some question about Kalkwasser and calcuim reactor

[rennne39]

I would like to know the difference between a Kalkwasser and calcuim reactor which is better and why thanks I am new to these things and need information

[IslandCrow]

They serve completely different purposes, so I won't be able to tell you which one is better. As far as the difference goes, a kalkwasser reactor is a chamber of some kind that contains dissolved and undissolved lime. Water is injected into the chamber and mixed with the undissolved lime to keep the solution saturated. It is then added slowly to your tank. A carbon reactor, on the other hand, has a constant flow of water through a similar chamber which contains activated carbon instead of lime. The water flow causes the media to gently tumble, allowing the maximum contact with the water. The purpose is to adsorb organics (and some inorganics) from the water stream. The purpose of kalkwasser, however is to add calcium and alkalinity to your system. A side-effect is that it also raises your PH (which could be a good or bad effect). Hopefully that's kind of clear. As for which one you want, it depends on whether you're looking for a chemical filter (carbon reactor) or something to supplement your calcium/alkalinity (kalkwasser reactor). Of course, you can also use both of them together. There are no negative or compounding interactions between the two.

[rennne39]

sorry I meant to say calcuim reactor

[Gary Majchrzak]

good read:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

[rennne39]

thanks

[IslandCrow]

sorry I meant to say calcuim reactor

Ahh, gotcha. In that case, the biggest difference is the efficiency of each setup. If you have a large calcium demand in your tank, you'll want to go with a calcium reactor. If it's a light demand, a kalkwasser reactor may be sufficient. The calcium reactor will also generally have the opposite effect on PH (i.e. it lowers it).