Calcium Reactor

[Drew]

Assuming that at some time I get my new tank up, I would consider a calcium reactor. Hopefully the tank will be either 90 or 120 gal, with sps. 1.Those of you who have calcium reactors, are they worth the price? 2.They seem pretty complicated, what was setup like? 3.Are they hard to maintain? 4.Are there any places that sell them, or is there any easy way to DIY? 5.Would they good for my size tank?

Thanks,
Drew

[Doug1]

Drew look on reef central equip forum or archive and check out the Geo reactor, its the best price for the reactor if you are willing to get the CO2 stuff from outside the hobby

[Pikaboo]

Drew, This will be one of the best upgrades you'll make. It eliminates the use of Kalk and other additives. I didn't think adding B-Ionic everyday... but after I got the Ca Reactor, I'd hate the idea of having to add any additives on a daily basis. It's not hard to setup at all... and to maintain.. you just have to occasionally fill the CO2 tank and refill the media. That's about it.

[Phill]

Drew , I wish you would have had me to explain my reactor to you when you were here for our club meeting.

If you plan on keeping sps or clams in a larger tank then a calcium reactor is money well spent (almost necesary).

I set mine up in January ,spent about a month tweaking it and have had constant readings for the last month. alk at 11.8 dKH - calcium at 425, with no other additives.

http://homestead.com/geosreef/reactor.html this is Geo's site you can find info on the reactors he makes here. Current price for a dual chamber delivered is about $125. You need to supply the supply pump ( maxi-jet 1200 works good), the recirculating pump ( mag2 is what he suggests) you also need a co2 tank, regulator and needle valve. Premium Aquatics has a special package for Geo-Reactors.

Thet only seem complicated because you have never had one. Very low maintenance.

Let me know if you decide to get one and want some help setting up.

Phill

[ 03-01-2001: Message edited by: Phill ]

[gpohly]

Drew,

It appears that for about the same money as a calc reactor + CO2 tank & regulator, you can setup a Kalk mixer and doser which will also double as an automatic top-off system. Both systems have a lot of merit. I bought a Korraline calcium reactor, and while it was easy to setup, it has been a bit tricky to keep running at maximum efficiency. It seems when I get effluent rate and bubble rate matched, the return line closes off a little more due to calcium particles in the line, slowing the effluent and ultimately stopping the reactor from working. I greatly improved this by using a plastic fuel filter in the effluent line that acts as a filter for calcium particles before they reach the line clamp, but overall it has been a bit of a pain to set up. On the other hand, the Korraline does not need a lot of line pressure on the inlet into the calc reactor to work, a problem that plagues some other models. If I had it to do all over again, I probably would investigate more the automated top-off & Kalk system setups by reefers on this BBS.

There was a recent thread on "Kalk vs. Calc", or something like that. Bill-e has an automated Kalc set-up, so you might ask him about his opinion.

Either way, they'll both do the job, but it's a bunch of bucks to plunk down, so you want to make sure you're happy with your decision.

JMO.

Glenn

[stephen]

hey drewman, if you want to try your hand at making a kalk reactor, here,s one possible set of plans you might like to see. Goto
mars us page I built the skimmer and it works great.
If you try it let me know how it works out.
stephen

[Doug1]

Hmmmmm that link didnt work for me

[Drew]

Thanks to everyone who gave me a suggestion. This is something I'm still going to do some thinking about.
Phill - I looked over your reactor at our last meeting, and that was one of the things that got me wanting one. It's really doing a good job keeping your calcim up, because your sps looked really good. Where do you get your CO2 from? How much does it cost?

Thanks again everyone, I'm still open to any suggestions.

Drew

[Drew]

Oh yes, I almost forgot. I sent George Weber an e-mail regarding him making a reactor for me. He replied and told me that he asks 1140 for the reactor, bubble counter, and shipping. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I belive (hope) that the 0 was a typo. He also said that he can't take any new orders for a few weeks.

Drew

[lilolme]

This is the responce I got from GEO.

I ask 100 for the single chamber reactor, this
include the bubble counter and shipping in US. It does not include the mag 2
pump, media or co2 system.

But I know this is a single chamber so I am sure price is Different.

Jeff

[Pikaboo]

Drew... maybe it's 140??

[Drew]

Ah yes, I never thought of that.
Just as long as it's not 1140

[bill-e]

Just to touch on what Glenn said. The beauty of a top-off/Nilsen reactor system is lack of maintenance.

You no longer have to top off your evap water, and no adjustments to the Reactor. Charge it every week with 4 tablespoons of Kalk and that's it. If you forget to charge it, it just puts out your normal amount of top off water with less kalk in it. It wont lower your ph like a misadjusted Co2 reacter will.

[geo]

If I were to use kalk I would want to do it with a system such as bill's. I was using kalk for a few months and it does turn into a bit of a pain. Once the calcium reactor is tuned in I find its pretty much trouble free. I do love the reactor, I really doubt I will ever have a reef aquarium without one.
I havent stopped building them, I just need time to catch up on my list.

[Drew]

Well I've added up all the components for the new tank, and I just don't have the cash for a reactor. I will have to dose kalk till I have a few hundred extra bucks. Thanks for the help.

Drew