Steve's 480g upgrade 730g total Zeovit system

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15015918#post15015918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefkoi
Looks good Steve, I added sps to my frag tank the same day I set it up LOL I lost a few but within a couple months everything settled in and colored up but it did take a while to really look good.
Just be patient and the colors will get there but I think with a new tank it will take a while no matter what method is used.

That said I have been thinking about pulling my reactor and trying the balling method, you were talking about it a whiole back, why did you decide to go with a reactor? Would you consider trying balling ever?

C
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Chris, i agree with the new tank it will take a while for the coral to establish and color up. I am not in a hurry, as long as the SPS stay alive, i know i can get the color out of it.

As for the reactor vs balling method i decided to go with the reactor due to the long term cost effectiveness. In your system and my system we will go through alot of balling salt and the NaCL free salt. I am not a chemist so mixing that many chemical is not my thing. I rather have the Calcium reactor handle it. There are many great looking tank in RC using calcium reactor without any issue.

Beside the trouble with mixing chemical who can guaranty you that the dosing pump will not stop working or will not acting up. I would like to stay with the old school method :D
 
True and thats why I use a reactor still, but I am having trouble keeping my ph stable (even with my deltec kalk stirrer) and my alk is low (2) and the calcium is high (500) so I was considering balling to be able to adjust those levels easier but maybe I just need to figure out whats wrong with my reactor causing these problems..........
 
Leonardo even tried vastly increasing the volume of his reactor and was still unable to correct the PH issues.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15016312#post15016312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
I have had the same problem and surmise it will only get worse as your coral mass increases.
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I wouldn't be surprise Chris have to dose 5g of each a day because his tank is full with Acro. IMO balling method is for smaller scale aquarium...
 
even with my meager stony corals my big Ca reactor was not keeping up with alk needs and needed adjusting as the bubble count tapered off and the flow rate needed to increase and decrease. i could never get the pH much above 8.0 either which i don't think is ideal.

i am now dosing soda carbonate or bicarbonate, and CaCl in the evening just in the top off water.

i buy it in bulk and it is cheap to dose.

pH and Ca levels are much more stable now. i can adjust the pH to whatever i want by varying the amt of carbonate and bicarbonate.

pH is now at about 8.4 this morning.

Eric Borneman has been using this method on his tanks for years and no water changes on many of his tanks. and getting fabulous growth too.

he supplements Mg as needed.

he feels this is much better and cheaper on a large system.

Carl
 
Thats what scares me, even if I buy large quantities I'll go broke with the balling method.............and my profilux dosing pump will be running all the time LOL
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15016381#post15016381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
Leonardo even tried vastly increasing the volume of his reactor and was still unable to correct the PH issues.
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Are you talking about the pH swing during light out period or the lower pH cause by the reactor? My friend currently working on the effluent chamber for my Calcium reactor. The chamber will have 3 compartment, 1st compartment will have crush coral also the place where my Ca reactor will discharge into, second compartment will have an air stone to evap any access CO2 and raise the pH, the final compartment will have Rowaphos to remove any PO4 that may bleach out from the media... Stay tune :D. By the time the water get back into the aquarium, pH should be at the same level as the aquarium. As for the pH swing during light out period, their ain't a darn thing i can do about it because i can't have a fuge. But i do have something so call soft corals fuge :D. I will have live rock, Zoas, Neon green toadstool, and Blue Xenia
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15016397#post15016397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefski's
even with my meager stony corals my big Ca reactor was not keeping up with alk needs and needed adjusting as the bubble count tapered off and the flow rate needed to increase and decrease. i could never get the pH much above 8.0 either which i don't think is ideal.

i am now dosing soda carbonate or bicarbonate, and CaCl in the evening just in the top off water.

i buy it in bulk and it is cheap to dose.

pH and Ca levels are much more stable now. i can adjust the pH to whatever i want by varying the amt of carbonate and bicarbonate.

pH is now at about 8.4 this morning.

Eric Borneman has been using this method on his tanks for years and no water changes on many of his tanks. and getting fabulous growth too.

he supplements Mg as needed.

he feels this is much better and cheaper on a large system.

Carl
Click to expand...

So is your reactor still running or have you removed it from the system?? I think it may be an option for me to supplement my reactor with some other forms of calcium and alkalinity rather than pull it out of the system and rely on liquid supplements alone
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15016397#post15016397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefski's
even with my meager stony corals my big Ca reactor was not keeping up with alk needs and needed adjusting as the bubble count tapered off and the flow rate needed to increase and decrease. i could never get the pH much above 8.0 either which i don't think is ideal.

i am now dosing soda carbonate or bicarbonate, and CaCl in the evening just in the top off water.

i buy it in bulk and it is cheap to dose.

pH and Ca levels are much more stable now. i can adjust the pH to whatever i want by varying the amt of carbonate and bicarbonate.

pH is now at about 8.4 this morning.

Eric Borneman has been using this method on his tanks for years and no water changes on many of his tanks. and getting fabulous growth too.

he supplements Mg as needed.

he feels this is much better and cheaper on a large system.

Carl
Click to expand...

Carl, what kind of Calcium reactor do you have? Isn't Eric a Chemist :D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15016402#post15016402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefkoi
Thats what scares me, even if I buy large quantities I'll go broke with the balling method.............and my profilux dosing pump will be running all the time LOL
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. Does Cherry coral have any special deal on bulk dosing pump. You can do couple of them running at the same time and have some for back up :D
 
im not sure lol but i can get the balling stuff from ecosystems pretty cheap so thats what i am considering
 
i am not still using the reactor, if anyone wants to buy it.

if i was using it and just supplementing with the chems i could still have the fluctuations of the reactor and maybe i just never had it adjusted right but i know it wasn't keeping up with my meager demand anyway.

Eric Borneman is a scientist who studies coral biology and wrote the book that many of us have. "Aquarium Corals"

he has been using this method for many years without the salt free salt or whatever it is called.

it is basically just Randy Holmes Farley's two part dosing with occasional supplements of Mg.

Right now i am dosing 150 gm of soda Carbonate in the morning top off water and 100 gm of CaCl in the evening. i just drip it in through an airline connected to a 5 gallon bucket.
IMG_0470.jpg


i am lucky here in Los Angeles as i can go to a chemical supply house and buy the stuff in bulk. 110 pounds of CaCl, 50 pounds sad Carbonate, 50 pounds MgCl, 40 pound MgSO4

all about $.45 per pound.
 
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So my issue was always alk, and using the reactor meant that dosing happened during evaporation, ie: during the lights on part of the cycle. I feel this is too much of a wax & wane process. In my next system, I will use both coral bones in a reactor and balling method. That way I can spread the dosing out over a 24 hour period, keep alk at target throughout the 24 hours as well.
 
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