who's still using a Ca reactor?

[Capt_Cully]

I don't really have a lot of consumption yet so my reactor is still on a shelf in the basement. I just set up 2 Drew's Dosers for 2 part and I'm planning to incorporate kalk shortly.

I'm thinking I may never hook the reactor back up.

Who's using one anymore?

 

[Conesus_Kid]

I still am, but not sure if it's really needed.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I always had a problem with my effluent clogging which would precipitate a mad scramble of counter action on my part. I'm thinking if it can be done without, why invite the headaches.....

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'm still running a calcium reactor. I agree they can be a very temperamental. I won't do a comparison to the sexes here

I solved the effluent clogged line problem years ago (I'm sure you remember those threads, Mark) but I've never been able to solve the problem of irregular CO2 delivery via a standard regulator. I think the electronic carbon doser contraption is the answer to my prayers but recent domestic events have set me back a bit

Anyways, (IMO) if I wasn't constantly running my calcium reactor (in addition to water changes and kalkwasser and liquid two part additions) I believe the Ca/alk levels would drop even quicker than they already do in my aquarium.
This would not be a good thing. The reactor is helping to smooth out fluctuations in my levels and this is mainly a benefit to SPS. If you're doing softies (are you?) you might want to sell the reactor. If you're gonna do the right thing you should probably keep the reactor. JMO

 

[Capt_Cully]

No softies here Gary. I have planned an oversized body of whater for the size of the reef I plan to have in it. Pictures don't do my tank justice, but perhaps it will show the contrast in rock to water volume.

The reactor will not be on the auction block at any point in the foreseen future. There is a piece of realestate under the tank to allow for its footprint. But, at this point it might be another year before I consider utilizing it. I'm not privy to the amounts of 2 part a fully mature stony reef requires. If that proves prohibitive, other means, I.e. the reactor will be employed.

My previous tank had a formidable halmeda problem so my new numbers will be no where near what that tank consumed I'm sure. Huge SPS colonies were a sponge, but that dern halmeda just sucked up the CA and Mag.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Is everyone using a pH probe on their effluent to control their solenoid? I've got the electronic regulator but see that its been discontinued by the manufacturer.

 

[Capt_Cully]

This doesn't do any justice to the frags in the tank, but it shows how little rock is in it. Keep in mind the tank is huge and you're looking at about 150# of LR.

My goal is to be able to keep the huge body of water saturated to the appropriate levels even with large SPS colonies in it. This may be whistling by the graveyard, but its a theory I plan to test. It camillus to me when talking with Mark Klier. As colonies grow to the mammoth sizes we shoot for, the volume of water left to work with decreases. In some cases, dramatically. (Ever see oneradtek's tank? Or Dr Tangle old tank?) I don't think there's a gallon of water in those things the corals are so big.

This predisposes he tank to a crash as toxins are more concentrated, vital elements are in less supply, variability is increased. A reef keeper can resemble a coal shoveler on an old iron horse locomotive.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I guess that I've been lucky. I always tried to get some Halimeda to grow in my aquariums but it never took off.

 

[Capt_Cully]

You don't want it!

 

[chrisqueenz]

I guess that I've been lucky. I always tried to get some Halimeda to grow in my aquariums but it never took off.

Don't want to sound stupid here guys, but what is Halimeda?

 

[Capt_Cully]

A calcium consuming macroalgae

 

[pascal32]

I've never run a Calcium reactor, so take this with a grain of salt - They seem like a great idea, however rather complex (even for me). I keep falling back to a comment TMZ made about not knowing what is in the media you are dissolving. All and all a lot can be accomplished with a combination of Kalkwasser and two part - with less complexity, less money, and more reliability.

 

[tmz]

I put mine on the shelf 3 yrs ago ;it's still there. Personally, don't trust it for constancy or impurities as much as I do kalk and a baked baking soda tweak now and then when I refill the kalk reservoir and shut it down for a few hours for the new mix to settle.

