Calcium reactor in the future?

[tigé21v]

I have a medical peristaltic pump, but it's old and doesn't run slow enough.

I've seen reactors just running off a small pump.

What is the brand of the pump? If it's a Masterflex, you can probably buy a different-sized (smaller) head for it. Ebay has them all the time.
And if it IS a Masterflex, old or not, it will probably outlast all of us. They are built like tanks. (Probably because of their intended use, and trying to avoid lawsuits. lol)

 

[Flippers4pups]

What is the brand of the pump? If it's a Masterflex, you can probably buy a different-sized (smaller) head for it. Ebay has them all the time.

Aesculap. They don't make it anymore. I work for them.

 

[tigé21v]

From everything I've read, a variable-speed peristaltic pump is the way to go for rock-solid performance and ease of use.
ToXIc has a thread on here explaining how to set up a reactor with a peristaltic pump, and answering questions. I could not find the thread, but he also posted a vid

 

[Flippers4pups]

From everything I've read, a variable-speed peristaltic pump is the way to go for rock-solid performance and ease of use.
ToXIc has a thread on here explaining how to set up a reactor with a peristaltic pump, and answering questions. I could not find the thread, but he also posted a vid

I've seen this video before, but thanks for posting it. The question I have about a constant stream of effluent is where does his PH land doing this in his DT?

 

[bubbaque]

I've seen this video before, but thanks for posting it. The question I have about a constant stream of effluent is where does he's PH land doing this in his DT?

I used this method before going with the masterflex at a slower flow and it made no difference in tank ph.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

As I'm planning the next six months on my tank reset, I contemplating adding a calcium reactor. Ive been seeing some unbelievable growth and colors coming from tanks using them.

Calcium reactors are a fine way to go. Having said that, I think sometimes the level of success attributed to them is a bit overblown.

There's nothing special about supplying calcium and carbonate alkalinity by melting coral skeletons. Some people claim that the trace elements make the difference, but there aren't any good data to back this up, and even Randy Holmes-Farley says that this is just not true.

People also claim that calcium reactors are more stable, but again, I think this is correlative rather than a feature inherent to calcium reactors. Cheap calcium reactors start at around $300 - $400. That often doesn't include the regulator or the pH electrode or the pH controller. Consider the reefer that is willing to spend almost a thousand dollars just to supplement calcium and alkalinity. Then, consider this reefer's counterpart, the one who spends $15 for some two-part and $50 for a cheap Jebao dosing pump. This is a gross generalization, but which of these two reefers do you think is more invested in the hobby? Which do you think is going to be paying more attention to their tank on a daily basis? Which of these two solutions do you think will be more robust from the standpoint of mechanical failures, the $50 dosing pump or the $1,000 calcium reactor setup? I think that reefers who use calcium reactors in general are more experienced, and more experienced reefers are better at keeping tanks stable. Even if all of this is logical nonsense (which is entirely possible since it's all my opinion and experience), at the end of the day, there's no feature inherent to a calcium reactor that makes it more stable than two/three part. If you have a quality dosing pump that can dose every hour, there's no reason that two part can't match a calcium reactor in stability.

People also sometimes claim that a calcium reactor doesn't alter the sodium/chloride/sulfate balance of a reef aquarium like two/three part might, but per Randy Holmes-Farley, the effect of two part on ion balance is negligible if dosed properly. When using all three parts of Randy's system, chloride, sodium and sulfate will only be off by 0.5%, -0.3% and 0.4% respectively. And that's after an entire year of dosing with absolutely no water changes.

I am by no means against calcium reactors, and I certainly don't intend to talk anyone out of getting one. At the end of the day, this is a hobby, and enjoyment really should come second only to animal welfare. Even if there was an objectively better choice between two-part and a calcium reactor (which I don't think there is), the right choice is still the one you like best. I just think there's a lot of mythical status given to calcium reactors. They're a fine solution, but so is a balanced two-part system.

EDIT: Sorry Flippers, didn't mean to threadjack.

 

[bubbaque]

Just in the since that a calcium reactor doses non stop makes it more stable than something that does once an hr or even every minute. I doubt that type of stability is needed but a calcrx is definitely more stable.

A calcrx also has a less chance to nuke your tank if there is an equipment failure.

 

[Sallstrom]

A calcium reactor is not 100% in any way, it doesn't add all elements needed and sometimes you probably needs to adjust the Ca/Mg/KH ratio. But used the right way it's a good base equipment to keep a large tank with stony corals.
We run three of them right now at work, ans two of them have been running over five years. We test our water at Triton lab (ICP)and adjust the parameters that need to be adjusted. Often we don't need to add that much of K, Sr, Ca, Mg etc. Other things we dose a lot, like I, Mn and Fe. So together with ICP testing it works well for us and have been for over four years.

The only thing I have to compare with which I've worked with is Core7. That's great stuff, but in a large tank you need a lot and with many tanks it's a lot of calibration of dosing pumps and refilling bottles etc.
Now two of our tanks is running with both calcium reactors and Core7, but that's because our tanks have become pretty heavy stocked with stony corals and our reactors can't keep up. Been running like that a couple of months, looks okey so far


/ David

 

[BoomCorals]

From everything I've read, a variable-speed peristaltic pump is the way to go for rock-solid performance and ease of use.
ToXIc has a thread on here explaining how to set up a reactor with a peristaltic pump, and answering questions. I could not find the thread, but he also posted a vid

So are there any standalone ph controllers that can set an on and off point only .1 apart? Or does this require something like ghl or apex.