Calcium questions

Brandon42 · Oct 28, 2015

will just adding some crushed coral to my sump give a similar affect as a calcium reactor?

abecker · Oct 28, 2015

I don't think it will. The calcium reactor uses CO2 to lower the PH and dissolve the calcium in the media. A saltwater tank operates at a higher ph and while it may slowly dissolve some calcium from the crushed coral, it wouldn't dissolve it at the same rate as a calcium reactor.

twilliard · Oct 28, 2015

Brandon42 said:
will just adding some crushed coral to my sump give a similar affect as a calcium reactor?

Welcome to R2R!

Good results will be noticed with 2 part dosing if there is no interest in dealing with a reactor

@Randy Holmes-Farley can give good insight on this

Brandon42 · Oct 28, 2015

its not that i don't want to deal with the reactor, its just not in my budget for the time being. new to keeping reefs but was hoping adding some to my sump would give some positive results.

abecker · Oct 28, 2015

Do you know approximately how much calcium you would need to supplement daily? If you need to supplement calcium/alkalinity there are others ways that are less expensive unless you had so many corals that the other methods either couldn't keep up or became too expensive.

Brandon42 · Oct 28, 2015

My tank is not up yet so no. im just trying to get ideas of how to counter/prevent not having enough calcium. but my tank will not have a ton of coral for a long time like i said new to reefing and dont want to get ahead of myself.

3dees · Oct 28, 2015

what are your concerns with calcium? what are your numbers at? what kind of coral?

abecker · Oct 28, 2015

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/2/chemistry

Here is an article by @Randy Holmes-Farley that explains a lot of different options very clearly.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 28, 2015

Brandon42 said:
will just adding some crushed coral to my sump give a similar affect as a calcium reactor?

No, it won't usefully supply any significant calcium or alkalinity.

Watch your alkalinity, and if it has not dropped (without any dosing), then you do not need calcium either.

If you do, a little bit of a two part system (DIY or commercial) is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to maintain things in the early days of a tank.