karsseboom
New member
Yeah I'm going with the calcium reactor, should be picking it up in a few days. Thanks for your help
your from salem?
People still using a calcium reactor?
- Thread starter karsseboom
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Yeah I'm going with the calcium reactor, should be picking it up in a few days. Thanks for your help
your from salem?
BBLINKS
New member
I was dosing for just over a year with 3 part on a 210 sps tank and let me tell you what a pain in the a$$ it was. I switched over to vertex rx6 duo and never looked back. I never had a problem with any leaks or any issue with the complexity of the system. I would never go back to dosing again. I do once a week testing, once every 3 months ph calibration, 6 month media top up, and once a year cylinder change and system clean.
MammothReefer
Active member
For those of you have keep saying dosing was a pain. Were you doing it by hand?
Setuping up and running my dosers really was a simple process. If I need more alk/calc.. add more, need less.. add less. Sure you have the period of testing/adjusting but you will have that with any automated system.
Maintenance, I replace my jugs once every 3 months..that's it. I could get away with twice the time frame if I used bigger jugs. (Currently using 1 gallon jugs)
Setuping up and running my dosers really was a simple process. If I need more alk/calc.. add more, need less.. add less. Sure you have the period of testing/adjusting but you will have that with any automated system.
Maintenance, I replace my jugs once every 3 months..that's it. I could get away with twice the time frame if I used bigger jugs. (Currently using 1 gallon jugs)
BBLINKS
New member
Sorry let me clarify, my tank is a 210 sps, with 1 gallon jugs I was refilling them every 1-2 weeks, although I have a second set of premixed ready to go jugs it was still a pain. I think dosing on a smaller tank(100g or less) is an excellent way to keep your parameter but when you get into some of the larger tanks, it just becomes more time consuming to dose especially for me since there isn't a pharmaceutical grade calcium and soda ash I can get in town. I always have to order a whole bunch from BRS just to make sure I don't run out. larger calcium reactor once you dial it in, it's set it and forget it. All its left is once a week testing.
But regardless it is what ever works for you. There isn't a right or wrong way of doing it. As long as the corals are happy thats all it matters.
Ive been running my cal reactor for three years now and its working fine. dont really adjust it, i keep my alk at 9-9.5 and it holds no probs.
I just added some zeo mag to the reactor so ill monitor how that goes.
My bro uses dosing pumps and they work great too. either way will work
I just added some zeo mag to the reactor so ill monitor how that goes.
My bro uses dosing pumps and they work great too. either way will work
MammothReefer
Active member
Huh, that's a bummer. I was running dosers on my 500g SPS/mixed setup. That's the tank I first switched over from reactor to dosers on. I just ran bigger jugs. I order everything from BRS to. I found it wasn't as pricey as the upkeep on my huge reactor.
But like you said both work and it's all about how your corals respond. From time to time I entertain the idea of switching back to a reactor, but the initial buy in costs makes it to pricey of an experiment for me since I'm happy with how things are working now.
250G
New member
agreed. have used a procal since 2001 and still does the job well, and consistently. will be used on my 90.
Acronic
The Fifth Master
So far everyone states that they keep their Alk at 9~9.5 dKh... anyone keep theirs at 7dKH with a calcium reactor?
M Woodhill
New member
i guess it's very hard
i used two ca reactors of which both added much of alk into the systems
then i just ran tank below 90 gallons(dt) and turned to tropic marin bio calcium
i'll be tryin two parts when and if i run a bigger tank in the future
I run my system at 7.5. I cant see why it should be harder to run it at a lower level, than a higher level, it shouldent make any difference at all. I am running my system via a ph controler, that open and closes the co2, when its needed.
Then i measure my kh each day to dial in the reactor. When the kh is stable, ca is stable aswell. Then i can use 2 parts to do adjust kh/ca if they arent the desired levels, if i need to lower my kh, i just raise my ph in my reactor for a few days and when the desired kh is reached i can just lower my ph down to when my kh was stable.. This way my kh is kept stable at 7.5, and i usaly measure my kh once a week. Hope it made sense...
Yep... I'm definitely a calc reactor fan for sure. As suggested by most everyone so far, it's a minimal-tinkering-required solution once all dials in. I was in a couple of conversations in the past which suggested that calc reactors or calc/magnesium reactors should be considered calcium and magnesium level maintainers as opposed to setters. In other words you can establish your desired levels (400; 420; 440ppm; etc) by initially, and even occasionally liquid dosing, then rely on your CO2 setting and flow-thru rate to maintain those established levels, as well as 'control' your carbonate hardness.
Put another way, I once read and/or discussed with others that your CaCO3 reactor should be set with more of a focus on establishing your desired CO3 (carbonate) level, and your Ca level can be set and maintained by adjusting your through-put (higher Ca = slower throughput; while lower Ca = faster throughput at same CO2 feed rate... if you increase your CO2 feed rate to increase Ca level, you will also be raising your overall system dKH).
