whats the difference between a calcium reactor and a kalkwaser stirrer

[walt1982]

ok im setting a up a 265 and i dont want to add calcium all the time so which one should i use reactor or stirrer or both
whats the difference

[jingyinan]

I also want to know the answer. RC really should set up a calcium/kalk sticky thread.

[sjm817]

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

[xtm]

Calcium reactor uses aragonite media and CO2 to dissolve it. Kalkwasser stirrer (or Kalkreactor) uses kalkwasser.

Calcium reactors are costly up front ($500+) but it can save you a LOT of time an dmoney in the long run. Two part additives can get costly and stirring kalk is time consuming and messy.

Kalkreactors are cheap.. in addition, Kalkwasser powder is cheap. No CO2 bottles to refill.... however, you face the task of topping it off with Kalk powder every week or so.

There really is no right or wrong answer. It's all up to your budget, application, and amount of time you have.

[frank2926]

I would look into using 2 part with a dosing pump. The start up cost is less than a calcium reactor. If I had to do it again this is the way I would go. When using a calcium reactor almost everyone has to also dose kalk to combat the low ph problem. I do. So you end up doing both. That and the media . The larger media seems to be higher in alk than calcium. The smaller is to touchy. You can easily turn it to mush if your drip slows down, which happens over time as the small diameter tubing for the effluent gets dirty. The reactor also needs to be serviced.
Taking it apart and cleaning recirc pump, feed pump etc.