Calc reactor recomendations

jquigley78 · 07-10-2006, 11:52 PM

I am thinking that I am going to have to get a calcium reactor before two long and thought I would start getting some feedback on different brands and sizes My system is a 75g mixed reef with about 12 small (1-2") sps frags. Currently I am dripping kalk mixed with vinegar to keep my ca at about 420. I know that as my SPS get bigger though the calcium demand will grow. So any thoughts.

redwinger · 07-10-2006, 11:54 PM

Reefmania.net

mtfatwork · 07-11-2006, 12:13 AM

I have an mrc that works great.

jquigley78 · 07-11-2006, 01:21 PM

Anybody use koralin reactors. I cant believe how expensive these are. As of now I think I would lean towards the MRC packages which include all the accessories you need for the price of some reactors by themselves by other manufacturers.

David Grigor · 07-11-2006, 01:32 PM

IME: Calcium Reactors are simple devices. Will there are some features that do help with Co2 diffusion etc. the actual benefits are for the most part pretty negligable as far as any operating costs etc. are concerned and wouldn't spend a large amount of money for any of those features. This is also one of those areas where DIY can really save considerable money without giving up much functionality IME.

jquigley78 · 07-11-2006, 01:39 PM

David, do you know of any good DIY plans or where to find more info on them?

David Grigor · 07-11-2006, 02:15 PM

I haven't reviewed any DIY PVC type plans since 1998. If you have experirence working with acrylic basically just copy some of the existing models. I'm sure a search of most any DIY forum here or RC will produce many versions. If you find some interesting ones and want to bounce them off me as if any good just let me know. For the most part though there is only so much variation you can have to the basic reactor so most all should do the trick.

Sea monkey · 07-11-2006, 05:58 PM

I have never owned one so take my opinion for what its worth . when i was looking it seemed most the differences were just looks and the one feature that was really worth anything was a a top that comes off easy.

anyways i had decided that the GEO was the best value for my dollar. cheap and pretty much everyone gives them the thumbs up.

http://www.geosreef.com/index.html

a bunch ofonline retailers now sell them

jquigley78 · 07-11-2006, 06:19 PM

[quote=Sea monkey]I have never owned one so take my opinion for what its worth .

So what do you use for your calcium demands then? Do you have a lot SPS calc demanding corals.

Sea monkey · 07-11-2006, 06:55 PM

kalk top off and water changes.

i decided i don't need to achieve maximum growth rates and i don't want to pay for and maintain another piece of equipment.

i was going to try this but i got lazy.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Personally, the first thing id do is ask spazz about making one for me and if he was too busy id go with the geo because of the price.

jquigley78 · 07-11-2006, 07:08 PM

What size is your tank (s) and how large are your sps's. Heh if I can get by without one I would rather save the money too. I actually have time over the next week if the invitation still stands to come out and build a few maxijet mods.

Sea monkey · 07-11-2006, 07:16 PM

i have a 10 or so growing SPS frags in a 90 with a ton of other corals and clams.

I'm seriously not the one to ask about this : ) I'm sure some other people with way more experience with calcium demanding corals who have owned different types of CA RX's will chime in .

csb123 · 07-12-2006, 11:34 AM

I have a Korallin reactor. It is well built and functional but I agree that it is over priced. I like the looks of the MRC reactors. I would also recommend a two stage reactor.

jquigley78 · 07-12-2006, 12:05 PM

Even for a 75 gallon tank?

David Grigor · 07-12-2006, 01:26 PM

I'm pretty sure the 2 part homemade recipe thing could work pretty easily with a dosing pump or possibly the aqualift pumps on a timer. I plan to try it myself but for now Kalkwasser and an occasional addition of CA/ALK is fine.

I'm not really fond of CA reactor ( ran one for over 6 years ) unless you really large tank with large demands. The CO2 depressing your PH is a downside that I like to compensate for by using Kalkwasser. On a 75g, I'm sure you can come up with some automated alternatives without having to invest until you have bigger demands where it makes more economical sense to run a CA reactor.