cal reactor (1 Viewer)

[blancoruiz]

Ok so i am thinking about adding a cal reactor to a 40gal breeder. But I don't know if that's a good idea or is its ok to do so due to the size of the tank I am thinking about stocking the tank with sps and lps. So I know this is a must, so I need help any advise on what I should do?

 

[Ostentum]

they are great, you would just use a slower drip from the output and slower bubbles of Co2 into the reactor. Here is my forewarning. It will impact your ph in your tank. You are going to be adding saturated water to your tank at around 6.5 ph. The ph in my tank tends to run between 7.9 and 8.2, with most of the time settling in at around 8.05. What I like about the reactors compared to other methods of dosing. 1) your constantly adding Ca, Alk and trace elements to your tank at 1 drop per second+, so you are replenishing it just as fast as your corals are using it as compared to dosing with a pump once every 15 mins or manual dosing once per day. Much more stable. Draw back, you have to test every day for a week to determine your usage, start the reactor and test everyday for a week tweaking your reactor to match your usage. You dont want to start too high cause you will potentially nuke everything. I have seen it happen. 2) once you find your usage its set and forget for the most part. I test once every 2-4 weeks and tweak based on increases in my coral demand. 3) You are breaking down old coral skeletons, which means that you are adding back to you tank everything that was used in the makeup of the that skeleton. imho this significantly decreases the frequency of water changes, especially if your running an oversized skimmer and fuge. The two main goals of a water change, reduce dissolved organics, replenish trace elements. You are not going to get these trace elements dosed consistently with any other dosing method.

Negatives
Initial equipment cost, reactor, regulator, ph monitoring Co2 tank- used around $350 (dennis has a few in stock) I would suggest purchasing a new regulator and solenoid ($80).
Media Cost- 1 gallon lasts me about 2 years ($25)
Co2 Cost- going on about 9 months and the 10lb bottle that I have is still going. Anywhere from $12-20 to refill.
Back up tank- Keg Cowboy is the cheapest on new Co2 tanks, they charge at the high end for a refill though.
If they clog you can have a nightmare where all the media completely dissolves or it just fills with Co2 and nothing gets added to your tank for several days. This recently happened to me. My alk dropped in 2 days from 9.8 to 6.3.


Things I am going to do different on my 300
add kalk stirrer so i can run ph at 8.4
run a fuge with macro which also helps the ph.
I will never not use a calcium reactor because I feel its superior to other methods

 

[blancoruiz]

Wow very interesting!!! I want one now. I was at Dennis store today and he did recommend me dozing instead of the reactor due to the size of the tank. But I really want to go all the way with this tank. So I hope a reactor is not too much I mean I can tweak it to get it just right lol ok so this is my next step on purchasing ;-). So what am I looking to spend on this unit like a good $350-400 bucks? Oh and at this price will it be used or new? Either way ill do some research on it, any good brand out there?

 

[Ostentum]

Geo and Deltec are the best, but they are also pricey. I use a PM, which I know you can pick up a smaller one probably under 250, you will just need Co2 and a regulator, roughly 100 each new. Most of the smaller units will do up to 250g so if you do upgrade in the future your still good. I think there are actually a few for sale on the forums. And yes you can tweak it based on your usage fairly easily, just remember to make very small changes and then test for a few days afterwards to make sure its what you want.

 

[flipside]

A calcium reactor is a great idea for a tank of your size. The main reasons why people go with dosing manually, via dosing pumps or just dumping it there are the following (well, mainly):

1) Initial/up-front pricing. You can really spend a lot with a proper Calcium Reactor setup. All items included (pH monitoring, gauge, cylinder/CO2, media, etc). For monitoring my pH, when I was running one, I used 2 pH monitors. One to measure what came right out of the calcium reactor (effluent) and one where my drain from the tank was (all items in sump area, of course). This way I had a way of seeing how much of an impact my reactor's effluent was on my entire tank.

2) Un/ill-educated. This kind-of goes without saying, but it takes a long time to truly understand what your tank needs. It took me 3-4 hours and a case of beer to figure out what all this "stuff" did. I know now, and to be honest, I'm flying this route next go (dosing pumps and two part at the ready).

3) Dosing is too easy not to "at least" try. Some "heavy hitters" in our hobby actually have to resort to dosing (with peristaltic pumps) 2 part, Kalk, AND run a calcium reactor all the time. These guys typically have "clam habitats" and/or SPS gardens though. I've never gotten that far, but I'd absolutely love to. I will be more than happy to do all of the said items to sustain a reef that makes me smile.

Any way, that being said, I believe that Dennis was just stating the easiest, cheapest, up-front method that would serve you fine for years. In a 40B you'll never need to dose anything more than what 2-part and some dosing pumps can provide. If you want to set-n-forget, or possibly buy for future upgrades, a calcium reactor may be just what the doctor ordered.

So, how deep are your pockets? That's the true question. Money now, or money slowly over the next few years... It's all preference.

 

[blancoruiz]

Ostentum: what size of co2 tank should be use or would be besr? Flipside LOL they are prettry deep but if it means to spend an amount larger than $250 I would like to buy it slow part by part and I have heard of GEO and Deltec and yes they are really $$$. I just came across a thread with a regulator and co2 tank at a pretty cheap price but don't know what size of co2 tank.

 

[flipside]

Okay... I hear ya'.

The only other "thing" I'd like to warn you of is to be very careful when purchasing a used calcium reactor system from someone. You simply never know if it works as it should or not, especially when you are new to these things. It's really easy to think that what you have purchased "used" is a good system if you don't know what to expect. What makes matters worse is when the person you bought it from says, "it should work... I've never set it up, though." Red Flag.

I've purchased many Ca Rx systems from people in the past and 90% of them were broken in one way, shape, or form. I'll never do it again, unless I know the guy/gal personally.

But I guess that goes without saying, eh? I only buy complex equipment "new," these days...

 

[Ostentum]

I used a 10lb tank. I have had it for almost 9 months and still have Co2 blowing at about 2 bubbles per second. Refill prices are about the same whether its a 5 or 10lb tank. I think next I am going to buy a 20lb tank since I am going to have a dedicated room and have the 10 as a backup between refills.