Calcium reactor on 75 gallon

[tgwebb4170]

My tank is SPS dominate its about a year old at this point and I have been 2 part dosing. I would like more automation and was looking into reactors but see some people don't really think they're necessary unless your tank is so large. Would anyone disagree with putting a reactor on a 75 gallon?

 

[Dtech07]

I agree with a Ca Reactor since I also wanted to automate some of my husbandtry in on tank. I have 75gal with a 55 refugium that's SPS HEAVY! And the constant adding of BRS Ca, ALK, Mag (daily) was creating a comstant swing in parameters which wasn't allowing the corals to really grow as in a stable condition tank. I was going to bug a doser whose price was the same as the AquaMaxx S2 Ca Reactor I purchased but I did math. I calculated how much in Ca, ALK, and Mag I would have to mix and keep ready for my doser, plus maintenance (that needed on any equipment) and replacement cost and possible errors and breakdowns.
My end decision was a Ca Reactor and its been just one of the best decisions I've made since setting up my tank. It's been running now for a year and after 10monrhs am I just cleaning and adding my media to the reactor. I purchased additional tubing or drip line from BRS (cheapest I've found) and change out the tubing if it needs it or not every 3 months and clean the drip valve. I bought a 20lb C02 from someone locally for $80 and two 5lb for $15 ea (did a WTB C02 tank on local forum) and cost me $40 to fill all three. At the current I won't need to fill the 20lb for another 2yrs and 5lb are my back ups.
Ca Reactors are very easy now to run and maintain IMHO just as dosers are but I like the fact that I'm using really coral to feed my tank that's not man made and I don't have worries that I get a (Bad Batch) and have to complain to the company about it. You can have issue with Ca Reactors like I cleaned my sump and did pay attention where my intake line was for the reactor and it was exposed to air which filled the reactor. Some would have panicked but I treated it just like when I first set up the reactor. I turned off the C02 opened the effluent wide open of course made sure that inline was back under water haha and let it running till all the extra air was cleared out the reactor. I then let my Ph in the reactor reach its highest point (7.99) then adjusted the Elluent of drip to a three drips a second then turned my C02 back on and adjusted the reactors Ph till it reached 6.60. All this took 4hrs and the tanks Ph, ALK, Ca, and Mag never swing.

That's my feeling on if you chose to invest into a Ca Reactor and if you chose to ease feel free to PM me if you have question I set several of this up a month for other reefer and be glad to assist if you need it.

 

[jduck]

Had one on my 90g. It all comes down to convenience and cost. How often/much do you have to dose?
If you already have a controller and 2 empty outlets you could get away with a couple dosing pumps. That would be the cheaper route. $200-300.
Otherwise for reactor $400+ . co2 tank $80, Ca reactor media $20, Ca reactor $200+, Co2 regulator $100+, Ph probe/monitor $?

 

[msp307]

I love my Geo612 set it and forget it no more alk swings

 

[Damon]

I faced the delima a few weeks ago and I decided to just stay with 2 part. My tank is sps dominated also.

My reason was simply, as stated cost and as I learned about a week ago, customized changes. I also will say that a Kalk stirrer osystem makes a huge difference. But with the stirrer, I only have to dose 1 minute an hour of alk(1.1ml), 1:10 minute an hour of calcium(approx 1.2ml), and 5 seconds a day of magnesium(aqualifter, so I think it's like. 5ml) This keeps my levels good and stable at:

440 calcium
8.4 alk
1450 magnesium
PH-between 8.13 and 8.31 daily.

All of this is because of the Kalk. With that, I don't have to dose much at all on my 110 with sump. You have to calculate at all out and give it time to stabilize but, you have that added flexibility (from what I read) to increase say your alk without adjusting your calcium to much. I had to up my alk by .5 and it was really easy. I just upped the time from 1 minute to 1 minute 10 seconds. That took it from 7.8 to 8.4 and is holding steady.

