I am confused

[an411]

if you dose Kalkwasser that takes care of your calcium so if corals are not to demanding you dont need a calcium reactor? Or do you need to dose kalk as in addition to calcium?

[dileggi]

I believe the kalkwasser takes care of raising your Ca levels. If you have a reactor, you put the kalk in the reactor. I could be completely wrong, but I believe the kalk IS your calcium.

[seapug]

Use one or the other, not both.

A calcium reactor uses CO2 gas to dissolve aragonite into solution.

A Kalkwasser stirrer is similar but mixes Calcium Hydroxide powder with water and drips into a tank-- usually as an auto topoff system.

Kalkwasser is more popular because it is cheap and can be mixed and dripped from a pitcher as needed without all the extra gear and gas tanks. It also has the added benefit of giving pH and Alkalinity a boost as well as precipitating Phosphate from the water, but both work well for maintaining Calcium.

[an411]

Yeah but you can dose Kalk without a reactor. I guess I am wondering after you stated that if a Reator just automates dosing kalk.

[75pxatr]

I dose kalk using a simple Nielson reactor and a litre meter dosing pump. The automation and monitoring could not be easier or more inexpensive.

Go to bulk reef supply and you can get all the ingredients at a fraction of the cost. Their price for the litre meter is also the best I have seen too.

Why make this any more complicated than it needs to be? Just add Kalk.

if you want more info on my set up just email me.

[Shooter7]

Neither a kalk drip or reactor, or a Ca reactor, are for increasing calcium levels. They are for maintaining them. Once you start using them, you get your Ca and alk where you want them to be using additives, then you begin the process of "dialing in" your ca reactor to where it holds steady with the usage of your tank.

And you can, indeed, use both at the same time. Some people observe a drop in pH while using a Ca reactor due to the method that it uses to get the calcium from the media to the tank water, so they also drip kalk water to help bring the pH up and hold it.

[lakwriter]

You do not need a reactor, just a way to deliver it to your tank slowly and consistently.

On a side note, you can use Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime to make lime water. Its the same thing and WAY cheaper than kalkwasser mix (about $3-5 a pound). Its a little hard to find in grocery stores this time of year (primarily avail in the fall during canning season), but you can find it on eBay or from Mrs Wages directly. That said, I just found a few canisters at a Kroger in Charleston, WV.