Calcium reactor installation

[evpevp]

There are only few sps in the 120 gal tank but the alk is about 6-7dkh, Calcium is around 420-450. When is a good time to hook up the calcium reactor?

[sphelps]

the sooner the better, set the reactor low to start and try to get your calcium to hold steady, a range of 420-450 still isn't stable enough for proper sps health and coloration. You'll likely still have to supplement to get the alk up a little and hold steady.

[evpevp]

What's a good supplement to raise Alk? Do you suggest raising the alk then maintain it by hooking up the Ca reactor?

[mark]

Idea of the reactor is to maintain levels, not really to bring them up from the bottom. Since your levels are near ideal, get it going now and monitor.
You still can tweak your levels a bit by the following:
Measure and record alkalinity every few days and compare the readings. If the alkalinity level is falling, increase the amount of CO2 so more of the medium is dissolved. Conversely, if the alkalinity level is rising above the level you want, reduce the amount of CO2 so less of the medium is dissolved.

The bold was cut from this article a really nice piece about Ca reactors.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by evpevp

What's a good supplement to raise Alk? Do you suggest raising the alk then maintain it by hooking up the Ca reactor?

any buffer will work fine, you can even use Baking Soda if you want to save a few bucks. You can raise the Alk first if you wish but it really doesn't matter, even with a Ca reactor you may find yourself still needing to supplement for Alk, at least I do.

[fencer]

might want to bake the baking soda first to drive out the water and use reef calculator for dosage

[evpevp]

Where can I find the Reef calculator? What are the details on baking of baking soda? Would it be better just to use Seachem's Reef Builder to raise the alkalinity?

[mark]

check one of the first links here