Decision time

[Shawn_epicurious]

Yep, I’ve reached a decision point. A few of you may have seen a few of my threads. I am on a journey towards SPS... clams.. : ) more.

Really my journey is something different. I failed at this hobby my first try... in all honesty, I think it was my exterminator that got me the 1st time everything died. The second time... yeah, that was all me. I screwed it up.

I’m not good at failure. : ) There are 2 big differences this time. I can afford what I am doing and I have all the time I need this go around. (and I’m loving what I am doing) I have high hopes this time. I am looking for exotic ... rare...

Take a peek at my build thread : ) I almost have a Neptune-Trident system. (And some other things going on) : ) That stuff is hard to get your hands on...

Is a real calcium reactor the way to go? Or is 3part dosing okay? I don’t know all the theory names, but I’ve read them.

I am stuck in equipment phase and I don’t want to make any mistakes : )

Thoughts?

 

[Rick.45cal]

So you’ve got a pretty good sized tank (I had to go quick read your build thread). It looks very nice and you’ve done a lot of work to get it ready for success. The question you have now is kind of a complex one to answer. Ultimately with lots of SPS and clams you are going to have a very high demand system for Ca and alkalinity, and a calcium reactor is going to serve you the best, when that time comes. But, until you have high demand it’s likely going to be easier on you if you dose either a 2 part or a 3 part system (Like Tropic Marin Balling salts). You can probably get by with running a Calcium reactor now but I think it’s going to be hard to get it dialed in when your consumption is very low. (Other people who’ve done it may be able to chime in and comment on that). I personally dosed until it became too expensive/time consuming to continue anymore and then I set my calcium reactor up. The calcium reactor has been much less work on my part and has been a blessing. I hope this helps you a little bit.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

So you’ve got a pretty good sized tank (I had to go quick read your build thread). It looks very nice and you’ve done a lot of work to get it ready for success. The question you have now is kind of a complex one to answer. Ultimately with lots of SPS and clams you are going to have a very high demand system for Ca and alkalinity, and a calcium reactor is going to serve you the best, when that time comes. But, until you have high demand it’s likely going to be easier on you if you dose either a 2 part or a 3 part system (Like Tropic Marin Balling salts). You can probably get by with running a Calcium reactor now but I think it’s going to be hard to get it dialed in when your consumption is very low. (Other people who’ve done it may be able to chime in and comment on that). I personally dosed until it became too expensive/time consuming to continue anymore and then I set my calcium reactor up. The calcium reactor has been much less work on my part and has been a blessing. I hope this helps you a little bit.

Nice response Rick. That you for the time you just put into that : ) you are right. At the moment, I don’t need anything added to my tank. (Thank you for looking : ) I don’t have anything that needs it. I am almost positive I will end up with a real calcium reactor. I am a planner : ) somewhat OCD at times. How do I know when it is time? 3 SPS species? 10? Or... I guess, by watching the numbers.

is it as simple as... get one when calcium becomes a problem?

 

[Rick.45cal]

Nice response Rick. That you for the time you just put into that : ) you are right. At the moment, I don’t need anything added to my tank. (Thank you for looking : ) I don’t have anything that needs it. I am almost positive I will end up with a real calcium reactor. I am a planner : ) somewhat OCD at times. How do I know when it is time? 3 SPS species? 10? Or... I guess, by watching the numbers.

is it as simple as... get one when calcium becomes a problem?

You’ll know because you’ll be going through Calcium and Alkalinity solutions by the gallons in a few days, You’ll be tired of mixing them and checking on them constantly. That’s when you know a calcium reactor is going to help you out. When I switched over from dosing to a reactor I was dosing 1.6 liters of each part (A, B, and C) everyday. I could have switched over sooner, and in hindsight I probably should have, but everything was going great. My salinity was increasing extremely fast though and I was having trouble keeping it at acceptable levels so I knew I needed to switch over (plus it was getting VERY expensive buying Balling salts to keep up).

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

You’ll know because you’ll be going through Calcium and Alkalinity solutions by the gallons in a few days, You’ll be tired of mixing them and checking on them constantly. That’s when you know a calcium reactor is going to help you out. When I switched over from dosing to a reactor I was dosing 1.6 liters of each part (A, B, and C) everyday. I could have switched over sooner, and in hindsight I probably should have, but everything was going great. My salinity was increasing extremely fast though and I was having trouble keeping it at acceptable levels so I knew I needed to switch over (plus it was getting VERY expensive buying Balling salts to keep up).

Thank you! You rock!

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

You’ll know because you’ll be going through Calcium and Alkalinity solutions by the gallons in a few days, You’ll be tired of mixing them and checking on them constantly. That’s when you know a calcium reactor is going to help you out. When I switched over from dosing to a reactor I was dosing 1.6 liters of each part (A, B, and C) everyday. I could have switched over sooner, and in hindsight I probably should have, but everything was going great. My salinity was increasing extremely fast though and I was having trouble keeping it at acceptable levels so I knew I needed to switch over (plus it was getting VERY expensive buying Balling salts to keep up).

So... in reality... why not just do it now?

 

[Rick.45cal]

Thank you! You rock!

You’re welcome!

 

[Rick.45cal]

So... in reality... why not just do it now?

With a really low demand system it will be hard to set up a calcium reactor so it only provides a small amount of alkalinity and calcium, I’m sure it’s possible! But it may be more trouble than it’s worth to keep your alkalinity and calcium levels stable that way. Hopefully someone who’s started their tank out that way will chime in and give you some first hand experience of whether it’s a better way to do it or not. Like I said I chose to use dosing first and then switched over, so I’m only speaking in theory and not experience.

 

[X-37B]

Do 2 part for around 6 months. Get to know what the tank is doing before making the change. You will have a better understanding of what the demands are of your system and how they affect it.