After having been in this hobby for 3+ years, I DO recognize the merits of a Ca reactor... BUT... my experience has been this;
Ca reactors can cause algae blooms due to excess C02 in the water column - the nature of reactor media also adds phosphates, feeding the algae. On 4 separate occasions I have run my reactor for extended periods, dialed in my Alk and Ca perfectly and still had algae everywhere. Kalk, on the other hand, maintains Alk and Ca, and actually reduces phosphates. My experience has been better coralline algae growth and better health in general in my system - yet I have heard of great successes using reactors too... whatever you do, read up, (see some of Bev's water chemistry links), test, and make your changes GRADUALLY...
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135G Mixed Reef. Bullet 2, 25 gal refugium, 2 X250W MH + 4X 96W PC\'s, DIY Calcium Reactor, Coralife 1/6 HP Chiller, Phosban, Tunze, 2 closed loops & SQWD\'s, Seios, Coralife 4 stage RO/DI & a bunch of other expensive gadgets... I may never retire, but I'm gonnahavahelluvanaquarium!
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