khalid October 23, 2009 Share October 23, 2009 Ok here is the story, a while back I bought a calc reactor and everything needed to run it. I was planning to install it once I moved and upgraded to a larger system. Well I moved but during the move I had a crash and lost all my SPS colonies and frags along with the majority of my clams. I have the new system up and running now, a 72 bow, and currently have a good amount of SPS frags, few LPS's, and 5 clams. Should I install the calc reactor now or wait till things grow in more and start demanding more calc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 23, 2009 Share October 23, 2009 (edited) This really depends upon the demand of your system. Do you, by any chance, have a kalk stirrer? Or even an easy way to deliver two-part? In contrast to a calcium reactor, Kalk provides both balance and a nice, high pH environment that's beneficial to coral growth. Edited October 23, 2009 by Origami2547 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khalid October 23, 2009 Author Share October 23, 2009 Hey Tom I currently have a kalk stirrer that I have not installed either I am trying to get a dosing pump for it and was planning to install it at soon. I currently add kalk to my top off water and stopped dosing anything. I just do weekly 5 gallon water changes and use aqua medic salt and my frags have been growing. Also, I am getting good coralin algae growth which I have to keep scrapping off of the glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 23, 2009 Share October 23, 2009 If you're getting good growth and keeping up with your alk levels, you're probably doing just fine then. I use alkalinity as my key measure (since alkalinity shifts are more easily detected with our test kits) when dosing balanced additives just to make sure that I'm keeping up with system demand. I don't test nearly as often as I used to, though. Less often, I test calcium, to determine if an imbalance has developed and how much I need to replenish. I test magnesium every few weeks for the same reason. It's easy enough to hook up a kalk-stirrer in line with your top-off system. You don't need an expensive dosing pump either, but could use an aqualifter. While a bit less reliable than some pumps, they are pretty inexpensive and, if you're pumping primarily fresh RO/DI through them, their seals last a good long time. You can also buy replacement seal kits that restore them to like-new condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khalid October 23, 2009 Author Share October 23, 2009 I guess I should get the kalk stirrer up and running since I do also have a aqua lift pump sitting around I just have to see if it is still working ok. As for the testing I think I need to get better at doing so as I never test unless something is not looking right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward October 23, 2009 Share October 23, 2009 I guess I should get the kalk stirrer up and running since I do also have a aqua lift pump sitting around I just have to see if it is still working ok. As for the testing I think I need to get better at doing so as I never test unless something is not looking right. Definitely hook up the kalk stirrer first. See if your alk level is dropping from day to day. If the kalk is not keeping up with your alk, but only barely not keeping up (maybe it takes a couple days to see a drop), then you can increase evaporation with fans in order to be able to dose more kalk. Once kalk is not enough to keep up with demand, then bring your Ca reactor on line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khalid October 23, 2009 Author Share October 23, 2009 Thanks Brain, I guess this means I have to get my Alk test kit out and get to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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