Calcium Reactors ??

A

Aldente P.

Premium Member
I am thinking about another large purchase. Controller or calcium reactor, but do you have to have a controller for the reactor? I am not familiar with either of the two. So what are your thoughts on these? If i should buy a controller first is there a controller that i should lean toward, knowing that my next big purchase will be a calc. reactor? Tia for the advice
 
to be efficient and really work properly, a CR will need a PH monitor to control it. There is an electronic sylonoid? controlling output of co2 that needs to be turned on and off depending on your drip. If you do not monitor it you could end up over doing it and killing your tank. also, i am using 2 controllers, an aqua controller for the tank and a milwakee ph monitor for the CR. the aqua controller can do it, but it just depends on your set up, i chose to use my extra port on my 3 for ORP instead of a second ph probe and i did not want to buy the expansion port as i already had a milwakee.
 
you can go ph controller like a milwaukiee sms122 or a controller like an aqua controller to control the co2 of the calcium reactor....
 
I like having the best affordable stuff. But dont want to have two controllers if i could spend a little more money and get one that does everything i need. Is there a controller that does it all?
 
you have a couple different options...an ac3 by itself will work to monitor your drip and your tank as it can handle 2 ph probes, but then you can not monitor orp. if you do not care about orp, then fine, if you do, then you need an expansion box to add on to the AC called a px1000, which gives you more probes.
 
Consider going with dosing instead of the reactor. With a tank your size, you are in the middle ground (in my opinion) of needing a calcium reactor. Dosing is pretty cost effective. If you don't mind manually doing it you can get a years supply for about $100 bucks or so. If you want something more automated, you have a choice of dosers that will do set quantity through the day for you. Getting the right amount per day is a pretty straight forward process.

Of course I am biased since I had a ton of problems getting a reactor dialed in. Many don't have those problem, but I did so I suggest dosing first. If it gets to the point where you are having to dose large quantities, then a reactor is a good alternative.

If you do go with the reactor, you will need 2 pH probes at a minimum and a controller of some sort that will shut the CO2 off when your pH reaches a certain low point in the effluent.

Regardless of which direction you go, make sure to test on a daily basis for the first few weeks to monitor your parameters.
 
I will never be without a calcium reactor again. I've had one for over 5 years now and consider it absolutely not optional!

I've never run a controller on the effluent, i do have my tank set where if the pH of the tank gets to low it will turn the CO2 off but that's it. They actually pay for themselves pretty fast (within 2 years) and you can leave for days (I've even done weeks) at a time and only have to worry about someone feein the fish and that's it! So much better then dosing!

getting a reactor dialed in is a bit of work but it should only take a few days.
 
Here's my article about them, just to give you a little more to think about. Personally, I find a Calcium Reactor to be a wonderful product that allows me to enjoy the tank.

I dosed my other tanks with B-Ionic daily for several years - getting away from that was wonderful.

http://www.melevsreef.com/calcium_reactor.html
 
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