Marble or limestone in Calcium reactor??

Chameleon · Sep 4, 2012

Can I use marble or limestone in my calcium reactor?? Thoughts...

kuyatwo · Sep 4, 2012

i would not use marble

i use carib sea crushed coral

Florida Crushed Coral for Aquariums

Chameleon · Sep 4, 2012

kuyatwo said:
i would not use marble

i use carib sea crushed coral

Florida Crushed Coral for Aquariums

Any particular reasons why? I was thinking it is denser so you can fit more in your reactor at a time meaning less refills

revsgirl · Sep 5, 2012

:bump2:

CJO · Sep 5, 2012

Chameleon said:
Any particular reasons why? I was thinking it is denser so you can fit more in your reactor at a time meaning less refills

Think about why you are using the calcium reactor... to put the element in the water you need to grow your corals. What has the exact elements you need and in the exactly correct proportions? Dead coral!

CJ

returnofsid · Sep 5, 2012

The purpose of a Calcium Reactor is to add Calcium and Alkalinity to the water, as bicarbonate material dissolves. Marble is not a bicarbonate material and won't dissolve, releasing Calcium/Alkalinity into the water. Limestone is a bicarbonate material.

Chameleon · Sep 5, 2012

CJO said:
Think about why you are using the calcium reactor... to put the element in the water you need to grow your corals. What has the exact elements you need and in the exactly correct proportions? Dead coral!

CJ

Depending on where that coral was grown of course. Certain trace elements may be higher in particular oceans than others and at different points in the history of the ocean. so yes you are basically correct, but the majority of chemicals used in calcification are calcium and bicarbonate which are present in the correct ratios for calcification.

returnofsid said:
The purpose of a Calcium Reactor is to add Calcium and Alkalinity to the water, as bicarbonate material dissolves. Marble is not a bicarbonate material and won't dissolve, releasing Calcium/Alkalinity into the water. Limestone is a bicarbonate material.

most marble is calcium carbonate. for those of us who don't know marble is a metamorphic rock usually composed of calcite of dolmite. both of these are calcium carbonate but just with varying crystal arrangements. Of course I would only use marble that I was calcium carbonate based, but there are easy test for that. marble does definitely dissolve at low pH (think about acid rain and Rome) and releases calcium and alkalinity. before you bash do your research. people use two part all the time and that isn't derived from coral skeletons so saying you can only use coral in a calcium reactor is unfounded. calcium and bicarbonate are the only essential things needed for calcification hence 2 part works. sure other ions are taken up into the coral such as magnesium and other trace minerals. We already know how to boost magnesium levels and water chages can take care of the rest if needed. I still have not heard a reason not to use marble in a calcium reactor.
Some solid arguments against (but not yet shown) could be that even in uncolored marble other metal ions could be present at low abundance and over time could accumulate in your aquarium. for most metals this would be relatively harmless, but in the case of copper it could be very detrimental. Still there is always a potential risk for this from any substrate used in a reactor.
Still looking for good reasons not to try this or good support to try it. Right now I'm leaning towards trying it out on a tank someday just to see how it goes, but I was wondering if someone had already done this and had some experience/helpful hints.

kuyatwo · Sep 5, 2012

If you are set on using it then use it and then tell us the reason to switch. You can be the guinea pig

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

returnofsid · Sep 5, 2012

Okay, yes, most Marble is a bicarbonate material, along with a lot of solidified MUD. I would definitely be worried about impurities, which would be completely unknown without costly assays. Marble is also much more dense than coral skeleton and has a much smaller surface area which means it would take much longer to dissolve, and may also require a much lower pH though I'm unsure about the pH. Why would you even consider using something with an unknown amount of impurities when you can easily and inexpensively use something known to be much more pure and effective?

Limestone, on the other hand, would probably be as effective as coral skeleton, though the surface area and impurity issue still comes into play.

