had been considering getting calcium reactor package until i came into possession of some bulk ca and alk supplies. now i spend 30 seconds every other nite double dosing recommended amt into my sump. 2 months went by and all my critters are doing fantastically well. haha why babysit them when we all know those creatures are a lot tougher than you and i. relax, sit back and stop all those worryings.

That would Be Tailored Aquatics dKH Plus and yes a bottle does last a small tank quite a while. http://www.tailoredaquatics.com/index.html?a=0&d=43

It's no secret that it's all pretty much the same stuff: calcium chloride and sodium carbonate (a.k.a. washing soda). Buy the CaCl in bulk and make your own washing soda from plain old baking soda.

While your at it, pick up some magnesium chloride and/or magnesium sulfate (a.k.a. Epsom salts) as well and you're well on your way.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

All you're paying for with the LFS stuff is the fancy labelling.

Brad did you use the same with the big tank you used to have? and how much media does your reactor hold?
I'm refilling my reactor every 5 weeks or so with about 6lbs of media and I'm finding it a big pain in the butt

Marie, my comments were based on my old tank, my new one isn't growed up enough yet:)

My reactor holds about 18 pounds of media, so I don't need to change it that often. I find the first annual change is just to remove the finer sludge, it tends to slow the flow after 4 or 5 months.
Still, I never used a pound/week, even at it's peak of growth.

I'm pretty sure most of my calcium goes to coraline algae. I have lots and lots of coraline algae :rolleyes:

Perhaps. I got to a point where I had none on the glass, not sure why. Corals grew like crazy though....