Calcium Reactor Media in ATO?

[Brian G.]

My calcium is a bit low at 390 and my alk is 8-9 so I am going to start dosing my tank. I know I can add kalkwasser to my ATO and was wondering if adding calcium reactor media might be better. From what I read it starts to dissolve at around 7.7. With RODI being 7.0 it should dissolve some of the media and I would assume it would eventually raise the PH and slow down the process. I have a covered tank so I do not have a lot of evaporation so I can store the media in the RODI for a few days before use.

My thought is I can dose cal, alk and trace elements all at the same time and it might be easier than kalkwasser. Has anyone ever tried something similar or have thoughts on if this will work at all?

I only have a frags of softies and LPS in the tank and it is a 120g with a R-300 sump.

On a separate note, what is a good magnesium test kit? Looking for recommendations here since that is one parameter I am not testing.

 

[ihavecrabs]

So Kalk will raise both alk and calc. I would find a 2-Part additive and only purchase the calcium portion of it.

If you do not have a current dosing regiment, you can do kalk or 2-part, but you'll need a calcium additive to get them to where you want them before starting either.

 

[Brian G.]

So Kalk will raise both alk and calc. I would find a 2-Part additive and only purchase the calcium portion of it.

If you do not have a current dosing regiment, you can do kalk or 2-part, but you'll need a calcium additive to get them to where you want them before starting either.

Thank you for the guidance. I think I will manually dose 2 part and magnesium for now to give it a little boost. Will also have my LFS test my water as a second set of eyes and look for some help there.

I will also pick up some calcium reactor media, place it in 3 gallons of RODI for a few days and then test it. Just curious if it will have any noticeable impact on the calc and alk levels of RODI say after say a week in storage.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My calcium is a bit low at 390 and my alk is 8-9 so I am going to start dosing my tank. I know I can add kalkwasser to my ATO and was wondering if adding calcium reactor media might be better. From what I read it starts to dissolve at around 7.7. With RODI being 7.0 it should dissolve some of the media and I would assume it would eventually raise the PH and slow down the process. I have a covered tank so I do not have a lot of evaporation so I can store the media in the RODI for a few days before use.

My thought is I can dose cal, alk and trace elements all at the same time and it might be easier than kalkwasser. Has anyone ever tried something similar or have thoughts on if this will work at all?

I only have a frags of softies and LPS in the tank and it is a 120g with a R-300 sump.

On a separate note, what is a good magnesium test kit? Looking for recommendations here since that is one parameter I am not testing.

I’ve discussed this in old articles. The problem is potency. Hardly any dissolves so you get hardly any additive effect.