1992 for me. There were no dosing pumps that were readily available back then, so you dripped kalk, or just added baking soda or calcium chloride into your sump all at once - swings were never a problem back then.
There is nothing better than a CaRx if you use natural media, IMO. Not only does it add the big three, but also a bunch of traces that were uptaken by the coral as they grew the skeletons that you are now melting. Now, I wonder if I could even evaporate enough water to add in saturated 2 part to keep up with demand - I melt 50 lbs of media every 6-7 months, or so.
They don't have to affect your pH if you tune them right. Mine barely moves with the reactor on, or off... but I do know how to keep excess co2 from escaping the reactor. Most of the time, lower tank pH when using a calcium reactor is a byproduct of too much co2 escaping the reactors which usually comes from using a pH controller, solenoid and the "dumping" method of adding co2 to the tank.
