Calcium Reactor

[guitareefs]

I'd really appreciate a link or pics of a calcium reactor setup on a tank. There's a calcium reactor for sale from a friend and I'd like to buy it

 

[DaveJ]

Here is a pretty good general article on them... for something more specific, you should post the model you are considering.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php

My own opinion is that you should start with dosing 2-part first. Your system is not going to need all that much for the time being and reactors, while many have success with them and run them trouble free, they are still a bit on the touchy side and can be problematic until you get more experience and time under your belt. Dosing also helps force you to learn the Ca/Mg/Alk relationship and you see it in play much more readily.

I make no secret that I am a 2-part advocate so I am biased towards that methodology over the reactors, but doubly so on new systems and newer reefers. Not that you are not capable mind you... just that I feel you'll have more success starting with that before moving to the reactor should you decide you need/want to later down the road.

I'd rather see you dealing with ml's of solution to get to your target parameters than dealing with effluent rates, bubble counts, pH controllers and possible CO2 issues. It's just less to worry about and deal with along with less complexity.

 

[guitareefs]

How do you exactly dose? You get the exact amount needed for your tank size and param needs but do you just dose it in the sump? Or do you dose it in the RO water you make to top off?

 

[DaveJ]

@guitareefs wrote:

Into the sump. I'd do it twice a day manually into the sump, once in the morning and once at night unless you have a dosing system setup.

 

[Ashlar]

I started out with IV drip line tubing connected to 10 ounce plastic bottles. I made a little hanger over my sump, and I was able to dose both alk and ca without a controller. Eventually I did get a dosing pump, but only because the rate of consumption was higher than I wanted to have to put into the bottles each day.

 

[DaveJ]

@Ashlar wrote:

That's a good way too... provided the crimper thingie doodad doesn't slip 10oz isn't a whole lot, but with alk that could be a big problem. Any uncontrolled/non-manual type of system should be limited (in amount of stuff that goes into the system be it alk solution or RO/DI water) to what the system can handle all at once. I wouldn't have a problem with filling that bottle with an IV line if he put the volume he needed daily (his daily dose) into it though and just let it drip. Even if it went in all at once for some reason, it would spike a little but still be fine for the day. I wouldn't be too worried about the calcium in that case, just the alk solution.

 

[Ashlar]

*nod* I only put about 4 oz in each bottle, but it's really hard to find small plastic bottles these days. The more likely problem that I ran into was the line clogging on the alk solution.