Justin
Tue, 18th Aug 2015, 06:43 PM
Alright guys. I wanted to make this thread to get an opinion from the group on what they do to dose in their tanks. I myself have tried the following so far:
Kalkwasser: Great for very simple Alk and Ca and keeping my pH at the right level. The problem is the precipitate that comes from dosing it through your ATO into your sump. I would start to slowly get a Ca buildup in the chamber where I dosed the ATO/Kalk effluent into my return area. As long as I religiously cleaned my return, I was good but the eventual build up always had me worried. Not to mention the buildup would look unsightly in my sump.
BRS 2 part: I am currently dosing this way for my large tank but I find that it constantly needs adjusting and you need to find dosers to dose the different parts. I currently dose them with the BRS 1.1 ml dosers and my Apex fusion. Thank God for the various help sites on programming the dosers to get the daily dose you need. Not as easy as Kalkwasser but I like the idea of being able to dial in my Alk and Ca. In my tank, my Alk depletes much faster than Ca in my tank. In this situation, Kalk would no longer work for me as Kalk is rumored to dose equal amounts of Alk and Ca, which in my tank would slowly raise my Ca to levels unfavorable for my frags.
Ca Reactor: This is the next level I would like to get in. I like how it seems like it doses equal parts Alk and Ca but also trace elements that the corals need and makes the them readily available to corals. In fact, it probably doses the right ratio of Alk and Ca for corals since all I'm doing is liquefying coral skeletons so that corals can make new skeletons. The cost is a huge deterrent but since I have a spare CO2 tank from my planted days, I'm halfway there!
What are you thoughts and issues with the various ways to dose in your tank?
Kalkwasser: Great for very simple Alk and Ca and keeping my pH at the right level. The problem is the precipitate that comes from dosing it through your ATO into your sump. I would start to slowly get a Ca buildup in the chamber where I dosed the ATO/Kalk effluent into my return area. As long as I religiously cleaned my return, I was good but the eventual build up always had me worried. Not to mention the buildup would look unsightly in my sump.
BRS 2 part: I am currently dosing this way for my large tank but I find that it constantly needs adjusting and you need to find dosers to dose the different parts. I currently dose them with the BRS 1.1 ml dosers and my Apex fusion. Thank God for the various help sites on programming the dosers to get the daily dose you need. Not as easy as Kalkwasser but I like the idea of being able to dial in my Alk and Ca. In my tank, my Alk depletes much faster than Ca in my tank. In this situation, Kalk would no longer work for me as Kalk is rumored to dose equal amounts of Alk and Ca, which in my tank would slowly raise my Ca to levels unfavorable for my frags.
Ca Reactor: This is the next level I would like to get in. I like how it seems like it doses equal parts Alk and Ca but also trace elements that the corals need and makes the them readily available to corals. In fact, it probably doses the right ratio of Alk and Ca for corals since all I'm doing is liquefying coral skeletons so that corals can make new skeletons. The cost is a huge deterrent but since I have a spare CO2 tank from my planted days, I'm halfway there!
What are you thoughts and issues with the various ways to dose in your tank?