controlsreefer Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 i am puting a new sps tank togther starting this weekend and i would like to kow if i should get kalkwasser with a dosing pump or should i get a calcium reactor. i want to start keeping harder corals and i need some help Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 good question, wish I could help. I'll be watching to see what info you get. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 i'd say go with the calcium reactor for a couple of reasons: first, the chemical makeup given off by the calcreactor would be pretty close to what you'll need, i.e. coral skeletons -vs- kalk reactor is strictly Ca + OH second, the calcreactor's output can be increased somewhat without a huge impact/danger (get the dual chamber versions to counter low pH effluent) -vs- kalk reactor's output can't be significantly increased without seriously endangering the tank due to its extremely high pH. many people use both types to counter the negatives of the other while super boosting ca/alk. i.e. the low pH effluent of the calcreactor (running on a faster output) can be negated by the high pH effluent of the kalk reactor. hth Link to comment
SPS20 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 If money isn't a huge issue, go with the calcium reactor. Kalkwassar only adds Ca+ and CO3 (carbonate) to the water, which means you have to monitor Mg and Sr levels more carefully. It also very easy to spike your pH to dangerously high levels with Kalkwasser. There are also a few other things which can go wrong with Kalk that I won't go into too much detail about here. Used properly, Kalkwasser is a perfectly good way to boost mineral levels, don't get me wrong, but it can't be used carelessly. Calcium reactors have their own set of issues to be sure. As Tint said, you have to watch that the effluent water isn't too acidic (though dual-chambered reactors mostly eliminate that problem). Basically all a calcium reactor does is dissolve aragonite (coral skeletons) using carbonic acid (CO2 dissolved in water). The aragonite conveniently has in it all the minerals that stoney corals pull out of the water as they grow, in the proper proportions. (Which makes perfect sense, as you are dissolving coral skeletons, after all) You do have to tune a calcium reactor carefully at first, and then adjust it periodically so that it meets but does not exceed mineral demand. A calcium reactor is alot more expensive than dosing Kalk, but it is, IMO, the better solution. If your mineral demand gets really nuts, you can use them both, as the two methods do complement each other nicely, as Tiny mentioned. So basically, +1 to what Tiny said. Link to comment
controlsreefer Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 thanks tinyreef, you gave me a lot to think of but i still havent made my mind up yet. i still need to see what would be better for me cost wise and be most pratacal so i guess i need to do a little comparing. but i wthink i will go with calcium reactor. how big of a CO2 bottle do I need to run my new tank? I am planning to make a 40 gallon tank that is 36x15x17 with a 20 gallon fuge with 2- 150watt hqi with 2 96 actinic light with 8 moonlights Link to comment
shaggydoo541 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 If you have the money and space the ca reactor is the only way to go. I have no room for one on my tank and my SPS are reacting negatively. I have too many sps to keep up with 2 part or kalk without causing massive pH issues. Hence I am beginning to lose many SPS as I cannot keep my ca/alk up. I wish I had a ca reactor so I could just dose 2 part occasionally to keep everything in line. Link to comment
Rehype Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 If you have the money and space the ca reactor is the only way to go. I have no room for one on my tank and my SPS are reacting negatively. I have too many sps to keep up with 2 part or kalk without causing massive pH issues. Hence I am beginning to lose many SPS as I cannot keep my ca/alk up. I wish I had a ca reactor so I could just dose 2 part occasionally to keep everything in line. Wow shaggy i thought for sure you had a ca reactor with all the sps you have. I just installed a ca reactor on my tank today to compensate for the amount of sps frags i recently purchased. Link to comment
shaggydoo541 Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Wow shaggy i thought for sure you had a ca reactor with all the sps you have. I just installed a ca reactor on my tank today to compensate for the amount of sps frags i recently purchased. I really really really need one. I am dosing close to a gallon of 2 part (each... so 2 gallons total) every other week or so. This much dosing is hazardous at best especially the alk. So my SPS are looking miserable lately and I've actually lost a couple frags. I'm getting rid of my dart and will hopefully have a custom ca reactor in its space within a month or so. Link to comment
Withers Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I really really really need one. I am dosing close to a gallon of 2 part (each... so 2 gallons total) every other week or so. This much dosing is hazardous at best especially the alk. So my SPS are looking miserable lately and I've actually lost a couple frags. I'm getting rid of my dart and will hopefully have a custom ca reactor in its space within a month or so. I dunno if you've settled on a reactor yet, but this guy builds damn fine products. http://greyseasaquatics.com/calciumreactors.html They're based on the deltec design I believe. Link to comment
nu2reefva Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I dont know if you have already decide one way or the other, but i know a calcium reactor is expensive if your handy check out this link i think im going to build one myself. http://www.melevsreef.com/dj88.html edit also check this linkhttp://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/diycareactor.htm Link to comment
jsw Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 My tank requires a lot of dosing. I considered a calcium reactor on my 29 gallon, but I ended up going a different route. I use two-part in combination with kalkwasser. The kalkwasser comes through the ATO with a Tunze calcium dispenser. The two-part comes through dosing pumps. The dosing pumps come on every 40 minutes for 1 minute and dose about 1'ish ml of each part. Spreading the dosing out like this prevents pH spikes and keeps the params rock solid. My tank stays at 9dkh, 420ppm ca and 1300ppm mg with no change throughout the day that I've detected. I figure I'm dosing close to 40ml of B-Ionic a day. A one-time shot of that amount would bump pH up to very nasty levels (probably 8.8 range), but spreading it out with dosing pumps keeps my pH at a constant 8.25-8.45 day to night -- and that's with kalk top-off. It's turned out to be pretty cost effective for me, and I don't have to worry about any of the side effects that a calcium reactor can have. Two-part rocks IMO. Link to comment
dtfleming Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 just curious jsw what dosing pumps are u using? and has anyone tried a Kalk slurry or i was thinking about using a dispenser for snakes that slowly drips to dose kalk. Link to comment
PodRod Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 I think jsw is using the Tunze Calcium Dispenser that works with the Tunze ATO. I have the same setup and jsw helped me get mine started. It works great but the calcium need to be added weekly. Link to comment
jsw Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 just curious jsw what dosing pumps are u using? and has anyone tried a Kalk slurry or i was thinking about using a dispenser for snakes that slowly drips to dose kalk. I have two Drew's Dosers on ACJr timers: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Two-Part-Kit...oduct_info.html They're great. It beats the heck out of dosing by hand. I actually cut way back on kalkwasser. My pumps had to be cleaned too much for my liking. My substrate is saturated with calcium and it's rock hard in most places now. I'm not blaming the kalk but I think it played a part. I bumped my magnesium way up since I discovered I had the 75ppm Elos -- I thought I had the 100ppm. The tank was at 975ppm mg! Sitting at 1300ppm now and I get a lot more bang for the buck with the B-Ionic so the kalk doesn't have to be as heavy. Link to comment
dtfleming Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Tks for the info, think Ill invest in them to make my dosing easier. I already buy 2-part from them. Link to comment
Gomer Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 i am puting a new sps tank togther starting this weekend and i would like to kow if i should get kalkwasser with a dosing pump or should i get a calcium reactor. i want to start keeping harder corals and i need some help Looks to me like you already have some stoney corals in your tank. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.