I don't burn through much additive because of the stirrer, and at this rate, I could do a much larger tank before needing a calcium reactor. My stirrer is set to turn on once an hour for a few seconds, and then, it shoots the water into the system with ato. My ato comes on one to two times a day, so this helps keeping everything up as far as levels.

I personally think a Kalk stirrer, after having one, is a great alternate to a calcium reactor as long as you have the evaporation for one. You add in a little two part, and it's a nice, stable mix. But every system is different. I just like the adjustability.

Calcium reactors are very cool looking and for me, maybe in a year when things grow out a lot more or i upgrade to another tank, I will have to evaluate again(I'm eyeing a 235 gallon). But I have a long way to go before that.

Sent from my SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

 

[tgwebb4170]

I agree with a Ca Reactor since I also wanted to automate some of my husbandtry in on tank. I have 75gal with a 55 refugium that's SPS HEAVY! And the constant adding of BRS Ca, ALK, Mag (daily) was creating a comstant swing in parameters which wasn't allowing the corals to really grow as in a stable condition tank. I was going to bug a doser whose price was the same as the AquaMaxx S2 Ca Reactor I purchased but I did math. I calculated how much in Ca, ALK, and Mag I would have to mix and keep ready for my doser, plus maintenance (that needed on any equipment) and replacement cost and possible errors and breakdowns.
My end decision was a Ca Reactor and its been just one of the best decisions I've made since setting up my tank. It's been running now for a year and after 10monrhs am I just cleaning and adding my media to the reactor. I purchased additional tubing or drip line from BRS (cheapest I've found) and change out the tubing if it needs it or not every 3 months and clean the drip valve. I bought a 20lb C02 from someone locally for $80 and two 5lb for $15 ea (did a WTB C02 tank on local forum) and cost me $40 to fill all three. At the current I won't need to fill the 20lb for another 2yrs and 5lb are my back ups.
Ca Reactors are very easy now to run and maintain IMHO just as dosers are but I like the fact that I'm using really coral to feed my tank that's not man made and I don't have worries that I get a (Bad Batch) and have to complain to the company about it. You can have issue with Ca Reactors like I cleaned my sump and did pay attention where my intake line was for the reactor and it was exposed to air which filled the reactor. Some would have panicked but I treated it just like when I first set up the reactor. I turned off the C02 opened the effluent wide open of course made sure that inline was back under water haha and let it running till all the extra air was cleared out the reactor. I then let my Ph in the reactor reach its highest point (7.99) then adjusted the Elluent of drip to a three drips a second then turned my C02 back on and adjusted the reactors Ph till it reached 6.60. All this took 4hrs and the tanks Ph, ALK, Ca, and Mag never swing.

That's my feeling on if you chose to invest into a Ca Reactor and if you chose to ease feel free to PM me if you have question I set several of this up a month for other reefer and be glad to assist if you need it.

So you have a aquamax? How is that working for you, ive been looking at the geo618. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[tgwebb4170]

Had one on my 90g. It all comes down to convenience and cost. How often/much do you have to dose?
If you already have a controller and 2 empty outlets you could get away with a couple dosing pumps. That would be the cheaper route. $200-300.
Otherwise for reactor $400+ . co2 tank $80, Ca reactor media $20, Ca reactor $200+, Co2 regulator $100+, Ph probe/monitor $?

I am okay with the pricing. I already expect to pay 700-800 from what it looks like which is fine. What reactor are you using?

 

[Damon]

You may want to also look at the geo 510.. I was looking at that and the avast smallest unit.

The avast, if you build it, takes a massive chunk out of the price. The geo does also, just the avast even moreso.

Sent from my SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Dtech07]

So you have a aquamax? How is that working for you, ive been looking at the geo618. Any advise would be appreciated.