Personally - I've found that you have better control of your CO3 if you have good degassing of the effluent coming off the reactor - i.e. a large protein skimmer can rid the effluent of much of the latent CO2. In this way, I've found it possible to have a fast bubble-count (CO2 feed) into the reactor, while maintaining a low dKH (6.0 - 6.5).
With a little playing around, you'll find the right setting and will be able to establish a set and monitor (almost forget) setup.
Regards,
Sheldon
Put another way, I once read and/or discussed with others that your CaCO3 reactor should be set with more of a focus on establishing your desired CO3 (carbonate) level, and your Ca level can be set and maintained by adjusting your through-put (higher Ca = slower throughput; while lower Ca = faster throughput at same CO2 feed rate... if you increase your CO2 feed rate to increase Ca level, you will also be raising your overall system dKH).
Personally - I've found that you have better control of your CO3 if you have good degassing of the effluent coming off the reactor - i.e. a large protein skimmer can rid the effluent of much of the latent CO2. In this way, I've found it possible to have a fast bubble-count (CO2 feed) into the reactor, while maintaining a low dKH (6.0 - 6.5).
With a little playing around, you'll find the right setting and will be able to establish a set and monitor (almost forget) setup.
Regards,
Sheldon
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I have been running a CaRx since 2005, it is just the easiest and has everything going for it. Equipment selection is important, especially the regulator, go with the Aquarium Plants, it was hands down the best thing I ever did for my reactor. Some reactors are designed better than others, but all will work once you understand what they do and how to tweak them.
acroholicreefer
New member
Kalk reactor here. I couldn't ever really get my alk stable with a calcium reactor.
karsseboom
New member
So I went out and bought the reef octopus 140. Hooked up everything and it was leaking everywhere, found out the pump was leaking out the seal that holds in impeller. So bought a new pump and it working fine. I have the bubble count at 1 drop per 4 seconds. We will see how this thing works in a few days.
karsseboom
New member
I have been running kalk as well but thinking of stopping. Will the ph drop to low if I stop? Do you run the reactor 24 hr or just during the day?
psteeleb
Team RC
I've run 2 part, Ca Rx and Kalc Rx. I found that the combination of running a Ca Rx and kalc Rx work best for my corals.
Some of my notes on each:
2 part, I always had concerns about the build up of impurities, this may no longer be an issue with the newer food grade products available. I still keep some around for truing up my salt mix etc.
Kalc, my demands exceed the output. It's easy but can be trouble if used in excess <--- Murphy’s rule applies big time here as I know a couple people that had top off and or kalc reactor issues over dosing. I still use it but mainly to keep the pH up and the corals just seem to do better with even low amounts of kalc being introduced.
Ca Rx, best bet in my opinion but does have a couple downfalls; 1) lower pH and 2) tendency over time to not check on it. I've known at least two serious reefers that set it and forgot about it to the point the C02 ran out and the alk bottomed out in the tank. I programmed my APEX to sound an alarm if 1) the solenoid is on too long indicating an empty Co2 bottle, and, 2) if the solenoid is off to long indicating a slow or no flow through the reactor
I run my Ca Rx with my lights on and keep it off at night to help stabilize the pH swings. My kalc reactor doses small amounts every hour as long as the pH is below the set point - in total the kalc dosing is set to be less then the water evaporation, my ATO takes care of the rest.
Some of my notes on each:
2 part, I always had concerns about the build up of impurities, this may no longer be an issue with the newer food grade products available. I still keep some around for truing up my salt mix etc.
Kalc, my demands exceed the output. It's easy but can be trouble if used in excess <--- Murphy’s rule applies big time here as I know a couple people that had top off and or kalc reactor issues over dosing. I still use it but mainly to keep the pH up and the corals just seem to do better with even low amounts of kalc being introduced.
Ca Rx, best bet in my opinion but does have a couple downfalls; 1) lower pH and 2) tendency over time to not check on it. I've known at least two serious reefers that set it and forgot about it to the point the C02 ran out and the alk bottomed out in the tank. I programmed my APEX to sound an alarm if 1) the solenoid is on too long indicating an empty Co2 bottle, and, 2) if the solenoid is off to long indicating a slow or no flow through the reactor
I run my Ca Rx with my lights on and keep it off at night to help stabilize the pH swings. My kalc reactor doses small amounts every hour as long as the pH is below the set point - in total the kalc dosing is set to be less then the water evaporation, my ATO takes care of the rest.
I let my effluent drip near the intake for the protein skimmer...since I started doing this years ago, I have no ph issues at all, and I rarely drip kalk or supplement.
Die-hard CR user here! love the autopilot effect of it once everything is dialed in properly. I run my Alk around 7.5 due to carbon dosing. I'm able to keep that steady while dosing Kalk with my top-off as well. The more mature you system gets, where colonies are growing out, the easier it is to keep the Alk at the lower levels due to consumption.
