
 
Oh I should mention that I have 8 clams in there too.....probably using as much as the corals are.
 
I use two part b-ionic - I use a lot of it - about 2.5 cups of eaach component every day - I am going to get a CR but I have to wait awhile as my wife is still fuming about my new deltec skimmer! a good sized CR with tank, solenoid, pH probe and controller etc is going to cost 800 or so at least - my tank is very sps heavy (over 50 species and several very large colonies with others just being frags) with two clams
 
yeah, my tank is only 34 gallons (sump/fuge included); so i can get by with B-ionic without breaking the bank. seems like the general concensus is to go with a CR on anything larger than a nano.
 
Im having problem with all of my frags i think due to the fact that i dont have a CR. Some of my frags are either RTN or browned out. I have zero phosphate(salifert) and no nuisance HA at all. Once i get a CR i think it'll help with maintaining Ph, cal, and alk and hopefully by then all is well.
 
I've been keeping SPS/clam for alittle more than a year. I use 38ml each part of B-Ionic w/ no problems and good growth. If using a 2 part additive it's especially important to keep up on regular partial water changes to keep all the levels in check. Two part Ca/Alk supplements contain other things as well ie. strontium etc. The demand for these "extras" varies and can lead to an excessive amount of one element accumulating if regular water changes are not performed.
 
one of the guys in the club does a trash can of kalk fed by a dosing pump. nothing else for calcium or alk supplements, other than occassional corrections once or twice a month with buffer/turbo calcium.

NOT MY TANK-
IMG_3037.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6513879#post6513879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Grunt007
I've been keeping SPS/clam for alittle more than a year. I use 38ml each part of B-Ionic w/ no problems and good growth. If using a 2 part additive it's especially important to keep up on regular partial water changes to keep all the levels in check. Two part Ca/Alk supplements contain other things as well ie. strontium etc. The demand for these "extras" varies and can lead to an excessive amount of one element accumulating if regular water changes are not performed.
Click to expand...

i'm about to switch over to this regiment... right now, i'm changing about 5 gallons out of 33 gallons every three weeks or so. is this enough?
 
I use Randy's two part and kalk with topup. 2 part has worked well for me for over 4 years but I must admit I've been looking into reactors lately to "make life easier".
Chris
 
I have about 50 sps pieces. Very few are small frags. Most are at least 3 inches and up of total length. Several are larger colonies that I'm growing out. I have about 5 or 6 clams. My tank is a 180 gallons. I'm getting great growth but the keepup is tough to do. CR should be here in a couple weeks!
 
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