Ca reactor or Kalk drip

[savoy6]

Ive got a 45 breeder display connected to a 30 long refugium been running for about six months now and havent lost anything coraline is covering the sides of the tanks and the pieces of limestone that I used as base rock. I want to add some clams and step up the growth on some of my sps's. Since my tanks are relatively small would it be over kill to put a reactor on this system or better just to drip Kalk. Right now im using seachem reef complete and reef builder.

[ratboy]

I would go with a Kalk dosing system. I drip Kalk 24/7 and my Ca levels stay above 400. I only have a few SPS frags and a lg derasa clam so a heavily stocked SPS/clam tank would prob need a Ca reactor or additioanl supplementation. One nice thing about Kalk is it precipitates phosphates and buffers the pH in addition to increasing Ca. They are alot cheaper than a Ca reactor as well. The only hassle w/ Kalk is having to mix up fresh all the time. Im moving to a 50 gallon resevoir then I should only have to mix fresh every week or so instead of every 3rd day. Oh and I read a good article dispelling the myth of Kalk going bad ...

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rhf/feature/index.htm

[Chuck]

What brand is your refugium? I want to set one up on a 75gl.

[JimD]

It really depends on the tanks requirements, a tank of your size with a low to medium requirement, once proper Ca and Alk levels have been achieved, dripping kalk may be all you need, however, as the load increases so does the requirement, ultimately, a well tuned Ca reactor runnng in tandom with kalk reactor is the ideal settup. I use a kalk reactor on my 65 and my stuff (clams sps) grow like crazy....
uhh, by the way, I know a guy that has some real nice kalk reactors available...... lol shameless plug.....
Jim

[Jimnorris]

And I know someone that should be working! I will take your one plug and add one too! After having AFEW of the best calcium reactors money can buy I now have none hooked up to my tanks! What I do have is a kalk reactor (2) made by JimD! There is nothing better! And if you are interested in a calcium reactor I have an AWESOME one sitting in the corner I will sell you! (My ReefCreation dual stage unit) With Jim's kalk reactor it is so simply and EASY! I have clams and (afew) ;) sps corals and they are very happy!
Jim

[ratboy]

Kalk is pretty idiot proof too. You dont have to monitor the effulent for pH (pH too low if CO2 is too high). Measurements of kalk added is not essential as long as you have enough excess to keep the kalk supersaturated. That surprises me though that Jim opted to go with Kalk instead of a Ca reactor. I guess with 2 Kalk reactors and the volume of water he must evaporate with all those MH's he can keep his Ca high enough w/ all his clams /sps. Jim do you run the reactor 24/7 or just in the evenings?

[Jimnorris]

I run the kalk reactor 24/7 yes! For the tank inside and 12 hours at night for the tank in the garage. I only use one per tank. But I just added a chiller for the tank inside and I used to evaporate about 5 gallons of water aday I am down to about a single gallon aday. I do add a two part additive one for calcium and one for alk. This keeps my calcium at 430 to 440 and alk 9 to 10. With each kalkreactor I fill it up with 4 tablespoons weekly---which takes about 30 seconds to do. Simple really is sometimes better (IMO)!
Jim

[JimD]

Kalk is also an excellent way to minimize the day/night Ph swing. And, it was the only thing that worked to eradicate a serious battle I had with dinos a few months ago. IE: P04 precipitation.

[savoy6]

so you can run a big reactor on a small system and not scuff anything up?

my refugium is homemade so no brand. But you could probably build one yourself for alot less than what you can buy one for.

[JimD]

Most, if not all trace elements will be sufficiantly replaced by regular periodic water changes using a premium salt. Im by no means promoting the kalk only process, Im merely reporting what has been working for my system. A Ca reactor in conjunction with kalk reactor for a larger system would be ideal. Im just no into the additional gadjetry and Im a firm believer in the "k.i.s.s." rule.
Jim

[OnyxPS2]

Kalk drip is also what I donand everything is very stable.

[fishtankrob]

what about the CA reactor for sale.... Please tell me about it.

[matt]

In my 45 breeder, dosing KW worked well until my corals grew to the point where KW just could not keep up with the demand. I would suggest starting with KW only, and watching it for a while. If you have really good coral growth, eventually you might have to supplement. I built a calcium reactor, and have it adjusted pretty low, while continuing to dose KW, although I'm using a weaker solution.

Here's my KW dosing set up: I use a 5 gallon glass jug with a 2 holed stopper mounted on a shelf next to the stand, just above sump level. In one of these holes is a long pyrex pipe that goes almost to the bottom, in the other hole is a short pyrex pipe. The short pipe gets connected to a vinyl tubing that's connected to a hard plastic cylinder suspended vertically at sump water level. The long pyrex pipe is connected to a vinyl hose that goes into the sump, under water level. This is the KW output, and the other is a siphon/air inlet. Once you start a siphon, KW flows into the sump until the water level reaches the bottom of the cylinder, cutting off air to the 5 gallon jug. This works great as an auto-top off, with KW as all top-off water.

If you're using KW only as a calcium/carbonate source, you might try spiking the KW with vinegar, up to about 30ml/gallon. This does two things; increases the solubility of calcium hydroxide in water, and lowers the ph so you can safely dose more KW.

I have to say, though, that since I got my calcium reactor up and running, my levels are more stable with basically no work. My 45 has a very high calcium demand; it's really crowded with sps colonies that were once frags.

Matt

[TexasState]

If you read my signature line, I plan on doing both method(adding Kalk and using a Calcium Reactor.)

[savoy6]

thanks matt I'll use that approach and ramp up to a reactor as demand increases.