Calcium reactor setup recommendations

JOKER · Nov 30, 2016

I am building a 140 shallow reef that will be SPS dominant. The total water volume will be around 200 gallons. I am looking into a calcium reactor setup instead of dosing at some point. What size would you recommend for this tank, also which equipment? thanks

Bpb · Nov 30, 2016

If you can get one. The MTC Pro Cal would be PERFECT for your tank along with a masterflex feed pump and dual stage co2 regulator

JOKER · Dec 3, 2016

I will check into them. Looks to be a great setup. I am tired of kalk and dosing. this would make life much easier, and I can adjust as tank grows. What regulator would you recommend? The pump that comes with the MTC isn't any good?

Bpb · Dec 6, 2016

The pump that comes with it is fine. But that is a circulation pump. With a calcium reactor you have a pump to circulate water through the reactor, and one to feed water through it. They advertise it as a self siphoning reactor but do some user review research and that method literally never works long term.

A cheap solution would be to use a small utility pump like a maxijet or a small mag drive and have a fairly fast effluent rate (steady stream) which will prevent clogging of the line. My complaint about that method is you burn through co2 very fast.

Another option is to use a commercial grade continuous duty rated peristaltic like a masterflex or a Watson & marlow. They're not cheap but highly reliable. You can also fine tune the dose rate from a fast stream down to something ultra slow drip.

As far as regulators go I like the custom built dual stage regulators. There are a couple threads detailing part sourcing for masterflex pumps and dual stage regulators on the other big forum. I can PM them to you if needed