Calcium reactor on AIO tank

[Madfragger]

I'm completely dumb when it comes to calcium reactors, but they have always peaked my interest....All my setups have used 2 part and/or kalk. is it possible to run a calcium reactor under the stand without a sump?? If anyone has an AIO with a calcium reactor running I'd like to see your setup and pick your brain.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[topjimmy]

I don't run one but if you were to use a peristaltic pump to pull water through it you could push it back up to the aquarium.

 

[Madfragger]

Would the peristaltic pump need to be programmed? Or just run continuously?

 

[Water Dog]

It depends on how you run your CaRx.

If you run the constant stream method, you’d set the peristaltic pump to run a high volume constant steady stream and adjust the pH level in your CaRx based on your Alk consumption.

If you run a constant pH in your reactor, say between 6.5 and 6.6, then you’d have to dial in the speed of your peristaltic pump to suit your consumption.

The preferred variable speed peristaltic pumps for this application for years have been industrial Cole Parmer Masterflex pumps found on eBay. However, new to the reef hobby scene in the past year has been the Kamoer FX-STP pump.

 

[Madfragger]

That sounds way more complicated than 2 part...or am I just over thinking it?

 

[Madfragger]

It depends on how you run your CaRx.

If you run the constant stream method, you’d set the peristaltic pump to run a high volume constant steady stream and adjust the pH level in your CaRx based on your Alk consumption.

If you run a constant pH in your reactor, say between 6.5 and 6.6, then you’d have to dial in the speed of your peristaltic pump to suit your consumption.

The preferred variable speed peristaltic pumps for this application for years have been industrial Cole Parker Masterflex pumps found on eBay. However, new to the reef hobby scene in the past year has been the Kamoer FX-STP pump.

That sounds way more complicated than 2 part...or am I just over thinking it?

 

[Water Dog]

What volume is your system and what type of coral do you keep?

Really a CaRx should be used in large volume tanks where Alk consumption is very high, where 2 becomes cost prohibitive.

With a CaRx system, the cheapest part is the actual calcium reactor IMO. The real expense is a quality variable speed peristaltic feed pump and quality CO2 regulator. With a CaRx set up, the upfront costs can be quite high, but once set up, it can provide rock solid stability. That’s why you see so many hardcore SPS keepers running a CaRx.

 

[Madfragger]

What volume is your system and what type of coral do you keep?

Really a CaRx should be used in large volume tanks where Alk consumption is very high, where 2 becomes cost prohibitive.

With a CaRx system, the cheapest part is the actual calcium reactor IMO. The real expense is a quality variable speed peristaltic feed pump and quality CO2 regulator. With a CaRx set up, the upfront costs can be quite high, but once set up, it can provide rock solid stability. That’s why you see so many hardcore SPS keepers running a CaRx.

It's a fairly new setup so demands aren't high right now just looking into the future...it will be sps dominant tank is a red sea E260 so its relatively small 69 gallons.... would probably be overkill for this system but like I said they have ways peaked my interest just never pulled the trigger

 

[Water Dog]

That’s not bad... I’m thinking of running my CaRx set up for my 57 rimless (36x18x20). I’ve slowly collected the components and built my own custom regulator.

GEO 612 & SMC415
Watson Marlow 505u pump
DIY stainless dual stage

 

[Madfragger]

That’s not bad... I’m thinking of running my CaRx set up for my 57 rimless (36x18x20). I’ve slowly collected the components and built my own custom regulator.

GEO 612 & SMC415
Watson Marlow 505u pump
DIY stainless dual stage

Nice! Thanks for answering my questions! As the tank load progresses and frags start to take off I'll see if 2 part can keep up.. do you have a build thread I can keep a watch on?

 

[Water Dog]

Soon. Just gotta finish up my DIY stand.

 

[Madfragger]

Right on well I'll keep a look out for it

 

[Water Dog]

Like you, I’m deciding between 2 part and using my CaRx setup on my 57 build. I also have a DOS and DDR ready to use ATI Pro Essentials (no water change method) as well. The ATI Pro Essentials intrigues me as well, especially if I can integrate it with my 2016 Apex, DOS and perhaps the Neptune Trident down the line. I plan on going full acropora on this build. But based on what I’ve seen of my fellow ARKSC club members in Connecticut, the stability and growth they get from using their CaRx setups is quite awe inspiring.

Whenever I get my build thread going, I’ll let you know. But I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been working on this stand forever so don’t hold your breath! #SlowestBuildEver

 

[Madfragger]

Lol slow just means your doing things the right way!! It seems once CaRx is setup the tank is kinda on auto pilot...with 2 part I always have to mess with it every few weeks as the demand increases. Maybe it's the same with CaRx but not having the experience first hand I dont know

 

[topjimmy]

That’s not bad... I’m thinking of running my CaRx set up for my 57 rimless (36x18x20). I’ve slowly collected the components and built my own custom regulator.

GEO 612 & SMC415
Watson Marlow 505u pump
DIY stainless dual stage

What did that set you back if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Martin Kuhn]

There is no autopilot
Once your tank changes (increases or decreases) it’s consumption, you should adjust your CaX reactor or your dosing.

The biggest difference is, that with dosing you are more flexible to adjust a single value
- Ca and Alk are Independently adjustable from each other with dosing only. This is required for tanks that consume Ca vs Alk not-balanced. You will see In several threads here in the Forum that this happens quite often. typically the Alk consumption is higher than the Ca consumption.
- Mg can be adjusted separately with most of the dosing recipes

In the end that results in CaX reactor owners have also either Ca , Alk, Mg salts or premixed liquid solutions available to CORRECT the values either before starting with the CaC reactor and/or besides running a CaX reactor.

 

[Water Dog]

I was quite frugal in sourcing everything. The reactor, secondary chamber, and Watson Marlow were all bought used on the forums and eBay. The regulator is all new components that I put together based on Alanle’s DIY regulator thread on RC. It’s all new parts sourced on eBay. The 5# CO2 tank was bought new on Amazon. Altogether I probably spent $1200.

 

[Madfragger]

There is no autopilot
Once your tank changes (increases or decreases) it’s consumption, you should adjust your CaX reactor or your dosing.

The biggest difference is, that with dosing you are more flexible to adjust a single value
- Ca and Alk are Independently adjustable from each other with dosing only. This is required for tanks that consume Ca vs Alk not-balanced. You will see In several threads here in the Forum that this happens quite often. typically the Alk consumption is higher than the Ca consumption.
- Mg can be adjusted separately with most of the dosing recipes

In the end that results in CaX reactor owners have also either Ca , Alk, Mg salts or premixed liquid solutions available to CORRECT the values either before starting with the CaC reactor and/or besides running a CaX reactor.

Auto pilot may not have been the correct wording lol I guess easier to adjust..but it seems supplementation is also needed for CaRx due to imbalanced requirements so I guess either way it's about the same...I will probably just stick with 2 part