Questions about maintaining calcium

[jfolley67]

I have always had a rough time keeping the calcium up on the 90 so trying to do some research now right before the 180 is together. What does everyone use to monitor and keep it up and steady? I was thinking about a calcium reactor, or tunze has a calcium doser that hooks on to their top off unit I was also considering. I will be in the market for this kind of stuff if anyone has anything they recommend. I will finally try and start keeping hard corals which I have not done in the past, so want to do it right... I do have an aquacontroller II as well but it is not truly setup yet for full use until the 180 is going and I still have to figure out what else I need to run that to full use.

[JetCat USA]

a 180 with a high Ca/Alk demand is easiest kept with a Ca reactor. my 180 has a daily evaporation rate of slightly over 5 gallon during the summer months and a Kalk reactor drives pH through the roof.

[crumbletop]

Since you don't have a lot of stonies at this point, you may get by with a kalk reactor alone and running topoff through it. You likely won't have huge amounts of evaporation with your LED lighting. You should measure Calcium and Alkalinity with a good kit such as a Salifert. You can easily adjust both with some 2-part if need be. My bet is it will be a little while before you'll need a lot of supplementation, which gives you some time to let things settle and get the tank running smoothly. Then later on you can look into a Ca Reactor or 2-part doser if you end up needing it.

[jfolley67]

good point Jack..... I need to learn more about these reactors and such. I was not planning on doing anything harsh right away. are you still coming over late saturday? I have to get a few more fittings for the return and need to post here for a 1 or 1 1/2 inch bulkhead for both the skimmer and the return pump. I did not realize I would need them.....oops. I think Wayne is also going to try and get over here as well. Tonight we are going there to pick out rock and such and haul water back here.

[crumbletop]

Yes, I should still be able to come over. Probably around 4pm. The boss canceled our camping plans because of the heat.

[jfolley67]

yep, wayyyy to hot to camp. Please let the boss know that I appreciate her giving you time over the weekend to come over and help us. I am so hoping that things progress alot this weekend. by they way....how in the world do I move over my rock I want from the old tank if the corals are attached? I know I know, probably dumb question!

[crumbletop]

You can move them very carefully :)

It shouldn't be that hard. Some things if mounted on the LR you can remove. Other things that have populated the LR you just move with the piece.

[Sk8r]

I use a kalk reactor as sole supplement on a 54 with stonies. Basically you push your topoff water through a chamber that has powdered kalk in it, and the resultant mix flows out into your tank as if it were regular topoff.

A kalk reactor does not use a CO2 tank, which makes them that much smaller footprint than a calcium reactor, but they're not as potent [nor can you screw up as badly ;)]. You CAN diy one.

Some growers of stony coral use both reactors.

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10521703#post10521703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jfolley67
tunze has a calcium doser that hooks on to their top off unit I was also considering.

Don't get the calcium doser. It costs $90 and it may be worth $10. I made that mistake. Decent concept and I still use mine but you can make one much cheaper. I use Randy's 2 part and kalk with topup and it works well for me.
Chris

[jfolley67]

thanks fishdoc, appreciate the tip...sorry to sound dumb, but what is randy's 2 part?

[crumbletop]

Randy's 2-part is a DIY balanced calcium and alkalinity supplementation scheme designed to be cheap, and to keep the tank at optimal ca/alk/mg for corals to lay down skeleton. It was the topic at the May meeting at Wooglin's. Here is a pdf that was used at the meeting:
http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/Homemade2-Part.pdf

Here is a link to the article by RHF:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

[NeveSSL]

Does anyone have any links to DIY kalk reactors?

Also, Chris, out of curiosity, why do you do both a kalk reactor and two-part?

My test kits should all be here on Wednesday, so I'll then know how bad or good my alk, mag, and calcium are. :D So, with that in mind, I'm beginning to get ready to see what I need to get to fix problems. At the same time, I think my feather dusters are probably using more calcium than anything... I only have a few zoos.

Sorry for the hijack! I did at least wait two days from the last reply. :D

Brandon

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10542163#post10542163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeveSSL

Also, Chris, out of curiosity, why do you do both a kalk reactor and two-part?



Because I believe both have benefits. 2 part is better for keeping up with Ca demand (in a tank stocked with stonies) and kalk is better for stabilizing pH and has some reputed benefit for helping to bind and remove phosphate from the water column. Also you don't have to dose kalk with you topoff, in fact it's safer to do it with a peristaltic pump using set volumes each day. That way the amount you dose will be fixed and not fluctuate with the evaporation rate of the tank. That also eliminates at least one factor in the dreaded auto topoff gone wild kalk overdose possibility.
hth, Chris

[crumbletop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10542163#post10542163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeveSSL
Does anyone have any links to DIY kalk reactors?

Here is a link to one I built last summer.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=888146

[NeveSSL]

Ahhhh... ok. Thanks for the quick reply.

And I thought after I had my tank up that I wouldn't have to think as much about things to buy... :lol:

Brandon

[Tennsquire]

I've always used two part solutions a couple of times a week. If I'm out of town for more than a few days, I add and extra topoff tank tied into the topoff switch, with calcium going in one of them and alk in the other. I don't have any room in my stand for a calcium reactor.

[NeveSSL]

Thanks Jack. :)

Brandon

[NeveSSL]

Yeah, room is at a premium for me, too. Not only am I in an apartment, but my sump takes up all of the room in my stand. My tank is in a corner, though, but I like that I can disappear behind my tank... although that freaked Chuck out when he brought me some chaeto and I disappeared behind the tank putting it in my sump... lol.

I'll be setting up auto top off whenever I get my AC Jr. in probably a month. :)

Brandon