Sps equipment advice

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Awesome looking start on your build!

I love my calcium reactor and have used one on all my systems since the 90's. I am SPS dominant. It took a while to dial in and get the right flow, and the reef octopus model I have really needed a peristaltic pump to drive it. I have had Eheim and home made ones that did fine with syphon feed or a split from the return pump.

I was given a tank that came with 2 gallons of 2 part and have been using it. It is just really easy. I see great results from it as well. I feel like they are both effective ways to go. Reactors are spendy up front but may be cheaper in the long run. I didn't do the math. 2 part and an alkalinity test is great entry-level while you save up and research reactors.

I generally dont change water on my systems. I grow Cheato, use ICP testing and make corrections from there. My tank running a reactor shows really similar levels to my tank running with 2 part. I think you will be fine with either option.
 
Tidal Gardens
I would hazard a guess that most of us only use 2 pumps - one for Ca, one for Alk. It really depends on how much water changing you do; if it's in the 10% per week range, it's probably unlikely that you'll need to dose magnesium, as it's not depleted in a reef aquarium at nearly the rate that Ca and Alk are. If you do, however, it's possible to combine magnesium chloride into the calcium chloride solution and dose both of them at the same time, though it's not possible to combine magnesium sulfate into either solution.

With respect to carbon dosing, a lot of us choose to do that manually because of the strong risk to the aquarium inhabitants if a dosing pump were to lose its calibration and dose too much.
 
Orphek OR3 reef aquarium LED bar
I never dose mg in my system, only dose kh and cal but lps grow really well. I used to keep sps but turn out stn after 2 months :(((. That why I need to do research before building my sps dominant tank. I may choose neptune DOS because who know I may need apex controller in the future
 
Deltec
Yep, the DOS pump requires an Apex. However, I'd strongly suggest getting an Apex anyway for peace of mind. Just the inherent safety of running the controller with a thermostatically-controlled heater is worth it, in my opinion, since if either the Apex or the heater fails "on", then the other point of control will prevent the heater from cooking your tank. And having a few notifications setup that will send a message to my phone if there's a power failure or a the tank temp goes out of range is extremely helpful, since in my case I don't have a generator with an auto-start and auto transfer switch (i.e., I have to be at home to setup the generator and plug everything in).
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
I second @Dkeller_nc on the APEX. Yeah, they are stupid expensive, and the probes annoy me at times, but the notifications are simply priceless if you are away from home a lot. Within the first year, I have been notified of leaks (skimmer gone bonkers), Temp (which dumb*** thought to turn the AC up to 82F while we were away?), Power cuts, and Salinity (ATO fail closed). Also, deviations in Ph range -- even below alarm levels-- tell me things about lights, dosing, etc when I am away.

If I'd had it on my frag system at the time (I bought a second one since then), I would NOT have had my DIY doser dump a month's worth of Ca in there, and would have learned about that pinhole hose leak before starving/cooking my return pump. Or forgetting to turn the return pump back ON after feeding.

If you are an occasional dumb*** like me, the APEX will pay for itself the first year.
 
ScottB said:
I second @Dkeller_nc on the APEX. Yeah, they are stupid expensive, and the probes annoy me at times, but the notifications are simply priceless if you are away from home a lot. Within the first year, I have been notified of leaks (skimmer gone bonkers), Temp (which dumb*** thought to turn the AC up to 82F while we were away?), Power cuts, and Salinity (ATO fail closed). Also, deviations in Ph range -- even below alarm levels-- tell me things about lights, dosing, etc when I am away.

If I'd had it on my frag system at the time (I bought a second one since then), I would NOT have had my DIY doser dump a month's worth of Ca in there, and would have learned about that pinhole hose leak before starving/cooking my return pump. Or forgetting to turn the return pump back ON after feeding.

If you are an occasional dumb*** like me, the APEX will pay for itself the first year.
Click to expand...
I just bought Apex el and my ph probe has an issue during calibration. Have to contact neptune system to diagnose
 
An ngo said:
I just bought Apex el and my ph probe has an issue during calibration. Have to contact neptune system to diagnose
Click to expand...
Get the dos. I was in the same boat but went with the apex for the trident. Ghl was my other option. Yes the apex was $3,000 but worth every penny
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
For a tank that size you don’t need a calcium reactor. Just dose 2 part. You won’t need magnesium for dosing until you get into colonies...
 
ScottB said:
I second @Dkeller_nc on the APEX. Yeah, they are stupid expensive, and the probes annoy me at times, but the notifications are simply priceless if you are away from home a lot. Within the first year, I have been notified of leaks (skimmer gone bonkers), Temp (which dumb*** thought to turn the AC up to 82F while we were away?), Power cuts, and Salinity (ATO fail closed). Also, deviations in Ph range -- even below alarm levels-- tell me things about lights, dosing, etc when I am away.

If I'd had it on my frag system at the time (I bought a second one since then), I would NOT have had my DIY doser dump a month's worth of Ca in there, and would have learned about that pinhole hose leak before starving/cooking my return pump. Or forgetting to turn the return pump back ON after feeding.

If you are an occasional dumb*** like me, the APEX will pay for itself the first year.
Click to expand...
Lol the probes drive me bat **** crazy. They’re always in the way
 
Act1n1c_L1fe said:
Get the dos. I was in the same boat but went with the apex for the trident. Ghl was my other option. Yes the apex was $3,000 but worth every penny
Click to expand...
Youch! That's some Apex setup with a lot of modules! Especially considering that the "pro" base package is $800.
 
That price is also with the trident... I have it paid for with a preorder from lfs.
 
Tidal Gardens
An ngo said:
When does trident release ??
Click to expand...
No release date is out yet. It is being tested by some insiders now. I would imagine that it will go on sale for us commoners come the late summer early fall if we are lucky. Personally I'm going to wait a while after the release date in order to see what issues people have with it. I don't mind testing my water; it's part of the fun to me.
 
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