Which Calcium Reactor? 100g SPS

Hurdbird88 · Jul 11, 2019

I’ve been doing research on calcium reactors for my 100g SPS tank and can’t decide between the Reef Octopus Varios CR 200 or the GEO 618 w/ secondary chamber or with this being my first calcium reactor, do I spend the stupid money for a Dastaco?

Can’t find any real feedback on the RO but hear good things about their equipment overall and a lot of good things about the Varios pumps. Anyone have experience pulling through one of these?

Build quality seems really good on the GEO buts there seems to be a lot of people having problems with air / CO2 build up in these reactors. Sounds like you can really only push through these reactors to avoid air issues.

Either way, I plan to get one of the aquarium plant life regulators and kamoer dosing pump.

Thoughts and experiences on both? Thanks!

SneakyTortuga · Jul 11, 2019

I have the plant life reg, Kamoer, and geo cr510 w/ a geo secondary chamber on a 110 gallon tank. It’s been running flawlessly running for a year+. I would highly recommend this a geo reactor. They run amazing and are well built

jda · Jul 11, 2019

Most reactors are nearly all the same - they just recirculate water. Build quality can matter, so the GEO kills the RO in this, IMO. I do not trust a DC pump to run for years and years and years like I do a Ehiem or even Sicce or Mag Drive

I am using 3 right now and I love and hate things about each of them.

Korallin - has inlet tube down a few inches to let co2 build up in the top and does not shut down if air gets in there. I actually hate nothing about this reactor... reverse flow, ehiem pumps.
AquaMaxx - love that it has a filter for incoming effluent to keep debris out of the reactor - pure genius. Had to modify it to trap air at the top.
Knop - really old and does not actually need a feed pump. I hate that it is not reverse flow.

I have used GEO, LifeReef, K2R and a few others. I would use any of them again.

In the end, they all work just about the same. IMO, the needle valve or carbon-doser box is more important. I would just find a brand name used one and save some money. I would not sweat your choice too much.

For me, I want the gas to trap at the top - this tells me that the reactor is not tuned well. All that you have to do is extend the top intake down a few inches to keep it running...easy mod, but I understand that some people do not want to drop a lot of cash and have to mod stuff.

minus9 · Jul 11, 2019

Agreed, lots of great choices out there. I'm running a Geo 618 w/masterflex and an Alan Le custom regulator on my 90g sps. A dual stage regulator is the key to smooth operation and well worth the money to by a quality regulator.

road_runner · Jul 12, 2019

You cannot go wrong with the dastaco.
Dastaco is diffrent than other reactors.
upI do not have ph prob, drops counting and all these variables with the dastaco. To.ke it's the only real automated zero touch reactor. Increasing alk is a dial knob.

Water Dog · Jul 12, 2019

Hurdbird88 said:
Build quality seems really good on the GEO buts there seems to be a lot of people having problems with air / CO2 build up in these reactors. Sounds like you can really only push through these reactors to avoid air issues.

Serdar from Geo’s Reef has redesigned the Geo’s calcium reactors for 2019. These changes now have the effluent and water input on the lid as well as moving the manifold connection from the lid to the side of the media cylinder. All of these changes are to address the gas build up issues on the lid due to pulling with a peristaltic pump and introducing negative pressure. George’s original design was meant for positive pressure using a small feed pump like an MJ1200 to push through the reactor.

road_runner · Jul 12, 2019

Water Dog said:
Serdar from Geo’s Reef has redesigned the Geo’s calcium reactors for 2019. These changes now have the effluent and water input on the lid as well as moving the manifold connection from the lid to the side of the media cylinder. All of these changes are to address the gas build up issues on the lid due to pulling with a peristaltic pump and introducing negative pressure. George’s original design was meant for positive pressure using a small feed pump like an MJ1200 to push through the reactor.

+1 great explanation,
I like how there is an automatic venting mechanism in the dastaco to address the gas build up.
Not all reactors are the same

Snoopy 67 · Jul 12, 2019

If you come across a used Mini-Cal from MTC it would be perfect. Even though they are out of business.
I run one on a tank bigger than recommended with no problem.

joseserrano · Jul 12, 2019

I'm gonna get a tunze once my current deltech craps out, which I think will be soon. Does not need a feed pump, and uses a needle wheel pump to help use the co2 more efficiently.

Hurdbird88 · Jul 14, 2019

Thanks for all your help guys! I spoke with Geo’s Reef and ended up placing an order for a 618 calcium reactor with 415 secondary chamber in the red and white configuration similar to below. Super excited to get this set up!

Rick.45cal · Jul 14, 2019

Hurdbird88 said:
Thanks for all your help guys! I spoke with Geo’s Reef and ended up placing an order for a 618 calcium reactor with 415 secondary chamber in the red and white configuration similar to below. Super excited to get this set up!

You’ll be really glad you went with the GEO. Do yourself a favor and get a nice 2 stage regulator and it will be a carefree system. Mine has been flawless, I haven’t had to touch it in about 4.5 months now. It’s all about how you run a reactor

road_runner · Jul 14, 2019

Hurdbird88 said:
Thanks for all your help guys! I spoke with Geo’s Reef and ended up placing an order for a 618 calcium reactor with 415 secondary chamber in the red and white configuration similar to below. Super excited to get this set up!

Congrats
Make sure you test alk daily for the first couple of weeks. Until you get used to it and dial it to your system.

minus9 · Jul 14, 2019

Alan Le's regulators are awesome and worth every penny.

road_runner · Jul 14, 2019

minus9 said:
Alan Le's regulators are awesome and worth every penny.

I hear alot of good things about this regulator.
Where can I get it from?

minus9 · Jul 14, 2019

I'll pm you his info.

Water Dog · Jul 14, 2019

Or you could build it yourself using this thread as a guide.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2461771

This is my baby that I built... full stainless steel.

road_runner · Jul 14, 2019

Water Dog said:
Or you could build it yourself using this thread as a guide.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2461771

This is my baby that I built... full stainless steel.

Oh man am way too lazy for diy these days ha ha.

minus9 · Jul 14, 2019

Agreed, if I had the time I would've tried it myself, but Alan is the master and I didn't have the time. [emoji38]

Water Dog · Jul 14, 2019

Yeah, I really enjoy DIY and Alan was very helpful through texts and PMs with any questions that I had with both of my regulator builds. Using that experience, I’ve since helped over a dozen other reefers on both sites with putting their custom regulators together. DIY to me is quite the rewarding experience.

Travis Wagner · Jul 15, 2019

Sorry to jump in, but I have a question I wanted to ask. I’m looking into purchasing the CR612X2 dual chamber reactor. Due to some constraints I can’t use it in-sump but will either have to mount it above the sump or external to the cabinet. What would be an acceptable to pump to use in this application?