Steve175 February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 I have a 1500G system with 2 separate 250G displays and a 220G frag tank filling steadily with SPS. Believe it or not, up to now (and before with my 800G system) I have had very stable chemistry with a large Kalk reactor (dripping 33L of Kalk per day) and by dosing 2-part (2.4L per day of each). However, as the demand and dosing has gone up, my pH has increased (averaging a bit above 8.4 now) and I cannot get my Alk above 8.5 despite an irritating level of precipitation. I think it is time to add a Calcium reactor and have started to do some research regarding the brand and model. Will use my apex to control via pH probe. Which would/have you bought? Anyone use a Liter Meter to feed for additional control or should I just feed it off my manifold? TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 Maybe a geo CR1218,http://www.geosreef.com/index.php/cr1218, biggest one they make for aquariums over 1000 gallons? For a tank that big you may have to get something custom made, maybe Avast can build a big one for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basser9 February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 http://www.marinetechnical.com/page12.html I have this beast and theres nothing built like it. This and your kalk stirred up alot will be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 Maybe a geo CR1218,http://www.geosreef.com/index.php/cr1218, biggest one they make for aquariums over 1000 gallons? For a tank that big you may have to get something custom made, maybe Avast can build a big one for you? I would do the geo, I doubt you will need a custom made one if you have gone this far with only Kalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 Oh you dose 2 part also. Still I bet the big geo would work. I wanna see some pics steve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 Steve, what's your magnesium level? Calcium? Also, do you trust your alk test kit measurement? As for a calcium reactor, the Korallin C4002 is sized for your system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 As for a calcium reactor, the Korallin C4002 is sized for your system. I really wonder how there is any standard for aquarium equipment, the big geo says it's for tanks over 1000g and holds 50 lbs of media, the Korallin C4002 says it's for tanks 1600g but it only holds 22 lbs of media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 ^If there is a standard, I don't know of it. It makes things hard to compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 I really wonder how there is any standard for aquarium equipment, the big geo says it's for tanks over 1000g and holds 50 lbs of media, the Korallin C4002 says it's for tanks 1600g but it only holds 22 lbs of media. One way to think of it is this way, 22 pounds of media - once fully exhausted - should build 22 pounds of coral, regardless of how big the tank is. It boils down to what your tank's needs are (consumption) to hold calcium and alkalinity at their nominal levels, and how long the media that you provide will last before you toss it out. All things being the same, the media in the big Geo will last twice as long as the C4002, but you'll be running through twice as many CO2 cylinders getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 Deltec PF1001 cal reactor It will take care of your alk issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 February 18, 2012 Author Share February 18, 2012 Steve, what's your magnesium level? Calcium? Also, do you trust your alk test kit measurement? As for a calcium reactor, the Korallin C4002 is sized for your system. Jeff (NAGA): You know that I love Deltec and I agree that I would need the PF1001 were I to go Deltec, but I don't have room for such a tall reactor (that beast is almost 4 feet tall) in the (what I thought was a large) cubby I designed for reactors. Capped at ~ 24". Also, while my pumps on my skimmer are going strong at the 3 year mark, RC had many reports of the Deltec pumps on the Ca reactors failing with difficult replacement delays. Parameters: Alk 8.3 (Salifert) and 8.1 (Hanna) Calcium ~ 380 by both Salifert and Hanna pH 8.45 by Apex Mg 1450 (Salifert) While the big Geo is more expensive, I do like the relative size compared with the Korallin and it was not obvious that the Korallin has a pH probe option. Also, folks on RC seemed to be pretty pro-Geo. Anyone running a bigger Geo and unhappy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 Yes, the 4002 doesn't have a probe option (as I recall). I had to add one to my C4002. It was easy to do though. Just get a probe gland and drill and tap the lid. The pump on the C4002 is an Eheim and runs very quiet using very little power (thus, low operating costs). The plumbing on it is all metric, though. I just looked up the Geo - it looks like a beast, even though it's rather short. Something to note, the Eheim uses 28 Watts while the Pan World / Blueline 55 uses 180 Watts (according to some websites). Thus, it'll cost $150 more per year to operate since the circulation pump operates 24/7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 I would second the Deltec PF1001, I run a lot of Deltec and my CA reactor has definatly done its job. As far as the pumps going out, yes in time they do, according to Deltec there is a lot of backpressure on them to get them to fluidze properly and after a few years that may need replacing. I had to replace my impeller at year 3 and now the entire pump at year 6. