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

[MitchM]

I have parked my 2 calcium reactors in the barn. I got really tired of the salt water getting past the "one way valves" and ruining the solenoid, C02 leaks, clogged intake hoses, sticking regulator gauges.
It started to feel like a Rube Goldberg way to dose calcium.

I'm now dosing calcium and magnesium from ChemMaster with a Profilux doser set up.

Mitch

[Doug]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

- Krzysztof Tryc Reef keeping mag Volume 8, Issue 14

Guess always a first. One wonders how many more incidents we never hear about.

[Delphinus]

It's not the dosing part that has me nostalgic. I use some peri pumps and it works well enough. It's not like it's not keeping up the levels or anything like that ... I just hate mixing the stuff up. Hate it. Did I mention that it's messy, and I hate it? Because I hate it. I'd probably do it more often if I didn't hate it but .. I hate it. I'm not sure if I can make myself clear here: I hate mixing that stuff up!!!!!!!

Whereas a reactor ... bubbles counting? Check. (There's the daily investment of time). About every 6 months or so .. top up some gravel. About every year or so .. refill the CO2 cylinder.

How is that worse?? It's not. Guess the only thing is the CO2 part of the equation...

[kien]

it sounds like there may be a market for pre-mixed two-part ?

by the way tony, I wasn't quite clear on the message you were trying to convey. So when you say you "hate it", is that like in a love-hate kind of way, or a full-on-hate kind of hate?

[Myka]

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).

[Milad]

so it sounds like dosing is a pain in the butt unless you mix up 50gals of each....
maybe ill stick to my calcium reactor

[Myka]

50 gallons would be like a year's dosing. I only mix up batches once a month. It really isn't a big deal to mix them up. It's the actual dosing that is a pain in the butt - dosers need adjusting, but so does manual dosing. Really, you can't get away from weekly or biweekly testing of parameters. Calcium reactors are the same way, they always need to be fiddled with too. It's not the way we dose that causes this, it is the reef itself that causes the changes in demand for elements. As the corals grow the corals obviously get bigger, the bigger they get the quicker they grow (more growth tips), the quicker they grow the more the demand for elements. Unless your tank is well established, and you are removing as much coral as is growing (say frags), you will always be increasing dosage whether it be calcium reactor or 2-part dosing.

[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.

[mark]

Reactor here but do want to get a dosing pump system more for the new toy thing than anything else. Haven't yet as still can't justify to the wife spending $300-400 replacing something that does what it's supposed to do and really overall is trouble free.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Milad

so it sounds like dosing is a pain in the butt unless you mix up 50gals of each....
maybe ill stick to my calcium reactor

The beauty is that there are options! You're not stuck with one method. Pick which in works for you an run with it.

Keeping a salt water tank in general is a pain in the butt yet we all do it anyhow