I'm thinking about adding calcium reactor to my tank but have some questions and could use advice. I already have a reactor (K2R). What size co2 bottle should I get and on the average how long does it last before refill. Which regulator should I get? I hear that some are difficult to adjust b/c needle valve.I have a 260 gal tank with mostly soft corals but having difficulty keeping Ca levels up. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Eddie
I went to a welding supply place and got their smallest cylinder which is very big for our use, they are sized by letters and I can't remember what letter size I got. I originally had one of the tiny bottles that are sold commercially to hobbyists but these are a pain to get filled because there are no sizes this small to exchange so they have to be refilled with is a pain for the welding suppliers. My bottle is about 3 foot tall and cost around $90 and lasts about 1.5 months but I have a very high calcium demand in my tanks. Contact Fisher12 by pm for the name of the guy up north that sells regulators, these are commercial grade with all of the fixens at cost. He is a no frills guy - you tell him what you want and he sends it to you. He will do a little consultation on what you need but don't expect much as he mostly works with freshwater people. He sells to hobbyist on the side and could care less whether you bought from him or not, but he sells the best equipment at cost. Do not by "Milwaukee" regulators that are way overpriced and are cheap design especially their cylinoid valves. JBJ also sells a regulator but it is not much better than Milwaukee. Fisher12 is also looking at purchasing a reactor in the next month so by almeans contact him - he is a wealth of information.
The CO2 equipment I use can be found at www.rexgrigg.com and seems to be the best for our use. The price is reasonable for the quality and he will fix you up with whatever combination you want to put together. The CO2 bottle came from a welder supply here in conway and I think is a 20 pound size. You purchase a tank for around $90.00 and just exchange the bottle when you need a refill. I have it on my 220 gal and it is almost a year old and still going strong. Don't know how long it will last. I think the refill is about $20.00.
Eddie IMO I would dose your tank with calc. chloride pellets which you can buy at Home Depot or swimming pool supply stores, don't use the stuff sold for this hobby as it takes alot and it cost to much. Having mainly softies, you should have no problems. I have a 240 with softies, lps, and quite a few sps and have no problems dozing daily so far, and everything is growing very fast. I have a calc. reactor and the whole setup that I used up north for years and years and am happy not having the issues associated with it. I have friends that keep 200 to 300 gal. strictly sps tanks and doze and have no problems keeping up the calc levels, so that is what I'm trying this time. There is quite a bit involved in running a calc reactor properly, I ran one for years. To do it properly you well need 2 ph moniters, I used Pinpoint, you need one for the reaction chamber to moniter the affluent ph in the mixing chamber, which you wnat to keep around 6.2-7 ph and one in the sump to moniter the tanks ph. A good solenoid is critical, because if it sticks your ph well get out of whack in a hurry and salt water is alot more corrosive then fresh, I used one sold by Deltec. I also ran a Kalk reactor at the same time to help keep the ph up and help with algae issues from the co2 as you well need to drip less from the calc reactor with a kalk reactor also running. and most believe that dripping kalk helps bind up phosphates. PS - the reason for the ph probe in the reactor is different media melts at different ph levels and so it is nice to know the ph in the reactor or you can endup with a bunch of goo, or not melting the media.