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 February 18, 2012 Author Share February 18, 2012 Thanks everyone for their input. I just ordered the Geo. As mentioned, I am new to the calcium reactor world (2-part and Kalk have gotten me through decade 1). Any advice on media type: brand? Course vs. fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 I think that Geo recommends a coarse media for their large reactor, don't they? I've used this brand successfully: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/carib-sea-arm-calcium-reactor-media-large.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 (edited) I think that Geo recommends a coarse media for their large reactor, don't they? I've used this brand successfully: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/carib-sea-arm-calcium-reactor-media-large.html Tom is correct, Geo recommends the ARM coarse, I have a mixture of ARM coarse and extra coarse in my reactor and it seems to be working correctly. Edited February 19, 2012 by Big Country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 February 19, 2012 Author Share February 19, 2012 Oh you dose 2 part also. Still I bet the big geo would work. I wanna see some pics steve! I promise to post some pics, once I've something worth photographing. System has only been up since late Sept (not even 5 months old yet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 February 19, 2012 Author Share February 19, 2012 You guys recommend that I also use a mixture of the extra-course and course or go with just one of them? If latter, which one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 They recommend the ARM coarse, I just couldn't lay my hands on any, and needed some to get my reactor started up, so I grabbed some extra coarse. The extra coarse is very large and doesn't seem to be doing much in my reactor, I'd stick with just the ARM coarse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 They recommend the ARM coarse, I just couldn't lay my hands on any, and needed some to get my reactor started up, so I grabbed some extra coarse. The extra coarse is very large and doesn't seem to be doing much in my reactor, I'd stick with just the ARM coarse I know this is a little late, but why couldn't you just get a large pressurized tank and put a couple of toilet flanges on top with 4" PVC threaded plugs? I'm thinking perhaps it could be made of plywood and fiberglass, so a custom size can fit into whatever cabinet space you have. The 4" flanges would hold a decent amount of pressure and would enable you to pour in some type of material for calcium carbonate. I guess it depends on how large a system you mean by "large". I am thinking along this line because I also have a large system and think I will need a lot of bicarbonate and calcium for coral growth. If you need a viewing window in the box you can silicone one in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 I use the really small arm media in my geo and it does great. I tap on it everynow and then and see the milky disolved media float up. I run it from 6.39 to 6.59 and never had any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 February 27, 2012 Author Share February 27, 2012 One other question: I am planning to use a masterflex peristaltic pump as a dedicated feed pump for this beast but want to make sure that the flow range will cover what I need. Any guesses on what required feed rate will ultimately be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 27, 2012 Share February 27, 2012 One other question: I am planning to use a masterflex peristaltic pump as a dedicated feed pump for this beast but want to make sure that the flow range will cover what I need. Any guesses on what required feed rate will ultimately be? Not sure if that big geo has a higher flow through it, for my geo 618 I use a maxijet 1200 to feed it and I don't know exactly what the flow out is but it's 60-80ml/min if I remember correctly. I think the instructions from geo that came with mine recommended the pump to feed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 February 28, 2012 Author Share February 28, 2012 Thanks for all the advice everyone (esp. Big Country) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 28, 2012 Share February 28, 2012 Your going to need 50-60 ml/min to start Steve. Since the system is large any adjustments to that will take time to see the effect. Your probably going to need to test quite a bit to see what adjustments you make move your KH and CAL readings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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