Kalk reactor or CA reactor - I'm tired of B-Ionic

[mirkus]

Me: a religious daily doser of B-Ionic for the last 7months. I want a vacation.

I have recently set-up a 30 gallon tank that will primarily house SPS/Clam and a few LPS.

Do I go with a Kalk reactor or CA reactor? I'm worried about the PH dropping too low with CA reactor, and not being able to get the co2 dialed in properly due to the small tank.

Will a Kalk reactor meet SPS kalk/alk demands without causing the PH to rise too much?

Plus I would like to fit all of this in the tank stand.

 

[GSchiemer]

The other option is to purchase a dual automatic dosing pump, such as the Spectrapure LiterMeter III, and automatically dose B-Ionic. This is what I do on both a 38 and 42 gallon reef aquarium. I dilute each part of B-Ionic with enough make-up water for 10 days. The LiterMeter doses each part automatically over that period, so I only have to fiddle with it every 10 days, and it replaces evaporated water to boot. Couldn't be easier and it's VERY reliable.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

If you're already going to setup an auto-topoff using a literMeter you might as well just use limewater for topoff. If you have a good skimmer then the PH shouldn't rise much if at all.

 

[Len]

Hey Greg, did you have to get a seperate pump module to do the two part dosing?

mirkus, you shouldn't have problems with either types of reactors. In a smaller tank, a kalkreactor might be easier to use, but any overdosing could be catastrophic. Both types will supply you all the Ca and alk you need in a small tank.

 

[mirkus]

on the CA reactor :What about effluent lowering the PH?

 

[GSchiemer]

Hey Greg, did you have to get a seperate pump module to do the two part dosing?

Len,

Yes, I have a second pump module. You can add up to two additional pump heads, which are both computer controlled through the main pump module. It's adjustable down to a ml per day. I've been using this setup for years and it hasn't skipped a beat! I can't say the same thing about any of the other dosing systems in the aquarium marketplace, and I've tried most of them.

Greg

 

[Len]

mirkus,

You can control pH within the reactor chamber by a combination of adjusting the flow/drip rate of the water and obviously by adjusting the CO2 bubble count. For a smaller tank, the flow through rate is proportionally less which means the reactor's pH will less likely effect your tank's pH. In other words, it's not a big concern. The buffered alkanity provided by the reactor will also help insure pH doesn't deviate too much.

 

[DK]

hi, I reccommend both a ca reactor and a kalk reactor. I would buy the ca reactor and use a good size co2 cylinder (5 lb or more) and do a diy kalk reactor tied into an auto top off system. As mentioned above, if you are using a dosing pump, run it through the kalk reactor, the higher ph will be off set by the low ph output of the ca reactor......great balance.

The alternative would be to get the b-Ionic doser. I am using one on my office tank and it works well. The ca & kalk reactor are on my home systems w/300+ g soon going to 500g+. new 220 coming real soon.

 

[Anonymous]

wow, how much calcium are you going through daily that you need to add b-ionic every day?

 

[mirkus]

I recently started dosing with the 30 gallon. I'm not too concerned because there are only a 4 sps frags in there. As they grow and I add frags the demand will increase.



my minibow.... requires roughly 8ml per day

 

[Anonymous]

IF it were me I would go with the kalk doser for a tank that size. Start with a slow dip and go from there.

 

[DK]

I thought the 30g is an additional tank.......if the 30 is by itself, I would agree with Wazzel. You can then add the b-ionic once or twice a week.

 

[mirkus]

Okay, i guess I am leaning towards:
1. Kalk reactor
2. B-ionic doser
3. Calcium reactor


I don't have an auto-top off yet so the Kalk reactor will force me to do that!

 

[Ben1]

I use a kalkreactor on my 40 breeder sps tank. It gets all top off through the geo kalkreactor and I still need to dose it with CA and ALK everyday to keep my levels right. It isnt heavly loaded yet but just goes to show even a small tank can suck down a lot.