Calcium Reactor Recommendations

Dan Man · Jun 30, 2017

I have been looking into adding a calcium reactor. I am having a hard time deciding on which brand to go with. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

gcarroll · Jun 30, 2017

It all depends on what features are important to you. What size is the tank? and what type corals are you keeping.

jeremy · Jun 30, 2017

I really like my Geo CR624.

hybridazn · Jun 30, 2017

You can't go wrong with a Geo's Reef CaRX @geo

I have a 618 with a secondary chamber and I love it. It's the one I'd recommend going with.

Dan Man · Jun 30, 2017

My current tank is a 90 gallon however I will eventually get a bigger one I'm sure. The reviews on various calcium reactors can be all over the place from "solid build quality" to "very cheaply made" so I am having a hard time sorting through all of that stuff. The other issue is that here in Denver no one has all of them lined up where you can look at them and compare and contrast.

Dan Man · Jun 30, 2017

gcarroll said:
It all depends on what features are important to you. What size is the tank? and what type corals are you keeping.

I have been transitioning to a more spa dominant tank. I am having a hard time sorting through the various features as to which ones are important and which ones aren't worth it.

pirate2876 · Jun 30, 2017

I use a Skimz and love it. I owned a GEO in the past but, I like the Skimz more.

greg 45 · Jun 30, 2017

Dan Man If you are looking for a calcium reactor that will last a lifetime and be work horse.
Look at Aquarium Engineering , They are made By Bill Wann here in the USA .
There is no one out the that can even compete with products , his product's are built to last a lifetime .
Read his service and repair page .

reefrf · Jun 30, 2017

pirate2876 said:
I use a Skimz and love it. I owned a GEO in the past but, I like the Skimz more.

Just curious. What or why do the like the skimz more?

gcarroll · Jun 30, 2017

greg 45 said:
Dan Man If you are looking for a calcium reactor that will last a lifetime and be work horse.
Look at Aquarium Engineering , They are made By Bill Wann here in the USA .
There is no one out the that can even compete with products , his product's are built to last a lifetime .
Read his service and repair page .

You are kidding right?

ndrwater · Jul 1, 2017

Um... Not a fan? Was gonna ask you Sunday...

greg 45 · Jul 1, 2017

gcarroll said:
You are kidding right?

KIDDING ABOUT WHAT
QUALITY

d2mini · Jul 1, 2017

greg 45 said:
Dan Man If you are looking for a calcium reactor that will last a lifetime and be work horse.
Look at Aquarium Engineering , They are made By Bill Wann here in the USA .
There is no one out the that can even compete with products , his product's are built to last a lifetime .
Read his service and repair page .

This is the one I'll be getting eventually. Just need to figure out if the 4" is big enough for my 120g. I think so?

mtraylor · Jul 1, 2017

pirate2876 · Jul 1, 2017

reefrf said:
Just curious. What or why do the like the skimz more?

A few things. I feel the C02 lasted longer and less was used. It has a nice sized pump which has a lot to do with the C02 lasting longer I think. Once I got it dialed in, it's rock solid. And, there is no big bubble at the top of the reactor either.

Zero Nitrates · Jul 1, 2017

+1 on Geo.

gcarroll · Jul 2, 2017

greg 45 said:
KIDDING ABOUT WHAT
QUALITY

What is better about the quality. What does it have other than a lifetime warranty. I don't know anyone who has ever needed to warrantee anything on a calcium reactor other than the pump and that isn't covered in Aquarium Engineering's warrantee. Even the design is nothing revolutionary.

hybridazn · Jul 2, 2017

gcarroll said:
What is better about the quality. What does it have other than a lifetime warranty. I don't know anyone who has ever needed to warrantee anything on a calcium reactor other than the pump and that isn't covered in Aquarium Engineering's warrantee. Even the design is nothing revolutionary.

While I do like what bill is doing I have to agree with @gcarroll. Bills stuff is nicely built but it has no touch, it has the look and feel of an engineer that has no taste in the finished product. In other words all function no fashion. And not to mention his prices are more than double of his competitors

greg 45 · Jul 3, 2017

So you would rather have a corvette looking pretty with a lawnmower motor in it.
I would rather have a crappy looking car that ran a 5 second quarter mile.
Pretty looking and not working properly , leaking , poor build quality don't cut it in my book .
Most units weigh nothing compared to his products , also no cheep uniseal's to leak / what a cheep way out
This is just my opinion

gcarroll · Jul 3, 2017

greg 45 said:
So you would rather have a corvette looking pretty with a lawnmower motor in it.
I would rather have a crappy looking car that ran a 5 second quarter mile.
Pretty looking and not working properly , leaking , poor build quality don't cut it in my book .
Most units weigh nothing compared to his products , also no cheep uniseal's to leak / what a cheep way out
This is just my opinion

You talk as though this is a big problem in the calcium reactor market. Bill hasn't even made enough of those reactors, for there to even be an adequate sample to evaluate. Has he even made 100 of these? How many has Geo made? I certainly have not heard those type of complaints coming from them.

I am not saying that Bill doesn't make a good product. I am saying that your claims of the other's on the market not being comparable to his product are IMO greatly exaggerated! Just because a product weighs more doesn't mean it is built better. Adding weight to a product to give the appearance of quality has been done before (see Beats headphones). Not saying that Bill does this but just saying that it is absolutely not a measure of quality!