 

[bennr]

I purchased a korallin calcium reactor used with a co2 bottle and solenoid.....everything you need to get it going. But now i am wondering if i will ever use it because dosing seems to be the way to go...especially if you can get a profilux controller and slave dosing....what could be better??? my lfs is very knowledgable and has some sweet tanks and takes care of a lot of peoples tanks too and says the reactor is a thing of the past....if you want consistency and stable water parameters then dosing and testing or level readouts is the way to do it.....mind you that by using a calcium reactor it should reduce the amount of calcium, alk, and mag you have to dose....but according to my lfs it did not reduce by that much and if you plan on heavily stocking a tank then a calcium reactor will never keep up with the needed calcium and alk required....you will still always have to dose
i would say "who wants to buy a calcium reactor?" but i dont have enough posts and i am a new member and love this site so i dont want to be banned

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

couple of things here: media dissolved in a Ca reactor is fairly pure and (basically) crushed coral skeletons. IME large media is best choice. Calcium reactors do not add significant amounts of Mg unless you place dolomite (or similar source of Mg) in reactor.
In the long run, Ca reactors are still the least expensive choice for supplying Ca/alk in heavy demand reef aquariums larger than 180 gallons. A PROPERLY SIZED Ca reactor should be able to provide all the Ca and alkalinity demands any system needs. (Mine is undersized.) Effluent from Ca reactor is a great choice to feed into lit refugium growing macroalgae.
When a properly sized reactor is set up correctly it can provide Ca/alk demands for many months without further messing with HOWEVER (IME) the regulator is the weakest link. Electronic regulator ("carbondoser") coupled with pH controller should solve that problem.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

A reef keeper can resemble a coal shoveler on an old iron horse locomotive

nice analagy :ape:

 

[tmz]

I agree media may be fairly pure coral skeleton.However, corals stash stuff in the predominantly calcium carbonate crystals making up skeletal mass; mostly good: like calcium ,carbonate and magnesium; but some may not be so good like: excess metals it doesn't want,strontium of questionable value and inorganic phosphate to name a few. Just because something is in the skeletal mass doesn't mean it was put there as a beneficial element. All of this can stay there for hundreds if not thousand of years or more .At lower ph via a reactor everything in the media dissolves and is freed up in solution and I know of no way to verify any media's purity other than a full run of tests of the effluent which may be beyond doing with hobby grade equipment. I had several stn events when I used my calcium reactor with what appeared to be a quaility media and pretty good flow and CO2 control over a 3 year period. I have had none in the last 3 years without it.
Many tanks run well with calcium reactors though suggesting any issue with impurities is minimal at least for a period of time ; and some experience unexplained crashes as some do with other methods. If I were still using the CACO3 reactor I'd look for a media that has a proven long term track record and try to learn more about the manufacturing process for various media.
Personally, I prefer the purity of clear limewater, which self purifies by precipitating everything out of solution except calcium and carbonate. Food grade baking soda ( baked or unbaked) is very pure too with sodium and carbonate.
I just don't like adding anything without knowing what I'm adding and in what quantity ,but that's just me.

I figure I'm adding enough impurities and unknowns via salt mix without anymore questionables of unknown and/or variable quantity from dissolving media which contains at lest some things I don't know about.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Tom- surely artificial saltmixes and chemical addititives must contain more impurities than coral skeletons dissolving under low pH.

 

[tmz]

Gary,
Probably so for salt mixes and unfortunately unavoidable. Maybe for some calcium chloride products too. Mostly unknowable. Not so for limewater(kalk) .

Calcium reactor use is wide and many have success with them ;some don't. It's certainly a viable option for those who want to use them and my comments are not meant to dissuade anyone who is doing well with one .
My experience has been mixed .
I tend to avoid dosing anything( I don't have to like salt mix) if I don't know with a high degree of certainty what it contains. It takes some faith about the impurities aragonite media contains and there is no product assay information available that I know of. Hey some of those trace elements aka unmeasured impurities , might, arguably, be beneficial.
Where the media comes from and if it's bioticly produced ,what the calcifying organism that produced it or the skeletal remains were exposed to over time and how it was processed before packaging and sale will effect what's in it or on it. If its bioticly produced in the sea all of it will have some PO4, magnesium ,stontium and other metals buried in it's dissolvable crystals. How much is likely to vary. For example some corals exhibit brown streaks in their skeleton , found to be iron, presumably in excess of the corals needs.
I personally, don't care for the extra CO2 and periodic fluctuation in alk I got form time to time either when I used my CACO3 reactor.
For a long while I used the CACO3 reactor together with kalk dosing and was able to get a good ph level but anecdotaly, in the 3years I haven't used it things have never done better.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

I'm running a GEO 612 on a ~50 gallon system. After trying multiple setups, I believe I've found an ideal configuration using a carbon doser regulator and Cole-Parmer peristaltic pump. In combination, they provide the precision needed to maintain a smaller tank using a CaRx. If interested, the details are in The End of 2-Part thread.