LFS Recommended Kent Liquid Reactor

[dconyers]

I was recently at a LFS in San Antonio and one of the employees convinced me to buy Kent Liquid Reactor. He said that since I can't drip lime in my tank (42G Hex w/no sump and I don't want a drip system over tank) and I don't have a Ca reatctor, this would be a good way to promote Coraline growth and provide a buffer to my tank. I bought the stuff and also bought a Calcium Test Kit and an Alkalinity test kit. I tested my tank and my Calcium is 450 mg/litre, even though I've never supplemented Ca and my Alkalinity is 4.0 meq/litre and I don't currently use any sort of buffer. My Ph is a bit low (8.0 last week and 8.1 this week). Will it hurt/help anything to start using this Liquid Reactor? I'm a pretty big fan of the 'low-maintenance tank', so I don't want to start doing things that won't help, but if this will help my coraline growth (I don't have much coraline at all), then I'll definitely start using this stuff! Is too much Ca a bad thing? The LFS employee also said this will help coraline growth because it will add Strontium and Magnesium, which I've never even tested for...

In short, should I mess with this stuff or not (I've already spent the $17.49)?


Thanks, doug.

[SuperXdude]

I dose weekly with calcium and strontium. The bottle says every 5 days, but I drop in a cap every Sunday afternoon, which is turning into my tank maintenance day.

I've noticed the coraline algae starting to grow in the last 3 weeks since I started it. Lighting helps as well, seeing how I got my VHO hood at the same time.

Now if I can just get the Coraline to spread throughout the whole tank instead of just one peice of rock.

SuperX

[matt]

It never fails to amaze me what these lunkheads at local fish stores will tell you. Gee, we sell magnesium and strontium products, they must be good for your tank...

Most real authorities, like leading authors/scientists with actual degrees and experience will tell you to not add any supplements other than calcium and carbonates. ESPECIALLY heavy metals like strontium and magnesium, if you can't test for them. Most salt mixes have way more of this stuff than exists in NSW. BTW, for buffer, you can safely and cheaply use baking soda. For kalkwasser mix, use pickling lime. You can walk out of HEB with several months supply of all the additives you need for about $2.

About the coralline, it would be helpful to know what's in your tank and what kind of light you have. 450ppm Ca and 4.0meq/l Alk are both quite high levels, higher than exist in NSW. If you've never added buffer or a calcium supplement, you must have a very low calcium load, or a lot of freshly added ASW. Probably your test kits might be reading high as well, as most commercial salt mixes like IO mix to less than those values. Don't worry, though, your tank is fine. If you're worried about ph, which i wouldn't be (unless you have a decent ph probe, you don't really know what it is anyway) you could mix up a teaspoon of pickling lime in some RO water (like a quart) and add it to your tank, a few slurps at a time over a several hour period.

Sorry for the rant. After a particularly odious experience with one of our lfs and aquarium manufacturers, I'm getting cranky.

Matt

[dconyers]

I currently use Aquarium Systems test kits. I find it pretty difficult to differientiate the colors, so, yes, my readings may not be completely accurate.

Thanks for the help, I think I'll dig around for the receipt and return the bottle!

Matt, just FYI.. My lighting is:
250W MH 4 hours per day
2x32W CF 8 hours per day

My load is minimal:
4 stalks xenia (added 3 weeks ago)
1 Tomato Clownfish
1 Jawfish
60lbs live/base rock (very little coraline)
lots of hermit crabs and various snails from garf.org.