Calcium reactor or dosing 2-part additives

[Khanh]

Hi friend,

I’m using calcium reactor but now I want to switching to dosing 2-part additives

• What do you think about the difference between dosing 2-part additives and calcium reactor?
• Soda ash and sodium bicarbonate are available on BRS, could you please show me which one is better?

Thanks so much

 

[X-37B]

I dosed 2 part in my nano for over 2 years and dose on my 45 frag tank now.
My 120 was dosed for 5-6 months.
Now run a carx.
Going to do a carx on my frag when demand is there.
I run no controller no ph meter and run manmade media.
Very simple to setup and run with excellent stability.
Dosing on smaller tanks is a breeze imo.
They both work very well but I will not go back to 2 part.

Why do you want to switch?

 

[Khanh]

Thanks for your sharing

My PH controller is getting mad and reefers told me should exchange PH electrode every year. Could you please show me how to run calcium reactor without PH controller?

Many thanks

 

[X-37B]

Just search member jda. He explains it all.
I will chime in later today after work.

 

[Khanh]

Thanks so much 90’s reefer

Please show me how to do with easy English

Thanks again

 

[X-37B]

Did you read any of member "jda"
Calcium reactor setup?

What equipment are you using?

Tank size?

Current parameters?

 

[Khanh]

Sorry, I haven’t read yet.

I’m using:
Calcium reactor Buble Magus C120-1AT
Kamoer FX-STP peristaltic pump (running 20ml/ml)
PH controller Weipro set PH 6.6, but now getting mad sometimes switchs to 6.4 - 6.8 ... itself. I would like to change the new PH controller, but most of my friends told it will be crazy after few months. I’m from Vietnam where has no many brands of PH controller to choose.

Like you, my friend told me calcium reactor can work without PH controller, it’s depend on CO2 drop adjustment

Tank (LPS): 217g
Sump: 45g

Parameters:
PH: 8
KH: 7 - 7.3 (target 7.5)
Mg: 1350
Ca: 400
NO3: 0
PO4: 0

 

[X-37B]

Do you run a 2 stage regulator with a needle valve?
What is your co2 bpm?
What you do is set co2 bpm and effluent mlpm to get 20-25dkh
comming out of your reactor and turn off your controller as the co2 is always on.
You adjust your co2 bpm up or mlpm effluent down to get the 20-25dkh.
Only do one at a time and wait 24 hrs to test.
You can test tank dkh also as once output dkh is in range it will hold tank dkh.
My 120 runs 64bpm co2
and 25-30mlpm effluent as an example.
I do not run ph in reactor or a controller.
I have checked my effluent ph and its 6.7 bit I do not monitor it.
I was just curious as to what it was.

This for me is 20dkh and holds my tank at 8dkh +-.02.

 

[Khanh]

Thanks so much friend. I will follow what you showed then report after few weeks

Have a nice weekend

 

[MJNTWise]

@Rogergolf66 runs a calcium reactor and uses a ph probe as a reference and not as a control....he raises his co up and down depending on his alk uptake....He has a Trident but don't trust it just yet to control his CO....

 

[Khanh]

You adjust your co2 bpm up or mlpm effluent down to get the 20-25dkh.

What test kit do you use test effluent?
I’m using Hana HI755, the range is 0-300ppm (~16.8 dkh)

 

[X-37B]

What test kit do you use test effluent?
I’m using Hana HI755, the range is 0-300ppm (~16.8 dkh)

You need the salifert and use the low range and multiply by 2. Hanna only goes to 300.

 

[Khanh]

Yes, I have one, I will try

Thanks again

 

[Juan Andrés Botero R]

Calcium reactor is the best for the reef!, low cost, high stability, easy to care!

 

[Bulk Reef Supply Verified Sponsor]

Hi friend,

I’m using calcium reactor but now I want to switching to dosing 2-part additives

• What do you think about the difference between dosing 2-part additives and calcium reactor?
• Soda ash and sodium bicarbonate are available on BRS, could you please show me which one is better?

Thanks so much

To answer your first question, here are a few main differences between calcium reactors and two part dosing that come to mind (many of which you probably already know about).

Number of solutions- With a calcium reactor, we're basically melting old coral skeleton so that the corals can use that to form new coral skeleton. To that end, you're using a media rather than liquid solutions like calcium chloride and sodium (bi)carbonate. What that effectively means is that you're dosing one solution with a calcium reactor vs two with two part. If you're also dosing magnesium in your calcium reactor, you're cutting it down even more from 3 solutions down to just one.

Required equipment- As you already know, a calcium reactor does require more equipment and does take up more room. That said, since you already have it all, it's one of the more efficient ways to go for higher demand systems. As long as you have a reactor and CO2 tank large enough, you shouldn't need to maintenance it very often. How often you maintenance two part really just depends on your dosing reservoir and tank consumption rate.

pH- While a calcium reactor has a lowering effect on pH, two part (soda ash in particular) can actually help raise pH. If you're trying to grow corals faster, this is usually beneficial.

Salinity- One of the down sides of dosing a large amount of two part is that you end up raising salinity over time. This is because calcium chloride + sodium carbonate results in calcium carbonate (coral skeleton) and sodium chloride. If you're doing regular water changes, this usually isn't a huge deal, but definitely something to be aware of.

To address your last question- you asked what is the difference between sodium carbonate (soda ash) and sodium bicarbonate. I could go on about the differences, but instead, I'd suggest checking out this quick video where Ryan answers this question. Click HERE to watch