Calcium Reactor Media??

[fishnfst]

Hello all before I go out and order some reactor media thought I would ask for advice.. Hate to buy stuff twice you know :) I'm getting vapormd's old calcium reactor that he was running ARM in. Is this the way to go? I noticed there are a bunch of different types.. Fine , Coarse and all these different brands..

Just wanted to see what everyone else was using.. So far the schuran jetstream media and arm were the two that have been recommended to me.. Anyone else feel free to chime in please.. If you can give pros and cons of the type you use would be great as well...

TIA
fishnfst

[northbay-reefer]

ARM sells two different types the fine and the coarse stuff. Get the coarse one it works alot better. You can buy the same thing in bulk at 6th ave aquarium in SF for $1 a lb

[Qwiv]

I say ARM as well.

Is the stuff at 6th really the same? ARM disolves so much better than all the rest that I always thought they packaged a little magic in the container with it.

[northbay-reefer]

Qwiv, its the same stuff, just sort through it a bit and get rid of all the shells, and then wash it with RO water and thats it.

[fishnfst]

Where in the store is it located? I go by there quite a bit.. what is it labeled as?

[Qwiv]

I'll pay the money not to sort shells out. Thx.

[racrumrine]

Does crushed coral work the same? I thought I read that before.

Regards,

Roy

[northbay-reefer]

Fishnfst, the store is located in clement street corner of 6th, they sell it in the sand section, the stuff is crushed corals get the bigest stuff that they sell.

Racumrine, yeap its the stuff, but its larger and more rounded so it looks like it has been tossed around abit in the ocean.

QWiv, ARM cost $25 buck a 5 lbs container, and I need 10 lbs of this stuff, the cost will be 50 bucks plus tax and shipping. I can get this same stuff for $10 for 10 lbs. The only reason why I sort out the shells is because I want it to be all crushed corals, but as it turns out theirs only about 1/4 cup of shells in 10 lbs worth of stuff so I didnt have to sort it out :D :D

[Vincerama2]

Aside from takng up space, I don't see the problem with shells. Sure there is more than just calcium in those shells, but your corals are made of more than just calcium too!

You can also toss dead corals into the reactor to "return them from whence they came".

When people swap out crushed coral in favour of sand or bare bottom, that's a good snag too for cheap reactor media!

I have ARM, but I mix it up.

Now if only my reactor didn't leak...

V

[TikiDan]

anybody have plans for a DIY reactor?

[northbay-reefer]

Vincerama2, yeah the shells are fine. But the main thing that I've found about this type of media is that they are coarse and dont compact like the small stuff so the water flow through it alot better. Ever since I change to it, my calcium reactor works alot better.

Tikidan, its pretty easy to build, I just took the picture of the reactor from that fishplace catalog and build one just like it. I think they were selling it for $500 for just the body. I built it for about $120 (cost of the tubs, pvcs, and Eheim pump)

[Qwiv]

There is the $200 Calcium Reactor thread as well. I have one of the for sale if anyone is interested. The thread is here:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=587186&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Has a Mag2.

[fishnfst]

Thanks everyone for the input.. I got a bunch of crushed coral from aquatic central.. .89 a pound.. I got the largest they had #15 is what it said on the bag.. I was told to sort out the shells to prevent silica and phosphates from leaching into the tank.. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not but I'll do it... :)

[Vincerama2]

I think the hardest part of making one is the "lid".

I bought a crappy one off eBay (I kept modifying it, but it's basically flawed!) But it's basically a tube.

I think it's best to make the water flow upward in the chamber. The one I had kept compacting the media down, and the pump would strain until it would just not flow water.

I decided to make a new one, which I still haven't. I was going to base it on the DJ88 plan (of which the BAR DIY reactor is a mutation of).

Here's a link to DJ88's reactor plans. Check out the rest of Melev's site while you are there!


http://www.melevsreef.com/dj88.html
V

[northbay-reefer]

Vince, the lid is pretty easy to make, the main thing is making sure you have a good O-ring for the seal.

fishnfst, thats good that you found the stuff, you wont find too many shells in there but if you like you can sort it out like I did. I use the shells in a small lid for propagating zoos and ricordia.

[Sparkss]

we just ordered a bunch of the Gen-X (Schuran) media. Once our new, larger reactor arrives we will be switching to the new media. Many people swear by it... which is better than swearing at it, I suppose :)

[fishnfst]

Thanks Tom thats actually the media that was recommended to me by the person I purchased the reactor from.. Custom Aquatic was out of it last time I checked so I'm going to try this crushed coral stuff.. I have to soak it and then test for phosphates first.. IF its acceptable I'm going to give it a run....

[africangrey]

Please let us know the phosphate result after the RO/DI rinse, I just got some Gen-X media from Premium Aquatic for $18/ea, the effluent is about 36 dKH after driving the pH down to 6.2 for 24 hour. I like it so far because it won't channel the reactor, the Gen-x media does have some shells in it which I didn't bother to take out.

[fishnfst]

I wonder what the difference is? It did contain some shells then.. Hmmmmm....