Calcium Reactor

cb684 · Mar 13, 2016

Dosing 2 part:
1. Measure Ca and Alk (in your case 360 and 6 respectively on Friday)
2. Measure your Ca and Alk 1 to 3 days later
3. The difference between the two measurements is a ballpark of your consumption (a ballpark because the tests are not accurate). Divide by the numbers of days between the first measurement and second and you will get an estimate of your daily consumption. Depending on the system you will need a larger interval to see changes in Ca concentrations.
4. Use the calculator at (http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html) and follow the instructions to calculate how much you need to bring your Ca and Alk to the concentration of the first measurement.
5. If you want to increase your Ca and/or your alk add 10 - 20% to the value you got on step 4. 10 - 20% is a conservative number that works for me, others may use more.
6. Measure Alk daily and Ca every week to adjust the values. Adjust accordingly.
Good luck!

Conman33 · Mar 13, 2016

Randy's recipe works great now for my 120 I use a dosing now before I had an issue with it when I didn't have a pump Sence I got a dosing pump it works awesome brought my levels up and when the where at target I ajusted the pump to stay there

Breakthecycle2 · Mar 13, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Is B-ionic what you are using? The product being used matters.

Yes. This is the product I am using.

Breakthecycle2 · Mar 13, 2016

Conman33 said:
Randy's recipe works great now for my 120 I use a dosing now before I had an issue with it when I didn't have a pump Sence I got a dosing pump it works awesome brought my levels up and when the where at target I ajusted the pump to stay there

Whats the recipe? I am sure I missed it.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 13, 2016

Breakthecycle2 said:
Whats the recipe? I am sure I missed it.

BRS uses it, but the original article is here:

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

dangros · May 7, 2016

helldiver said:
The geo is awesome but the new vertex duo has all the bells and whistles I love it

I considered the Vertex but due to the great reviews, I ended up getting the Geo with a Carbondoser regulator. I didnt just look at the reviews but "who" had them and what kind of systems they were running. My system is as stable as ever and I never have worry about pH. http://www.aquariumplants.com/CarbonDoser-Electronic-Co2-Regulator-p/co2.htm
I hesitated at the cost but in hindsight it was worth every penny. Now, I just check alk every 2 weeks or so and adjust accordingly - if necessary. My pH is at 8.05 during the day and 7.95 at night. If I mix a TINY amt of kalkwasser in my ATO it's even more stable. Hard to beat that.

fab · May 7, 2016

Outstanding device. Great personal attention from manufacturer when needed.

zoomonster · May 7, 2016

I've been using the Geo with the carbon doser regulator for close to two years now. Its a good system but you would do well to consider a two chamber system if doing a new purchase. The main issue I had was the effluent flow never being consistent because of clogging of the micro valve they included, air locking and of course PH effect. That resulted in issues including an eventual alk crash that cost me a lot of sps. I had considered several options like a peristaltic pump but ended up going to the constant flow method (rather than drip) with a better effluent valve. The constant flow method also addressed the issue of the Geo becoming frequently air locked (mostly side effect of valve getting clogged) and reduced CO2 consumption. I also used an MR1 reactor and added a second chamber to the Geo the effluent flows through. To round out the picture I added an Aquamedic kalk stirrer that my ATO runs through.

In the end my PH is consistent (past two weeks 8.08-8.3) and I currently have alk dialed in at a steady 9. If you test nothing else test your alk frequently.

One other thought about the Geo is it does not include a pump but most vendors include a Eheim 1048/600 universal in the package. I had to replace the impeller on the first, then the shaft broke and I'm on a second new pump. That could have been from the pump cavitation caused when the reactor gets air locked.

dangros · May 7, 2016

zoomonster said:
I've been using the Geo with the carbon doser regulator for close to two years now. Its a good system but you would do well to consider a two chamber system if doing a new purchase. The main issue I had was the effluent flow never being consistent because of clogging of the micro valve they included, air locking and of course PH effect. That resulted in issues including an eventual alk crash that cost me a lot of sps. I had considered several options like a peristaltic pump but ended up going to the constant flow method (rather than drip) with a better effluent valve. The constant flow method also addressed the issue of the Geo becoming frequently air locked (mostly side effect of valve getting clogged) and reduced CO2 consumption. I also used an MR1 reactor and added a second chamber to the Geo the effluent flows through. To round out the picture I added an Aquamedic kalk stirrer that my ATO runs through.

In the end my PH is consistent (past two weeks 8.08-8.3) and I currently have alk dialed in at a steady 9. If you test nothing else test your alk frequently.

One other thought about the Geo is it does not include a pump but most vendors include a Eheim 1048/600 universal in the package. I had to replace the impeller on the first, then the shaft broke and I'm on a second new pump. That could have been from the pump cavitation caused when the reactor gets air locked.

I've never had any clogging issues and as of yet, haven't seen a need for 2 chambers. When you refer to drip vs flow methods, I'm a bit confused. I keep the pH in the reactor a little higher and as a result, the effluent has to flow out at a faster rate - it's definitely not dripping. Is that what you mean?