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Unread 10/12/2011, 04:50 PM   #1
JohnV8r
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: El Dorado Hills, CA
Posts: 399
Large Tank Calcium Question

Here's my quick background: I have a 175G display tank (48Lx28Dx30T), refugium, sump, etc, with live rock and sand the system gives me an estimated NET 195G. I have a Tunze Osmolater for top off. ASM G3 skimmer. Lighting is 2x250W 20K Radium MH with LumenMax Elite reflectors.

I had a nightmarish aptasia infestation. After 4 months of trying EVERYTHING (shooting boiling water to chemicals to Peppermint Shrimp to Copperbanded Butterflies) I finally decided it was time to to drain the system, dry out the live rock, and end the dreams that there were aptasia growing in my bed once and for all. It was my McGovern/Viet Nam solution: I dropped THE BOMB on my tank to kill the aptasia.

My tank has now been "dry" for just over a year and I've finally reached the point where I am excited to get the tank up and running again.

When I first set my tank up in 2007 and started collecting SPS, I dosed the CA, Alk, & Mag because I wasn't sure whether I was going to want to keep a reef tank. Unfortunately, I was hooked almost immediately and just kept dosing because I was afraid of some cataclysmic disaster during the learning curve if I switched to Kalk or a Ca reactor. This time I want to do things right from the get go.

Having read as much as I could about Kalkwasswer reactors and Ca Reactors, I came to the conclusion that Kalkwasser might not be an efficient enough way to maintain Ca given that I would dose it through my top off/Tunze Osmolater system. My recollection is that I was using about 5 gallons of top off every 2-3 days depending on the season. HOWEVER, while researching the issue I read an article that said using Kalkwasser via a top off in a larger tank in conjunction with a Ca reactor is a great way to ensure that PH remains stable when using a Ca reactor as the main source of Ca.

Being mindful of the relationship between my cash flow and my significant other's happiness (LMAO!), I thought I would get a Precision Marine KR-620
Kalkwasser reactor ($260) and use Kalk to maintain the Ca while I cycle the tank and grow coralline. Then, 4-6 months later (before I put any corals in), I would take the $600-$700 plunge and get a Ca reactor. Before I do so, I wanted to ask the following questions:

1. Will I be able to maintain Ca levels at 430-ish in 195G with Kalk if I'm just cycling and growing coralline or am I just wasting my time and money trying to use Kalk to maintain Ca in 195G's with just coralline?

2. Does Kalkwasser really help keep PH stable when using a Ca reactor to the extent that I should employ the Kalk reactor and Ca reactor or is the PH drain from the CO2 in a Ca reactor so nominal in 195G's of water that it would be overkill?

My overall objective is to create an environment with the Ca, Alk, and PH as stable as I can possibly keep it.

Thanks in advance for the help!



Last edited by JohnV8r; 10/12/2011 at 05:03 PM.
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