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

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Myka

I have to disagree with you.

hmm... I don't know how you can disagree with what I had to do because I designed and built my reactor to be stable, but Ok

for the record, I never used a solinoid, probes or any of that new fangles stuff. just did my weekly water tests. you know once and a while I may have to add a bubble per min or take one away, but it was maybe every couple months I have to tweek it so 5 min for two months ..

Ca reactors like anything else flooded the market as the newest and greatest thing, so there were many people making a simple compact design to get it to the marktet and hence we had copys of unstable setups for sale everywhere. Titus had a nice design, but didn't carry one with it, not sure what happened there, but it looked like it would b very stable. I made my own adding a few tweaks of my own and created the monster. I put it at 20 bubbles per min (about 1 min of fiddling) and 5 months later it would still be at 20 bubbles per min. well unless my tank ran out but using a 20lb tank gave me over a years worth of use. since I used to be obsessed with my water tests the longest anything would go with out being checked was 3 days and once a week I recorded my tests in my tank journal to track trends and enable me to know what worked and what didn't when playing with my tank.

Steve

[Myka]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

hmm... I don't know how you can disagree with what I had to do because I designed and built my reactor to be stable, but Ok

Steve

I was disagreeing with:

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

a Ca reactor is truly set and forget.

Kind of self explanitory, no? I think telling everyone that a calcium reactor is set and forget is misleading as most are not set and forget, although lots of people treat them that way, and don't check their parameters until a crash is visually imminent. Is it ok to disagree with you?

In your case, why didn't you have to throttle it up every couple weeks? Why would your demand stay the same?

[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

[gobytron]

good poll.

The thing that really gets me about this hobby is how people just jump on new technology because its new...lol

Solaris anyone?

lol


I think that it's all about personal preference and how much time and effort you have to put into whichever given task the equipment in question is supposed to make possible or easier for you.


I like having a ca reactor cuz they look bad ass.

non aquarists are always blown away by it when they see it and that makes me feel good...lol

[Delphinus]

Since starting the poll I still haven't found the time or the energy or the enthusiasm to refill my empty dosing jugs. It's not that I don't have better things to do (truly, it is one of the more important things I should be doing), it's just that I'd rather do so many other things, and that includes scraping fossilized cat poo off the floor where the one cat in particular who has irritable bowel syndrome missed her cat box. Yes, I would rather scrape poo than mix up the additives. (And for the record, I hate poo too.) Did I mention I hate mixing up the additives? Because I hate mixing up the additives and particularly I hate making and mixing the soda ash one. Water changes, changing carbon, fiddle faddling with pellets, maybe some more water changes, what the heck, I'm doing (and have done) all those but those dosing jugs sit empty, taunting me with their foul crusty residues. "Refill us! Hahaha! Your parameters are going down like poo in the toilet! So what are YOU gonna do tonight chump? Look at all those boxes of baking soda that need baking. Teehee!"

Did I mention I hate mixing up additives?

Calcium reactors did definitely have their place. Well, unless you had problems with them I guess, nothing like a finicky reactor to tank high in the suckage category but when they were working right I really miss the set-and-forget (and I do mean forget for like 6 months, other than the ongoing testing of params) aspect of them. AND, it was nice to only test for Alk, because the Ca and Alk were always in proportion to one another..

[Zoaelite]

My additive containers talk to me all the time too tony .

[marie]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

......

Calcium reactors did definitely have their place. Well, unless you had problems with them I guess, nothing like a finicky reactor to tank high in the suckage category but when they were working right I really miss the set-and-forget (and I do mean forget for like 6 months, other than the ongoing testing of params) aspect of them. AND, it was nice to only test for Alk, because the Ca and Alk were always in proportion to one another..

I haven't bothered testing my calcium in over 2 years

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

fiddle faddling with pellets

LMAO. Tony I think the kids need to be moved out and you need to be 20+ years older before you qualify to 'fiddle faddle' with anything haha. You can tinker for now!

Dosing certainly isn't a new fad or trend though. It's been done pretty much everywhere else besides North America for a lot longer based on what I've read.

And Tony I don't think you'd hate mixing the BRS stuff. It's so clean and no baking either. There's no way the fossilized feline sharts should be more fun than prepping chemicals! I've done that many a time myself.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by lastlight

And Tony I don't think you'd hate mixing the BRS stuff. It's so clean and no baking either. There's no way the fossilized feline sharts should be more fun than prepping chemicals! I've done that many a time myself.

Yup, what Brett says.
BRS stuff is very easy to mix. I bought three one-gallon water containers with spigots from Safeway. Mark each with a magic marker; fill with RO water; pour in the stuff; shake it; do a little jig and presto it's done!