switching to acro etc.

mattsilvester · #1 01/25/2006, 09:35 AM

Having kept a "marginal" reef tank for 5 or 6 years now, I was thinking of switching to a hard coral tank. I had alway stuck with softies to avoid the need for major calcium replacement etc. Having done alot of diving recently, and inspired by tanks such as this months "tank of the month", I think I might take the plunge.

Basically, I was wondering, what would you guys consider the minimum "kit" for sucess with large branching corals like acro's etc.

I will need to beef up my lighting (standard 180 tank) to 3 no. 250W, and 4 flo' tubes. I will need a bigger, better skimmer. I will need a couple more tunze streams. That is the basic stuff, that I already have and know about. What else?

Calcium reactor?
Automatic top up (from RO)?
Would a kalk dripper be needed in addition to the above for ph etc.

I'd like to be able to set the tank up, get all the gear needed for its long term on going sucess, and then be able to just let it without constantly having to add aditives and mess around with bits and pieces. I don't mind doing a monthly water change and take readings etc.

Am I on the right track...... guidance here would be appreciated. At this stage my first concern is can I afford the gear I need, before I set my heart on the project, and secondly will I have the time required to maintain it..... if I could get an idea of the financial and time commitments needed, I can start planning, or shelve it for retirement!!!

Cheers,
Matt

reefD · #2 01/25/2006, 10:24 AM

if you drip kalk then that would be enough. also you shouldnt use tap water anymore so yes di would be good. you mentioned the essentials. as far as lighting is concerns hid fixtures are better for sps but i maintain many species under pc lighting. if your tanks filtrationn is good already then all you need to do is start dosing calcium and a cheap easy way is with kalk mix and a dripline ...thats what i do and my hard corals have been growing like crazy. i fraqg them alot! if your softies have been doing fine...living long than your filtration may be enough. just start dosing kalkj and thats it. you also need a good source for top off...no more tap water dechlorionqated. not gonna cut it. ro will be ideal. thats it! very simple esspecially if you already have success with softies.

swclown · #3 01/25/2006, 10:31 AM

i wish kalk would be enough for my calcium but it doen't even come close. w/o a reactor i was using 64 oz + of calcium every two weeks in addition to kalk just to stay around 425.
calcium reactor keeps it at 450 with no effort.
the reactor will be your friend.

mattsilvester · #4 01/25/2006, 11:40 AM

Thanks for the replies guys - thats the kind of info I am looking for. I have to get more info on kalk dripping & calcium reactors. I suppose if I got an RO (which I am getting any way) and a top off kit, and a kalk stirrer, then thats gonna go a long way to start. And then add a calcium reactor a month or two later. As I say, the main thing for me would be to have a nice, easy to maintain system.

With an auto top off unit & kalk dripper/stirrer do I need some kind of monitor/control device? If I add a calcium reactor later, do I need to get control equipment for that, or is it a "plug & play" type of set up? My understanding of a calcium unit is that you pump water through the reactor, which is bascially a canister of medium. And you inject CO2 into the canister to make the medium disolve? Is it a trial and error type process, or does some sort of control gear take care of that?

These items are really my biggest concern, because I know the least about them. gonna do some research later - but info from the troops on the ground is always the best.

Cheers,

Matt

marinelife · #5 01/25/2006, 11:53 AM

I recommend a Tunze WaveBox too, they are great

swclown · #6 01/25/2006, 01:05 PM

Your assumption about how reactors work is pretty much correct. You dial them in by controlling how much CO2 is used and the dwell time that the water stays in contact with the media (determined by how much flow comes out of the unit - also called effluant or something like that).
The biggest concern is the CO2 and resulting PH drop and this can be controlled by a PH controller.
For me it was just time and testing that I needed to get used to it and now it's pretty much plug and play. I have a PH monitor now, but no controller. I used to test EVERY day for calcium and dkH, but now things have beem so stable I only test about every two weeks.

mattsilvester · #7 01/26/2006, 11:11 AM

Again, thanks for the replies.

Once again, correct me if I'm wrong. If I start out, get an auto top off kit that can be connected to an RO unit, and run that through a kalk stirrer, then it should be a good start.

Later, get a calcium reactor. I think it would probably be best to get something that will monitor / control the calcium reactor from day one - that should really help avoid any "mistakes", and do away with a period of guessing the correct setting by judging daily readings. Can you gte a controller / monitor that will regulate the amount of water / CO2 to administer?

Does a calcium reactor sit in the sump, or next to it? What about kalk stirer - in or next to sump?

Thanks guys.
Matt

jgoodrich71 · #8 01/26/2006, 11:21 AM

Stability is the key. If the tank is stable, chemically and (for me esecially) temperature. The temp is the hardest thing for me. I live where it doesn't get very cold. I'm always having to deal with heat from lighting and pumps (and a fellow employee in the office, where my tank, is that is cold if it's under 80 deg. F.)

swclown · #9 01/26/2006, 12:51 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mattsilvester
[B]Again, thanks for the replies.

Once again, correct me if I'm wrong. If I start out, get an auto top off kit that can be connected to an RO unit, and run that through a kalk stirrer, then it should be a good start.

Later, get a calcium reactor. I think it would probably be best to get something that will monitor / control the calcium reactor from day one - that should really help avoid any "mistakes", and do away with a period of guessing the correct setting by judging daily readings. Can you gte a controller / monitor that will regulate the amount of water / CO2 to administer?

Does a calcium reactor sit in the sump, or next to it? What about kalk stirer - in or next to sump?

That sounds like a good plan. During the period when you're using the kalk i would suggest having some liquid calcium and dkh buffer handy. Bionic would take care of both of these. You're still going to have to do a lot of testing to make sure your param are where they need to be and add calcium or buffer to get there if the kalk doesn't get it. In my experience kalk isn't enough, but I already have and had corals that seem to drink the calcium. You may not.
If you have the green I would highly recommend getting the controller. Pinpoint makes one that is probably the most popular, and yes it is pro-active - if ph drops too low it will shut off CO2 to the unit, but I don't know if it can regulate how much. I'm not sure on this one. There are more elabortae controllers like Neptune that do more than just PH and may have some means of regulation but then your looking at a lot more money.

Both the reactor and kalk stirrer are outside of the sump in every instance I've seen.