You well need to run your sump lighting for sure opposite the tank to help keep ph swings to a minumim as at nite it well go down to the mid 7's without it. You well need to keep a close eye on the drip rate and the reator well need cleaning and media replaced once every so often. If you do have a solenoid issue, irt well most likely turn the media in the chamber to mush and it well have to be cleaned and replaced. I AM NOT trying to talk you out of running one, I just wanted to point out a few of the issues that can come up and well most likely if you run one long enough or get lax in your husbandry. I ran a 5# bottle for years and on my 240 for the last 3 years and it was straight sps and it would last for a tad over a year, but I also ran a kalk reactor for the reasons stated above and would highly reccommend doing that. I would still say that with mainly softies it should last over a year. I went out to storage and measured my 5# and it is 20" high and well fit under your cabinet with the solenoid on if your cabinet is say 22" high inside. Also I would highly reccommend getting a reactor that recirculates the co2. Like running a tank there is a inexpensive way of running a reactor which can cause ALOT of trouble in a BIG hurry or the right way which still has to be monitered closely. cheers This is the reactor I have and it recirculates co2 and is cnc cut and is very reasonably priced, I used it for years with no issues and is very easy to set and you can call the owner and talk to him [can't remember his name], very friendly. www.reeftek.com
Eddie I just thought of another ave that you might want to think about and that is running a kalk reactor, it well keep your ph up and should be more then enough to keep your calc. and alk. levels up with your tank corals. I would reccommend a stirrer type as it is pretty much the opinion that it seems to dump less green lime water into the tank as opposed to the type that blows water into the kalk. I would still dose calc chloride, LOL.
Thanks Fisherman for all the advice. You gave me alot of good advice. Can you give me an idea abouy how much Ca Chloride you use. Also do you use anything for alkalinity. Thanks again
Eddie I do want to make one thing clear though, you have to be diligent in dosing regularly, so your parims stay steady. From some of the replies on here people seem to think having a calc reactor is better. If you keep your parims in order any reactor doesn't do much more for you. A calc. reactor may give you a few trace element replenishing, but so well regular water changes. A Kalk reactor may help bind phosphates but that shouldn't be a problem in a well maintained system that is properly skimmed and a way to get the detritus out of the system. So to keep your system steady you need to dose on a steady schedule, I have my tank setter do it when I'm gone. I only test mine about twice a month now, but I was down to once a month until I added a bunch of sps when the tank got 10 mos, old. To figure out the dozes though, I tested once or twice a week. As for the doses I use 4 level teaspoons of Sea Chem reef builder every morning, shaken up in a 1pt tuberware bottle I keep in the bedroom bathroom on the vanity, which is where the 20 gal. barrel of RO/DI water is. I keep the calc pellets and the reef builder in a 2 1/2 quart tuperware cantainers on the vanity. I have a big letter A on the RB and a B on the calc pellets. I put water in the pt cont and shake it good and dump it into the sump. I was only doing 3 teaspoons a day until I added the sps. I would suggest you start at maybe 2 or 2 1/2 since you only have softies.
I dose 1 tablespoon of the calc pellets mixed in ANOTHER pint tuperware at night. You might try a half tablespoon to start with. MAKE SURE you dose these atleast a hour apart as they are supposed to be toxic dosed together. I would test 2 times a week until you are comfortable with the dosage. I keep my parims a little higher then natural sea water levels. 8 to 9 on the alk and 420 to 440 on the calc., 1300 on the mag. I used to keep my alk higher and started getting stn on some sensitive acros and was told to try lowering it back to more normal levels by a very good acro keeper and have had no issues since and that was years ago. As stated I use Reef Builder by Sea Chem, you can get a 4 kg bucket at Customaquatic for around $43, which last along time, or if your'e not lazy like me you can make your own using plain old armour hammer baking soda. Spread a large box on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hr. at 300 deg., neither is critical, if you forget the time don't worry as long as it is not burn't. store in a container like above. I DONOT know the dosage for this though, it might be similar. As for calcium chloride people hear are using the ones you get at HD for deicing the driveway which seems to work fine. I got mine froma swimming pool place and they are 99.9% pure and are made by Dow. Hope this helps. PS If you get the Sea Chem product, make sure you get the REEF BUILDER and not the Buffer, which is more for raising PH.
Thanks again. I'm going to pick up some Ca chlodide and order some reef builder. I currently dosing daily Ca and alk at different times of day and lately 2 x daily to get ca levels up. I test H2O about 2x weekly. I also get dose on phone!! Eddie
I'm sure this well work for you and it won't break the bank LOL. Once you get the nbr. of spoons down it won't very unless you add a bunch of something that uses alot to build their skeletons. Do a post later as to what you find. cheers
