Poll: Do you use Calcium Reactor or Dosing Pumps?

[Coraloliseffect]

Geo calcium reactor with a Harris 15 psi two stage regulator. Love it. It just works.

 

[Anthony35]

CA Reactor all the way, actually not expensive and very simple to setup. With the amount of SPS corals I have two part would be a nightmare not keep up with not to mention that anyone thats dosing would exceed the price of my unit and setup with you trying to keep up with the demand been there done that .

Its a pay it now or pay it later but you will pay in the end LOL and over time you will pay more with dosing.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

I use two part and make my own. It is really affordable.

 

[mocika]

Im using dosing pump FM for my 75g SPS dominate tank. Its great but suplements are expencive. Looking to switch to Ca reactor.

 

[gcrawford]

Geo cal and kalk reactor. I don't have a lot of evaporation, so ATO through the kalk reactor tends to balance out my ph. I have this setup on two tanks and they are thriving. I used to manually dose which was a pita lol.... Also, I'm using tropic eden media in the 6/18 which really seems to be working well. When paired with an apex controller, this setup runs itself. Got it dialed in and testing has shown extremely stable parameters.

-g

 

[markh792]

I use the Bubble Magus dosing pump and the BRS solution.

 

[Rickc]

Calcium reactor!... love it

 

[ETORRES477]

I just got a Kamoer 4 pump doser for my 150 build I set up in February. I went with a dosing unit because I hear it works better on a mid sized system. I might have gone with a Ca reactor if I did anything over 220 gallons. I think a lot of people who had bad experiences with Ca reactors didn't fully understand them, which is why you hear some stories about people not doing well with them. I think if you have a big system and a lot of SPS a reactor would edge out a dosing unit by a hair.

 

[Budman's Corals]

Just switched about a 2 months ago to a Geo Cal Reactor,Was using 2 brs dosing pumps @ a rate of 180mls a day of each,Got tired of mixxing solutions weekly so I gave the reactor a shot,Pain in the --- to get dialed in but hopefully I got it and I can tell ya my sps haven't looked this good in a while,I am using a Avast Marine Kalk stirrer @ night thru the ato to keep ph stable. Other then that Haven't had to do much of anything but test Alk when i first got it now im once a week testing or i can tell by the apex CO2 chart if the effluent has change and i need to check. So bye to the dosers :rapture:

 

[labas39]

Geo cal and kalk reactor.

I run a Reef Octopus calcium reactor and a Geo kalk reactor. They're both hooked up to my Apex. Like gcrawford, the kalk keeps my pH balanced as well. I run the kalk 24/7 and the calcium reactor only during lights on to minimize the low pH entering the system during the night.

I set up the calcium reactor years ago and rarely touch it. Both are dosed with peristaltic pumps.

 

[Budman's Corals]

I run a Reef Octopus calcium reactor and a Geo kalk reactor. They're both hooked up to my Apex. Like gcrawford, the kalk keeps my pH balanced as well. I run the kalk 24/7 and the calcium reactor only during lights on to minimize the low pH entering the system during the night.

I set up the calcium reactor years ago and rarely touch it. Both are dosed with peristaltic pumps.

what kind of peristaltic pumps. and where do you find them

 

[labas39]

what kind of peristaltic pumps. and where do you find them

I have three Mec-O-Matic Dolphin pumps and another Mec-O-Matic peristaltic that doses continuously - I don't recall the model name. I have one as a backup. The Dolphins run at full speed for a specified amount of time which don't work for the Calcium Reactor.

I love these pumps; I buy them from ebay; they always seem to be salvaged from somewhere; I'm assuming they're used in spas.

 

[shred5]

Dosing pump..
But if I had a larger tank it would be calcium reactor and probably a kalk stirrer..

 

[yellojello]

For my 120g, had a Bubble Magus Auto Doser for several years. The board crapped out, and now using a Vertex Libra. Alk, CA, and Mag dosed automatically about 12 times daily which adds up to about 150 mL for Alk, CA, and a little less for Mag. Premix in BRS in one gallon jugs. Using 1 Liter containers, and fill up a little less than twice a month. Very easy. This was before tank crash with SPS. Now starting over and dosing about 20-30 mL with small frags.

 

[J77]

I just use Kalk in my ato keeps things pretty stable would like to get a Kalk stirrer though

 

[specvjeff]

Use dosing pumps. If I had a tank over say 50 gallons or an SPS dominant tank, I'd probably use a calcium reactor. Just depends on what is more cost efficient over the long run.

 

[Budman's Corals]

I can tell in just 2 month how much better a calcium reactor is..its just not adding cal/alk but other elements that the old coral has in its skeleton. .

 

[mocika]

I can tell in just 2 month how much better a calcium reactor is..its just not adding cal/alk but other elements that the old coral has in its skeleton. .

Interesting...looking forward for this opinion.

 

[joekool]

I use a dosing pump. My main purpose for using them is stability. In the holding containers I only keep enough 2 part to last 2 days. If a pump were to go bad and was to stick on it would only raise my levels but there is not enough solution to destroy my system. I would notice if a pump was not turning on due to the small amount of solution kept in the containers. This is my way of safe proofing dosing pumps.

That's a great idea especially if you leave for a few days.

 

[clownfitch]

Kalkwasser in the ATO
65 mixed reef sps lps and softies. So far the kalk is still keeping the dkh and ca where the tanks needs them to be.