DDiver October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 how many of you run them on your sps tanks?do you feel it is essential to use one to maintain your calcium level?how many simply dose calcium supplements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveM October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 I run one and love having it. It keeps my Cal and Alk perfect. I tried dosing two part but it was a pain to keep everything balanced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHUBAKAH October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 Right now I dose Brightwell's calcium daily at the rate of 5ML on about 150 gallons and I stay at around 428 with 10% weekly water changes. As soon as the balling machines are a little more available, I will be going that direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaze98 October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 Water changes seem to work for me. My calc never drops below 440 with weekly 10% changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 There is no way I would have a tank full of SPS without one. Constant, balanced addition of calcium and carbonate with little effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 For anything bigger than a 75 or for a smaller tank completely packed with sps yes they are very useful. Can be tricky to learn at first, but the learning curve is worth the effort. I just installed a big Korallin C10000 on my system a few months ago, and the alkalinity has been 8 DKH +/- .1 ever since. I haven't had to touch the thing since august, just thump the feed line every few weeks. Installing one properly in order to get a consistent flow-through rate can be tricky, and I like to have pH safeguards in place via aquacontroller (or similar) to prevent accidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver October 16, 2008 Author Share October 16, 2008 What other equipment is needed to run the cal/kalk reactor?regulator,02 cylinder,aquacontroller,ph probe?...how much should I expect to spend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 A good Ca reactor for a 120 will probably run you $300-400 A good regulator/solenoid like a Reef Fanatic is $140 Aquacontroller Jr. with pH probe and DC-4 is around $250 (but this can do a lot more than handle a Ca reactor) CO2 tank is about 80-100 So expect about $900 new. You could also keep your eye out for used equipment. I had a Korallin reactor for sale but it is already spoken for. You might also look at a pair of dosing pumps for two-part Ca/Alk solutions, but you'll also need an aquacontroller for these to get fine-grained control and pH-based overdose protection. Stable alkalinity in a heavily stocked sps tank isn't cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Stearns October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 Agree that at some point a SPS heavy tank will require either daily dosing or a calcium reactor. The testing indicator for this move is when you can not maintain your alkalinity. Some rapidly growing corals such as the green bali slimer may actually start to die without alk and calcium maintained at thier proper levels. Once a good Calcium reactor is set up and tweaked right, it is really as much of a fire and forget peice of gear as this hobby has. If you do not want this type of set up - I would go more heavily into LPS and softies with only one or two SPS specimens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 I've got a 120g with a good amount of SPS, although not packed with them, and I only use a kalk reactor with my top off water. That seems to keep my calcium and alk in good balance. As the SPS grow, I'm sure I'm going to have to add a reactor or start dosing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 YES, if you plan on keeping a decent amount of SPS I highly reccomend a calc and kalk reactor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBZ October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 I TOLD YOU BRO' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver October 17, 2008 Author Share October 17, 2008 I TOLD YOU BRO' right Now I'm looking at what my options are...profilux automated doser since I'm going down the brightwell route on the 120 or the cal/kalk setup which right now seems like it will cost me a little more and would require fine tuning of which I have no prior experience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 right Now I'm looking at what my options are...profilux automated doser since I'm going down the brightwell route on the 120 or the cal/kalk setup which right now seems like it will cost me a little more and would require fine tuning of which I have no prior experience... I can make you an excelent deal on the calc and kalk reactor... PM if your interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBZ October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 right Now I'm looking at what my options are...profilux automated doser since I'm going down the brightwell route on the 120 or the cal/kalk setup which right now seems like it will cost me a little more and would require fine tuning of which I have no prior experience... Yea also , see how soon you have to replace the supplements and the cost per year and put them together and compare, prices. As for the fine tuning is really no biggy, I know that you are not familiar with the equipment but is very simple. I help you set it up if yo need to, but is really your preference and whatever makes you feel comfortable, I always had reactors and once you set them right you forget about the rest. just my 2 cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascal October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 If you have any DIY skills, you can save a little money and put together something like this pretty easily: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1485062 That would be about $150-200, plus $150 for a high quality regulator/bubble counter/solenoid combo (don't skimp on this part), $80-100 for the tank. That puts the cost of the set-up itself at around $400-450. After that it will cost you less than $50/year. IMO you don't absolutely need a PH controller to run a calcium reactor, but like Ctenophore said it does provide an important safety factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 Right now I dose Brightwell's calcium daily at the rate of 5ML on about 150 gallons and I stay at around 428 with 10% weekly water changes. As soon as the balling machines are a little more available, I will be going that direction. What are the "balling machines", never heard of that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver October 17, 2008 Author Share October 17, 2008 What are the "balling machines", never heard of that? automated dosing systems like the one i am looking at....Profilux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHUBAKAH October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 What are the "balling machines", never heard of that? I guess it has been around for a while, but the first time I read abut it was here There are a couple making there way in to the country, and a couple that have been around. IMHO, the wave of the future in reef keeping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver October 17, 2008 Author Share October 17, 2008 After seeing that tank again I'm almost convinced that I will most likely be riding that wave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHUBAKAH October 17, 2008 Share October 17, 2008 After seeing that tank again I'm almost convinced that I will most likely be riding that wave... From the research I have done [mostly based on the zeofit tanks] the ones that really look killer are the ones only growing SPS corals. I'm slowly getting rid of my softies to my lil 29. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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