Calcium reactor questions

[onetootreefor]

So I’m cycling my newest tank (waterbox platinum 130.4)

I’m strongly considering setting up a calcium reactor as this will be mainly an sps tank.

I’ve dosed for years and know how to dial it in and work it, but I’m confident I can figure out a calcium reactor.

My questions are what brand and what size reactor would be good for my sps Acro dominant tank?

Also, when dialing it in would i have to dial it in initially and readjust the more my corals grow like dosing or can i dial it in when I’m ready to add frags and forget about it? I’m sure there will have to be some adjustments as corals grow more but what’s the basic principal behind keeping stable parameters?

 

[Flippers4pups]

So I’m cycling my newest tank (waterbox platinum 130.4)

I’m strongly considering setting up a calcium reactor as this will be mainly an sps tank.

I’ve dosed for years and know how to dial it in and work it, but I’m confident I can figure out a calcium reactor.

My questions are what brand and what size reactor would be good for my sps Acro dominant tank?

Also, when dialing it in would i have to dial it in initially and readjust the more my corals grow like dosing or can i dial it in when I’m ready to add frags and forget about it? I’m sure there will have to be some adjustments as corals grow more but what’s the basic principal behind keeping stable parameters?

It's a matter of demand. I'm still not to a point of using one at this time a day I'm making out on coral growth. My pramameters and usage say no to me still to this day.

Just starting out, I would recommend just two part till the demand out weights the dosing, then switch to one.

 

[onetootreefor]

Thanks for the input!

I’m assuming I will need one based on demand in my current tanks it won’t take me long to grow out of my dosing needs.

I have a 30 gallon already dropping 1 dkh in a day due to my acros and I’m going to stock this heavy with coral

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thanks for the input!

I’m assuming I will need one based on demand in my current tanks it won’t take me long to grow out of my dosing needs.

I have a 30 gallon already dropping 1 dkh in a day due to my acros and I’m going to stock this heavy with coral

I'm using kalkwasser in my ATO top off reservoir. Alkalinity and calcium stay stable at 9.5 and 450. So likely if I wasn't using it I would be dosing heavily.

 

[onetootreefor]

Never dove into kalkwasser I’ll prob start there and see where it takes me seems to simple not to

 

[Flippers4pups]

Never dove into kalkwasser I’ll prob start there and see where it takes me seems to simple not to

It's a matter of tracking usage and adjusting the amount you put in. It's not always easy to do and takes time to dial in. Evaporation will vary depending on season and house humidity. Sometimes I need to bump alkalinity through dosing. I use 1 1/8 cup baking soda in solution in a gallon jug of RO/DI water and dose by hand when needed using this calculator:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

 

[lolgranny]

Never dove into kalkwasser I’ll prob start there and see where it takes me seems to simple not to

Super easy to use. Here is a good read.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/how-to-add-kalk-to-your-auto-top-off

I had a 400g with many colonies and hundreds of frags strictly doing water changes (65g every 2weeks) and using kalk with my ATO.

One thing to keep in mind is your ATO when doing this. Have redundancies to make sure if and when something fails that you have a backup sensor. Mine is hooked up via apex, the ato itself has 2 that come with it. I also have a pressure switch that turns the entire ato off if something gets stuck on.