calcium reactors crashing? Two part?

[orcafood]

How many of you have had a tank crash due to a calcium reactor? What was the reason?

For a heavily sps and lps stocked 190g aquarium, would it be cost effective to use 2 part? Safer or better?

[sanababit]

for 190 use a calcium reactor, i have never heard of a tank crash caused by calcium reactor, now kalk thats another story.....

sana

[RGrycki]

With reliable dosing pumps and digital timers, you would think that 2-part would be impervious to a "crash". Silly me, instead of dosing for 3 minutes from 12noon to 12:03pm, the timer for my alk got re-programmed wrong after some adjustments to run for 12hrs and 3 minutes from 12 noon to 12:03 am. Can you say mini-crash? Also, I got cheap dosers and they occasionally stick and not pump anything sometimes for a week at a time until I notice I'm at 6dKh or 340ppm Ca. Never had a Ca. RX though so can't comment on them. I do know that DIY 2-part is pretty cheap.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How many of you have had a tank crash due to a calcium reactor? What was the reason?


You mean a CaCO3/CO2 reactor? Why do you ask? It is a very rare event to worry about.

I'v heard of two sorts of problems. A delivery problem that drove way too much CO2 into the the tank, driving pH way down, and excessive phosphate in the media driving algae.

If you mean a limewater reactor, That's a different story. They can drive pH too high and cause problems if you overdeliver limewater to the tank.

[LobsterOfJustice]

Agreed, never heard of major problems with a calcium reactor. Many kalk reactors on the other hand have a high potential for disaster IMO.

[meschaefer]

I have a 220 gallon SPS tank. I had been dosing two part untill it just go out of hand. I was going through five gallons of each part in about a month. I would also run into problems that were, admittidly of my own making. Because I had coverd containers, I wouldn't notice it was time to refill them and they would run dry for a day or two. With the demand in my tank Alk would drop very quickly resulting in signficant problems.

I switched over to a Calcium Reactor about a month ago, and so far I am very happy with it.... so far (ask again in a year).

[orcafood]

Yes, I meant CaCO3/CO2 reactor.

I was only wondering because a local fish store owner told me that 2 part was better at maintaining parameters, and that his system had crashed due to the solenoid sticking in his sps system, resulting in a lowered ph and massive die off.

So is the general consensus that a calcium reactor would be cheaper/better off for a 190g then DIY 2 part.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I was only wondering because a local fish store owner told me that 2 part was better at maintaining parameters, and that his system had crashed due to the solenoid sticking in his sps system, resulting in a lowered ph and massive die off.

yes, that is a possible but rare outcome.

No, I do not think the reactor is cheaper than a DIY two part, unless the tank is quite large or has a big demand for calcium and alkalinity.

I compared prices here a few years ago before posting the DIY recipe:

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

[orcafood]

How much would you say a DIY recipe would cost for a 190g mildly to heavily stocked tank?

What could I use for DIY 2 part?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The DIY recipe is here:

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

and you can buy ingredients here:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Calciu...1_4/index.html

and

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/sh...owspecials=124

[orcafood]

So for a 190g mildly to heavily stocked tank, would you recommend dosing over a calcium reactor?

How long would one of the 5 gallon containers of each last?

[orcafood]

I am not sure that I calculated right, but for a 190g loosing 2 meq/L/Day of calcium per day, that would be 1/2 a gallon of dissolved DIY 2 part?

Would that mean that I would need to make up new two part every other day?

I would have to buy new materials every 4-5 months?

[tegee]

I was going to post a very similar question the other day on this forum. I am also very curious about using a CaCO3/CO2 reactor on my tank. I have approximately 230 gallons with sump & fuge and have been running the 2-part for ~3 years now with great results.

However, I am going to predominately sps now and was wondering if a reactor was going to be need once my tank demands more calcium. I purchased a brand new MRC reactor back in the spring and it has been sitting in the closet waiting to be hooked up (life & work got in the way; don't ask ). It is a top end reactor with all the bells & whistles. I am temped not to hook it up because my tank is running so good with the 2-part + mag element. I am evn doing all my home brews/diy now so costs is way down.

To that end, I am honestly a bit intimidated my the reactor. It looks very complicated to use and after doing my homework recently it appears that calcium reactors are fallen out of flavor. It seems the more people I talk to or visit this forum the more that are getting away from reactors. Is that statement true? People I speaking with are going to 2-part and/or balling method, etc.

Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

[snorvich]

Is a calcium reactor needed (instead of two part)? No. Is it nice? Absolutely. Still requires periodic filling but the chances for error are somewhat less (at least with regard to a crash).

[LobsterOfJustice]

I only have to mess with my reactor about once every 9 months, probably to change out the CO2. If the chambers get low, loosen some thumb screws and throw some more crushed coral in. Sure, the solenoid can stick, but:

1. The bubble count should have been adjusted correctly to prevent or at least delay this
2. With a proper bubble count, he would have had probably a day or two before anything too dramatic happened, all he had to do was LOOK at the pH controller and see it was reading low.

[orcafood]

Yeah, he said it happened (some kid messed with it) before he left, then when he came back... death

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I am not sure that I calculated right, but for a 190g loosing 2 meq/L/Day of calcium per day, that would be 1/2 a gallon of dissolved DIY 2 part?

What do you loose each day? 2 ppm calcium? Can't be 2 meq/L of alkalinity unless it is a VERY high demand tank.

My Recipe #1 is 37,000 ppm in calcium.

At 2 ppm calcium demand per day, you need to add 2/37,000 of the tank volume each day, or 0.005% of the volume. In a 100 gallon tank, that is 0.005 gallons per day, or 1 gallon per 6 months.

[orcafood]

I think the calcium loss is 30-50ppm per day.
It's a sps tank.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Wow, 50 ppm per day is HUGE. How long did you track it to get that? Water changes with a low calcium mix did not interfere with he measurement? If you do use a two part, you'll need to dose the alkalinity part many times per day and calcium at lest once or twice a day. Definitely use dosing pumps.

At 50 ppm per day, you'd use it 25 times faster than I suggested, or 4 gallons per month in a 100 gallon tank.

I think you'd need quite a large reactor, if that is the alternative.