Calcium reactor vs dos

[1quickz]

I’m new to corals and I had a question about calcium reactor. Does this replace the need to dos for alk cal and mg? If so which one is better for ur system . Maybe I’m thinking it’s doing somthing different then it really is.... maybe someone can answer a few questions for me or knowledge me in what it does how it works and what it replaces if it does ....

 

[George81]

It depends on the media being used. I’ve only ever used Carib sea arm. Which takes care of cal,alk,mag plus trace elements.
ive never used reborn, but have read about people mixing magnesium with it (if you can find it)
also It really depends on your systems uptake, some use a combination of dosing, reactor, kalk to maintain their systems requirement. However I think both you and I are a long way away from that.
short to mid term answer, yes a calcium reactor means you won’t have to dose.
I also find with my reactor my dkh and calcium stays pretty steady and stable.
also if your just starting out with frags, water changes may be enough. I only employed a calcium reactor because I had one from years and years ago and kalk wasn’t enough to maintain my requirements. plus I hate dosing.

 

[jda]

Yes, a calcium reactor replaces the need for 2/3 part dosing.

If you use natural media (aragonite, dolomite or calcite), then it will also replace the other traces that the things uptook when they made the stuff. Aragonite is the best since it is direct coral skeletons in most cases, but calcite and dolomite have other elements in them too.

Better is up to you. Whatever you choose should fit your personality. I use a calcium reactor since they work slow and cannot really crash your tank unless you are just not paying attention for days and days. I also like that I can replace reactor media every few months rather than every few days for 2/3 part. I have a tank with lots of corals, clams and especially coralline and I would use gallons of 2 part quite quickly. What works for me does not work for everybody.

If you are researching what might work for you, read up on Kalkwasser/Lime/Calcium Hydroxide. Worth a read and works for lots of people.

Eventually you will need to choose between 2/3 part, Calcium Reactor or Kalk. There are some other things that you can also do for smaller tanks that I don't know much about since I don't have small tanks.

 

[1quickz]

It depends on the media being used. I’ve only ever used Carib sea arm. Which takes care of cal,alk,mag plus trace elements.
ive never used reborn, but have read about people mixing magnesium with it (if you can find it)
also It really depends on your systems uptake, some use a combination of dosing, reactor, kalk to maintain their systems requirement. However I think both you and I are a long way away from that.
short to mid term answer, yes a calcium reactor means you won’t have to dose.
I also find with my reactor my dkh and calcium stays pretty steady and stable.
also if your just starting out with frags, water changes may be enough. I only employed a calcium reactor because I had one from years and years ago and kalk wasn’t enough to maintain my requirements. plus I hate dosing.

 

[1quickz]

I do have mostly softies torches hammers forgspawn but I did just start fraging zoas. I currently run apex and dos redsea alk cal and mg and balance for ph . I just was wondering if it’s worth the switch for a tank like mine if it will save the money and more efficient redsea 425xl mostly will be upgrading to a 200 gallon not too long