Calcium reactor advice.............

[aqua-nut]

I notice we definitely are a 2 part dosing club. I just didn't want to deal with it personally...call me lazy.

John, I forgot to show you the reactors and the fancy regulator Ian made for me.

I saw it! I was trying to hide the drool.

 

[gimmito]

I notice we definitely are a 2 part dosing club. I just didn't want to deal with it personally...call me lazy.

John, I forgot to show you the reactors and the fancy regulator Ian made for me.

I saw it! I was trying to hide the drool.

lol...Ian does make cool regulators.

 

[aqua-nut]

I have been running a 2 part doser for my 240G for a year so so, and several years on older tanks.
It works ok. But I cannot say it is "better" than a calcium reactor.
Cost is fine. Setup was not hard.
Funny though : I have two 8 gallon containers for Calc+Alk. Not small.

Why is it just ok? Is that a way of saying you have had no issues?
What would you like it to do to get to 'It's great'?
What problems have you had with it?

How long does it take to go thru the 16 gal. of Calk+Alk?
What dosing pumps are you using? How do you control them?

That's all my questions (for now ).

Thanks for all the input. And my apologizes to Kris for the hijack...

 

[aqua-nut]

I use kalk in my top off w/o any problems. Keep in mind though I have to use both due to demand, I can throw a ton of Ca/Alk at my tank and it just asks for more as it drops 2-3 dKH in a 24 hr period.

The point is it your dosing regimen depends on what your outcome to be. If you want a simple mixed reef, you can dose manually. If you want a tank where giant sticks and plates are ramming into each other all over the place, you need to think a little more critically about the long run.

How much Kalk do you add to the TO water?

 

[bmhair03]

.... If you want a tank where giant sticks and plates are ramming into each other all over the place, you need to think a little more critically about the long run.

YES!

 

[tuberider]

I use kalk in my top off w/o any problems. Keep in mind though I have to use both due to demand, I can throw a ton of Ca/Alk at my tank and it just asks for more as it drops 2-3 dKH in a 24 hr period.

The point is it your dosing regimen depends on what your outcome to be. If you want a simple mixed reef, you can dose manually. If you want a tank where giant sticks and plates are ramming into each other all over the place, you need to think a little more critically about the long run.

How much Kalk do you add to the TO water?

A bunch in a 5 gal bucket adding more as I top off the bucket. It sits at saturation so I just clean the bucket out every couple of weeks

 

[rygh]

I have been running a 2 part doser for my 240G for a year so so, and several years on older tanks.
It works ok. But I cannot say it is "better" than a calcium reactor.
Cost is fine. Setup was not hard.
Funny though : I have two 8 gallon containers for Calc+Alk. Not small.

Why is it just ok? Is that a way of saying you have had no issues?
What would you like it to do to get to 'It's great'?
What problems have you had with it?

How long does it take to go thru the 16 gal. of Calk+Alk?
What dosing pumps are you using? How do you control them?

That's all my questions (for now ).

Thanks for all the input. And my apologizes to Kris for the hijack...

Issues I had:
* The early versions had reservoirs that were too small. Had to fill them every few days.
* It seems to raise that salinity a bit. Easily fixed with water changes, so minor.
* When using Sodium carbonate, tended to spike my PH up a bit.
But no serious problems, and no plans for any changes.
I guess I consider any routine maintenance "ok", never "great"

I can go about 4 weeks when containers are full. A vacation requirement.
I usually just fill them a couple of gallons each week.
Note that I do mix at much lower concentration than normal.
Largely because I use baking soda now. But it also doses with
less chemical surge, mixes faster, and stays in suspension better.

I used the standard BRS dosing pumps. (larger 1.1ml ones)
I used to use a reef angel to control them. Worked well.
Switched to a home made controller (for fun).

 

[iani]

iani,
Is that your Stainless steel Matheson 3810 on the Barr Report site? That is so pretty it should not be hidden but displayed as a piece of industrial art!

You deserve a :beer: for that one!

Thanks, everyone should have one haha.

 

[iani]

Hi John,

I have not looked into the 2 part dosing before. One thing have been interested in with the reactor was it's ability to buffer and stabalize the PH in the tank along with the dosing effects. Does the 2 part help with any of that, or hinder? I will look up some stuff about it in the next few days. Thanks!

I have actually read a LOT of stuff from the Barrot report (Ian gave me a bunch of links) as well as some from Planted tanks that I found in Google searches. Good stuff and VERY thorough!

As for the reactor itself, I have simply been going by reviews. The GEO has a lot of good reviews out there including full articles. Most of the other brands are difficult to find information on. Seems they are all similar in some ways, but a LOT of different designs out there makes it hard to make a decision. I am open to ANY recommendations on other reactors. Some others I have considered are the Reef Octopus, Aqua C, Korallin, Nextreef, Vertex, Lifereef and of coarse GEO. I have a few months to make this decision, so I appreciate the info. Gives me a chance to read up on it.

Nice meeting you John and Jim. Tuberider and Ian, I am sorry if I missed ya at the meeting. Next time.

Didn't make the meeting this past sat. Let me know if you want to go the stainless regulator route. It won't be cheap but it will last you a long time. An all stainless reg with swagelok parts (fittings, check valve, and metering valve) and a stainless solenoid would probably cost in the 400-450 dollar range. Nice stainless parts are expensive. Some parts as simple as a street elbow can cost 25 dollars after tax.

 

[Kmooresf]

Ok, so what I have gathered with some additional reading..............

Two part dosing seems to work well. However..........Having a Calcium reactor seems primarily to limit the amount of regular maintenance (ie......weekly, or more). I am not a lazy guy (no one in this hobby can be truly lazy..LOL) however I am VERY good about doing a "TANK day" about once a month. Spend several hours doing a deep clean on skimmers, water changes, getting the heavy algea off the glass, blow off the rocks and sand to clear the detritis, change out carbon, etc. I am HORRIBLE at daily maintenance...........ie.......checking perams regularly, adding suppliments. I do it, but not on a regular schedule. Part of this is from my odd work schedule and part is just motivation. Sry, just being honest.

So I think I am gonna put out the cash upfront to make my life a little easier in the long run. Although it seems as time goes on that I might end up doing some dosing anyway when the tank has "giant sticks and plates are ramming into each other all over the place!" Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. :davie:

@Ian, thanks for the advice on the regulators. I think I am gonna stick with brass at this point. Need the money right now. I may upgrade in a few years. Thanks.