It's working great! It a silent running recycling system so it creates a more stable and true Ph reading in the reactor. I also have a Geo618 as a back up but between the AquaMaxx in ever way has been easier to control and manage.
I have a friend who is dosing on the same size system as mine and she's already gone past the cost they I have invested in my system and after next year she'll have paid more in media than I have. It cost me for maintenance and media a year $52 while she's paying $200-300 in Ca, ALK, and Mag. In the long run Ca Reactors are cheaper.

 

[Dtech07]

Oh and the I went with the AquaMaxx S2 because it was rated at 400-500gallon tanks (overkill) this was to ensure that IF I increased to a larger tank or expand (which I did with a 60gal frag system) that the reactor could continue to support it as the increased growth would increase the need of elements.

 

[tgwebb4170]

Oh and the I went with the AquaMaxx S2 because it was rated at 400-500gallon tanks (overkill) this was to ensure that IF I increased to a larger tank or expand (which I did with a 60gal frag system) that the reactor could continue to support it as the increased growth would increase the need of elements.

How often do you find yourself adjusting the bubble count on your reactor? It seems its about the same as 2 part dosing eventually your corals just use up a bit more resources and you have to adjust. Do you check your bubble count daily or weekly?

 

[tgwebb4170]

I love my Geo612 set it and forget it no more alk swings

Did your Geo come with a PH controller?

 

[Dtech07]

How often do you find yourself adjusting the bubble count on your reactor? It seems its about the same as 2 part dosing eventually your corals just use up a bit more resources and you have to adjust. Do you check your bubble count daily or weekly?

I dont adjust my bubble count it set at 1 bubble a second and effluent is at 3 drops a second which is giving me 9.3DKH/8.2PH in the tank and a Ph of 6.60 in the reactor. whenever the time comes to adjust the Co2 bubbles it will be easy with the regulator i purchased CarbonDoser Electronic Co2 Regulator it controls down to fractions of a bubble to keep Ph swings to almost unnoticed levels. but no i have a very heavy SPS stocked tank IMHO unless you really don't know what your doing with your Ca Reactor you should need to constantly adjust your bubble count. Also i leave my Effluent set to one stream and only adjust the bubble count (when first setting up) reason because of the bubble control i have will make the needed alk, ca, mag, adjust needed, playing with both can cause swings and wasted time trying to re-stablize the system.

 

[rossco]

I ran a GEO 618 on my 75 and highly recommed one. I wouldn't go any smaller if you are planning on SPS domination. Right at the end before I upgraded tanks i had to max it out and even dose a little to keep up with consumption. This is the last FTS I took before the upgrade. I couldn't clean the front panel in a lot of areas without breaking corals.

 

[Dtech07]

It's crazy how the Coraline algae starts to get. Great FTS!

M.I.A Don't worry I'll be found!

 

[childress5tyler]

I ran a GEO 618 on my 75 and highly recommed one. I wouldn't go any smaller if you are planning on SPS domination. Right at the end before I upgraded tanks i had to max it out and even dose a little to keep up with consumption. This is the last FTS I took before the upgrade. I couldn't clean the front panel in a lot of areas without breaking corals.

Holy crap! All of those casted such a shadow! Awesome!

 

[childress5tyler]

Did your Geo come with a PH controller?

I've got a brand new pH controller laying around that I'd sell

 

[tgwebb4170]

So I got everything set up. Its been about 5 days since I set it up. ALK was at 9.0dkh for 3 days while calcium was at a steady 420 however, I woke up this morning and now my alk looks like it may be at 10dkh which kind of worries me. I understand you cannot raise one without the other. My BMP is currently 32 and my effluent is currently 50ml per minute. PH is staying steady at 8.2. I am hoping over the course of the day my ALK will drop with evaporation but at the same time am worried it may not drop and I may need to make an adjustment. PH controller is currently set 6.6 and I know if I lower that to 6.5 it will just increase my alk and calcium but if I lower my effluent rate to much I could have a PH drop. Should I just let it sit for a bit longer see if it drops from 10dkh or would anyone have any other suggestions? Is it normal for your parameters to fluctuate a little?