what are your methods of cal and alk dosing?

eyesinthedrk

eyesinthedrk

New member
as of now I'm maintaining my levels with water changes. but i"m near the point of needing to decide on a dosing method. Naturally im weighing the pros and cons of cal reactors, kalk reactors, and two part dosers. so id like to know what long time sps keepers are using and why.

i have a 125 display and roughly 300 gallons of total system volume.
 
If you were able to keep levels with WC only you can try Kalk in your ATO. Mixing 2tsp per 5 gallon is a good start point. I wound not recommend Kalk reactor and for sure you don't need (want) Cal reactor. If you can't keep up with demand using Kalk in ATO - time to switch to two part method.
 
kamoer dosing pump. makes life alot easier and can go away for weeks at a time knowing that the tank will stay stable
 
danil said:
If you were able to keep levels with WC only you can try Kalk in your ATO. Mixing 2tsp per 5 gallon is a good start point. I wound not recommend Kalk reactor and for sure you don't need (want) Cal reactor. If you can't keep up with demand using Kalk in ATO - time to switch to two part method.
Click to expand...

WC was working because for the first 8 months I was focusing on equipment. Now I have started adding frags. And with 12 stoniest in the tank and a lot more to come WC won't cut it for long.

Kalk in the ATO is the one method I don't want. Most of my system is set it and forget it, does a calcium reactor maintain alkalinity too? Or does it just maintain calcium?
 
A calcium reactor and kalk replace both alkalinity and calcium in a proportion equal to their consumption, 5 parts alk to 2 parts calcium.

I dose a preset amount of saturated limewater through a peristaltic pump on a timer. It matches my daily consumption and closely approximates my daily evaporation. I love the ease and stability. Maintenance involves filling the reservoir once a week and adding two cups of lime. I also clean the precipitate out of the bucket once a year or so.
 
So is everyone moving away from calcium reactors? When I started it seamed like cal reactors were the way to go. Now it's seams like its two part or mall reactors
 
I use KALKWASSER! It helps me with the evaporation and calcium supplementation.

My tank has benefitted from this method! However, I have started looking into a Calcium Reactor.....the Alkalinity and pH problems are major concerns of mine....has to be fine tuned and monitored - which to me equals more money and worries....


Larry
 
I use KALKWASSER! It helps me with the evaporation and calcium supplementation.

My tank has benefitted from this method! However, I have started looking into a Calcium Reactor.....the Alkalinity and pH problems are major concerns of mine....has to be fine tuned and monitored - which to me equals more money and worries....


Larry
 
Calcium reactors all the way for me. I test the water every week, change the media every three months and fill the bottle once a year, or so. If you get a tank full of larger SPS and clams, then it gets really hard to keep up with 2 part or Kalk since the saturated fluid required is way more than evaporation will allow.

Some fail with reactors because they get unreliable CO2 controllers - do not cheap out on these and you can/will be really happy.
 
Last edited:
One more thought as to why I always go with calcium reactors... have you ever heard of a calcium reactor crashing a tank? It is nearly impossible and changes can take weeks and weeks to bear out, like when the media start to get exhausted and it can take 3-4 weeks for your calcium to go from 425 to 400. I guess that you could crash your tank if you went months and months without water changes or doing a test, but then I could hardly blame the reactor. I have read too many stories about dosing pump malfunction or kalk overdoses. I have never heard of a calcium reactor crashing a tank, but perhaps I have just not paid enough of attention.
 
jda said:
One more thought as to why I always go with calcium reactors... have you ever heard of a calcium reactor crashing a tank? It is nearly impossible and changes can take weeks and weeks to bear out, like when the media start to get exhausted and it can take 3-4 weeks for your calcium to go from 425 to 400. I guess that you could crash your tank if you went months and months without water changes or doing a test, but then I could hardly blame the reactor. I have read too many stories about dosing pump malfunction or kalk overdoses. I have never heard of a calcium reactor crashing a tank, but perhaps I have just not paid enough of attention.
Click to expand...

I've heard and seen crashed tanks with CR. The one I saw personally was due to clogging and few fun story then CO2 tank get exploded under the tank :). Plus many happy stories from 'converted to two part' people on the net. I think CR is a valuable option but it has to be reserved as last option then other methods failed to keep up with a demand.
 
I dose liquid supplements of mg/ca/dkh with my bubble magus dosing pump. I think what it really comes down to is tank size. If your tank is larger than say 120g-150g I'd probably go with a Ca reactor. I do prefer dosing personally, reactors will be cheaper in the long run but are more expensive for start up as well. I like being able to dial in specific parameters with dosing though, so I guess it's really personal prefrence, everybody seems to like one or the other for certain reasons.
 
jda said:
One more thought as to why I always go with calcium reactors... have you ever heard of a calcium reactor crashing a tank? It is nearly impossible and changes can take weeks and weeks to bear out, like when the media start to get exhausted and it can take 3-4 weeks for your calcium to go from 425 to 400. I guess that you could crash your tank if you went months and months without water changes or doing a test, but then I could hardly blame the reactor. I have read too many stories about dosing pump malfunction or kalk overdoses. I have never heard of a calcium reactor crashing a tank, but perhaps I have just not paid enough of attention.
Click to expand...

I had a CR crash a tank. It only took a couple days.
 
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