So it's 2010 now. Who still uses a calcium reactor and who's all on 2-part dosing?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Myka

Hmmm, very interesting. Thanks for elaborating. The cost of this thing would be rather substantial though I would be thinking (much more than a basic reactor or dosing system), and take up a lot of real estate. The "set and forget" feature is pretty sweet though. How often were you testing parameters? What variance did you find in that time?

well cost wide, it cost me 100 bucks in pumps and plastic to build the reactor. I already had the regulator, paid 65 bucks for a used co2 extinguisher with a new valve and hydrostat, and say 50 bucks for misc and things I forgot about.. so way cheeper than buying a cheep reactor setup.

I did a full test once a week and never found much of a variance at all I had a tone of SPS which grew like stink, so I was pounding the co2 reactor already so that might be why there was no variation.

Steve

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by gobytron

...

The other thing I like about my CA reactor that I forgot about until now is the fact that you can add a little extra media like zeo mag or carbon and reduce your maintenance even more...

How do you add carbon to a ca reactor?
Carbon should be changed out after 3 weeks or so. That just means more frequent maintenance to the reactor.

Mitch

[christyf5]

I switched from a reactor a few years ago and have never looked back. My reactor had some issues and I was blowing through 10lbs of CO2 in 6 weeks and that was with a solenoid and new needle valve. I tried everything to fix it and finally just chucked the whole thing in favor of a dosing pump. 3 clean plastic 4L milk jugs and I just dump a couple cups (or whatever the dosage is) in the container, fill half with water, shake the living crap out of it to dissolve and fill it to the top with water and I'm done. I'm not quite sure what you're doing Tony that is so labour intensive/exhausing/less fun than chipping cat turds off the floor. I don't even bake the baking soda and it keeps my alk at the "good enough" level unless I feel like buggering around with it. I think the 4L containers last about 3 weeks or so and keep my parameters much more stable than the reactor ever did.

Um, silly question but wtf is soda ash?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by christyf5

Um, silly question but wtf is soda ash?

Something you get from smoking soda?

[Lance]

Originally Posted by christyf5

Um, silly question but wtf is soda ash?

It's from Bulk Reef Supply. Aklalinity supplement. Mixes very easily. Good stuff.

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by Lance

It's from Bulk Reef Supply. Aklalinity supplement. Mixes very easily. Good stuff.

Thanks Lance

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

, um dude, you had something else going on there, what kind of pumps?

Steve

Mag drives .. went through 2 or 3 of them then switch the reactor back to downflow and stopped wrecking pumps. Yeah, weird, I know.

[globaldesigns]

I personally do everything manually. I use to premix all my calcium, DKH, MG, Str and so forth, but stopped even doing that about 4 months or so ago.

Now I have a chamber in my sump, located near the starting phase of the sump. this chamber sits in the water about 3/4 in, and the bottom is slatted. In the bottom of this container, I put about 1/2 inch of course foam (like what is used in reactors) to cover the slats and provide a simple barrier.

On a daily basis, I measure out my recipe of dry goods (All now Seachem) and then dump the goods in the chamber. What happens is that the water flow around the chamber (especially underneath) draw out the dosing's, and as it leaches out, fresh water also goes in to replace the saturated water and the process keeps happening. Eventually the dry goods are gone.

What is nice about this, is that I don't have to fuss with premixing, and I find my parameters to be perfect with very minimal swings.

Just another way of doing things, I find this solution to work well for me.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Mag drives .. went through 2 or 3 of them then switch the reactor back to downflow and stopped wrecking pumps. Yeah, weird, I know.

Weird. I've been running the same MAG 3 for 8 years on mine, still going strong.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Weird. I've been running the same MAG 3 for 8 years on mine, still going strong.

I am wondering if there is a check valve built into his system.

Steve