WHat is the deal with kalk and Co2 reactors?

[fabbss]

I have a 55 gal. softie tank that been running for over a year with no problems. But I recently bought the aqua pro 150 hood system because I plan on moving to the beautiful sps corals.

I have a 10 gal. sump with a fluval 404 and a coralife super skimmer rated for 75 gallons.

60 lbs. of live rock and about 50 lbs of live sand.

Blue hippo, coral beauty, bi-color and a maroon clown.

I have done reading on sps and I know they need a higher ph and a higher alkalinty. But if someone could clarify what the dosing is used for when it comes to kalk. Any suggestions and advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[attml]

Calcium reactors work by injecting CO2 into a chamber with crushed dead coral in it. The CO2 lowes the PH in the chamber making it more acidic which melts the crushed coral into calcium and alkalinity (calcium carbonate). The live corals in your tank pulls the calcium carbonate out of the water as it grows. The unfortunate side effect of all of the CO2 is that even though it exits the chamber and degasses somewhat, it still lowers the overall tank PH. The Kalk is used to counter the lower tank PH and it naturally raises the PH back up to normal levels. HTH

 

[Frankysreef]

They also do NOT require high alkalinity. I just got my alk down to 8, and my corals are much happier.

 

[drock59]

reefcast.com episode 9 just talked a lot about calc reactors.

 

[fabbss]

Thanks again everyone, I will check that article Drock.
I also read the F.A.Q. about sps corals. Some good info in there too.