Chameleon · Sep 5, 2012

returnofsid said:
Okay, yes, most Marble is a bicarbonate material, along with a lot of solidified MUD. I would definitely be worried about impurities, which would be completely unknown without costly assays. Marble is also much more dense than coral skeleton and has a much smaller surface area which means it would take much longer to dissolve, and may also require a much lower pH though I'm unsure about the pH. Why would you even consider using something with an unknown amount of impurities when you can easily and inexpensively use something known to be much more pure and effective?

Limestone, on the other hand, would probably be as effective as coral skeleton, though the surface area and impurity issue still comes into play.

for fun...to try something new...to be outside the box...its how we make progress
nice thing about being more dense is you need less surface area for the same amount of solvent solid interface if made of the same chemicals...
it would be costly to assay once...and even then not that bad...a lot of soil labs could do it for rather cheap. after that if its from the same source/quarry you are good to go

if I had a spare reactor I would test it myself. thing is I dont test new ideas on an established tank that is doing well. thats like popping pills before clinical trials when you are healthy. I am really looking for someone who has had the thought and the resources to test it. If i come by an affordable used reactor down the road I will definitely test it. I might even try it on my own tank.
Just for reference good'ol wiki says: "Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure (silicate-poor) limestone or dolomite protolith. The characteristic swirls and veins of many colored marble varieties are usually due to various mineral impurities such as clay, silt, sand, iron oxides, or chert which were originally present as grains or layers in the limestone"
I am definitely going to stick with the pure white marble if I try, but one has to imagine many of the impurities will not be soluble in the general pH of our reactors and will just form 'mud' ad the bottom of the reactor for us to clean periodically.

Spazdad · Apr 5, 2016

Anyone try this ?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 5, 2016

Try what, exactly?

Using ground limestone in a CaCO3/CO2 reactor works fine.

Andy’s180 · Aug 13, 2020

Chameleon said:
for fun...to try something new...to be outside the box...its how we make progress
nice thing about being more dense is you need less surface area for the same amount of solvent solid interface if made of the same chemicals...
it would be costly to assay once...and even then not that bad...a lot of soil labs could do it for rather cheap. after that if its from the same source/quarry you are good to go

if I had a spare reactor I would test it myself. thing is I dont test new ideas on an established tank that is doing well. thats like popping pills before clinical trials when you are healthy. I am really looking for someone who has had the thought and the resources to test it. If i come by an affordable used reactor down the road I will definitely test it. I might even try it on my own tank.
Just for reference good'ol wiki says: "Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure (silicate-poor) limestone or dolomite protolith. The characteristic swirls and veins of many colored marble varieties are usually due to various mineral impurities such as clay, silt, sand, iron oxides, or chert which were originally present as grains or layers in the limestone"
I am definitely going to stick with the pure white marble if I try, but one has to imagine many of the impurities will not be soluble in the general pH of our reactors and will just form 'mud' ad the bottom of the reactor for us to clean periodically.

Reef dude has a video where he talks to someone that claims that they have been using marble for over a year you should check it out. People need to remember that the only way that we have gotten to where we are today with reefing it’s because of people thinking out of the box and trying things that normal people would think of it being (for lack of a better word ) stupid.

I am also thinking of trying this out on my 180. I was thinking the same thing with the impurity. Would they Dissolve In the reactor or settle at the bottom for it to be clean? Another easy way to keep an eye on that stuff is to get your water test by a lab like triton.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 14, 2020

Andy’s180 said:
Reef dude has a video where he talks to someone that claims that they have been using marble for over a year you should check it out. People need to remember that the only way that we have gotten to where we are today with reefing it’s because of people thinking out of the box and trying things that normal people would think of it being (for lack of a better word ) stupid.

I am also thinking of trying this out on my 180. I was thinking the same thing with the impurity. Would they Dissolve In the reactor or settle at the bottom for it to be clean? Another easy way to keep an eye on that stuff is to get your water test by a lab like triton.

I'm not sure this is out of the box thinking by Reef Dude. lol

Folks have been using alternative materials such as limestone for more than 20 years.

Greg Hiller tested locally quarried limestone for suitability long, long ago: