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View Poll Results: What do you use to maintain Ca/Alk ?
Calcium Reactor 44 36.07%
Two-Part or Balling or Similar (manual or automated) 81 66.39%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 122. You may not vote on this poll

 
 
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Old 07-17-2010, 06:00 AM
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Myka Myka is offline
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I haven't owned a calcium reactor since the late 90s. I despise them. I have been 2-part dosing ever since I discovered it pretty much.

Currently I have a dual doser for calcium and alkalinity. I use Fauna Marin balling salts. I have Rubbermaid food storage containers that holds about 3.5L. I mix 270g Sodium bicarbonate into 3L of RO/DI water, mix that for 3 hours with a powerhead so it actually dissolves, and pour it into one of the containers. I mix 300g Calcium carbonate into 3L of RO/DI and put that into the other container. These containers last about 4 weeks. The concentration is as suggested on the back of the Fauna Marin packages. I'm not sure if I could mix them more concentrated or not. I'm going to email them and ask. However, I find I am constantly turning up the timers to dose more and more every week or which is annoying because the numbers are always falling, and I'm not around often enough to monitor well enough. So...they aren't set and forget.

EDIT: I have been thinking about buying a third doser to dose kalk at night which would make the jugs of Ca and Alk last longer. Also I don't have to dose magnesium - I use H2Ocean salt, and doing a 10 gallon water change once a week keeps magnesium around 1400 ppm as per Salifert kit. I also dose Potassium into the fresh saltwater mix to raise K to 380-400 ppm since it is very low in H2Ocean salt (~250 ppm).
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Last edited by Myka; 07-17-2010 at 07:18 AM.
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