just noticed this, they should keep both up pretty good, out of curosity what is your Mg level. and what are you alk and Ca levels.

Steve

no, different all together with one common element.

Kalk is just Ca and will raise PH. With a Ca reactor you are maintaining both Ca, Alk, and trace elements. Some times they can lower Ph so then you would use Kalk in addition through a kalk reactor to balance it.

the purpose of the reactors weather it be Kalk or Ca is stability, better control with less work. With a Ca reactor you are not dosing once a day and causing swings of levels but you are dosing every second so it is constant. The are a bit of work for the first few days to get them dialed in, but once that is done....

One thing to note, a Ca reactor shouldn't be used to correct bad levels, only to maintain good ones.. before starting the reactor make sure your levels (Ca, Alk, Mg) are good.

Steve

1350ppm. It stays very constant there.

Calcium reactors
 

I just finished about two weeks ago installing my calcium reactor.

They way they work is by bubbling CO2 through the reaction chamber and mixing with water you create carbonic acid driving pH down below 6.9 This dissolved the substate (slowly) releasin perfect trace elements (except iodine). This is fantastic for all stonies, heavy fish loads, Clams, big tanks (where dosing can be expensive).

Then by dripping the effulant back into my sump (about 6" drop) the CO2 De-gasses from and your pH of the effluant pops instantly back up to around 8.3. Depending on your flow rate you can tweek the feed ammount of Ca, KH, and trace elements.

The only thing I found is that there was not an adiquate ammount of Magnesium coming in from the reactor so I still dose with a magnesium suppliment weekly, and Iodine.

Im running a Coralife reactor with a reefkeeper controler. The controler keeps the pH between 6.7 and 6.4. This limits the wastage of CO2 (using a 20lb beverage grade CO2).

Prior to the application of the reactor my clam tank would drop my Calcium from 480 to 230-255ppm in one night. The KH would go from 220-120 in about 9 hours. I was dosing 15ml of purple up twice a day (that's a 300 gallon tank dose) My clam tank is 40 gallons.

This led to a pH swing which my acros did not like.

Now, with the reactor balanced and running my KH is holding exactly at 200ppm (i run a little high), and Calcium at 500ppm (a little high).

I will pop some pictures and post them when I get home today.

Here is a pic of the clams

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...lamcluster.jpg
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...AquaScape5.jpg
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...amCluster4.jpg


If you can afford it run with a power controler on a solenoid (co2 supply) it will be well worth it in the long run.

Any questions on sources just message me.

very nice tank

I was just thinking about the Reactor/supliments thing.

I think the key is your needs.

Ie: if you tank has a High demand with a lot of fluctuations, costs, time ect.. then save up and get the reactor.

If you are tight on cash... and suppliments suffice stick with supliments.

If you can afford the inital cost go with the reactor they are easy and reliable (till your controler ph probe packs it in...)

I have 5 reef/salt tanks. 2-95's, 40, 2-nano's. Only the 40 has the reactor. I dose all the other tanks with supliments.

I am strggling in that tank with the blade algae.... Nothing is keeping it under control.

Another noob question....
So the calcium reactor could sit beside the sump being teed into your return pump, or by having another pump in the sump to power the reactor all together.
Or does it sit inside the sump itself?

outside the sump is normal, don't see why you couldn't put one in the sump though.

Steve

Cool thx stir.

yup the reactor sits outside your sump (usually). You don't normally connect it to your sump.

Most come with their own re-circulating pump that pushes the water in the chamber through a side arm where it's mixed with the co2 and back into the reaction chamber.

The feed is usually gravity siphon through airline hose, and same with the return.

Usually connect the reactor chamber to a monitor or a controler that will turn on and off the co2.

Absolutly no way or reason to connect to your main pump. Not like a skimmer. You need the seperation and drip to de-gas.