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

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by Tracey2

Can I ask Marie and Mitch what is the difference in your setups, Marie says her calcium reactor is set it and forget it and Mitch says its a constant headache. I have recently set up a large tank and am trying to decide if I need a calcium reactor or not.

Hi Tracey,

The two reactors that I used were Aquamedic and Schuran. Both had PH probes in the reactor chamber that would turn on or off the supply of C02 depending on the chamber PH value.
I found that the pressure in the reactor would eventually creep salt water back up the C02 feed line and destroy the solenoid that turned on or off the C02 supply. The C02 would eventually stop being supplied to the reactor.

I also had problems feeding the C02 reactor with tank water. I tried both a separate pump and teeing off of the sump return line. Those would constantly clog up with either algae or detritus and it wasn't always obvious.
I also had algae sometimes growing in the reactor chamber which would have to be cleaned out.

I had sealing issues with both reactors, finding salt water creep, having to deal with screw tightness, design shortfalls in both.

...(I'm getting frustrated again just typing this out.....!)

I also found that the reactor capacity frequently fell short, even running full throttle. I would have liked to run my Ca and Mg values higher than I did.
My system volumes have always been 300g or over.

Electrical plug-ins were at a premium and I needed 3 for a calcium reactor. 1 each for recirc pump in the reactor, supply pump for the reactor and 1 for the solenoid. With a dosing setup I only need one plug-in for 4 dosing pumps.

I really wanted the calcium reactors to be set it and forget it, but for me it wasn't.

The dosing method seems simpler to me plus the dosing supply chemicals are clean. They don't require water from the aquarium itself.

HTH,
Mitch