Blackhand Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Agreed! Also, CA Reactors are dissolving CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) which is ionically balanced. Dosing Calcium and ALK via a dosing pump is made up of calcium chloride + water and sodium carbonate/sodium bicarbonate + water. In this case you'll have calcium being consumed and chloride ion free in the water, and carbonate/bicarbonate consumed and sodium free in the water. You will need to change water frequently to remove the over abundace/remaining chloride and sodium left over from dosing. If not, you run a great risk of throwing off your water chemistry parameters which can lead to a system crash. I believe this accounts for the "unknown crashes" we hear of. wow im not sure if i completly understood all of that (a lot of big and fancy words for me lol) but it makes sense so ive been wanting to go dosing pump when i can get the money to so does this mean more frequent water changes than 10% every week if so wouldnt that kinda defeat the purpose of dosing right or maybe im not understanding haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaunMonahan Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 All I am stating here is a calcium reactor is a balanced method for calcium and alk, which for me is the preferred method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 I'm with Brad. It really depends on the size of your system. Smaller systems can do with dosing, but for the big systems it is more cost effective to use a reactor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHiestand Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 Thanks everyone for the input so far.. now I am on the fence again. LOL I guess I will be doing some more reading before I make my decision. Everyone on here seems to have some great input on their preferred method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHiestand Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 I'm with Brad. It really depends on the size of your system. Smaller systems can do with dosing' date=' but for the big systems it is more cost effective to use a reactor[/quote'] It will be a 120 gallon full mixed reef with minimum 75 gal sump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Agreed! Also, CA Reactors are dissolving CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) which is ionically balanced. Dosing Calcium and ALK via a dosing pump is made up of calcium chloride + water and sodium carbonate/sodium bicarbonate + water. In this case you'll have calcium being consumed and chloride ion free in the water, and carbonate/bicarbonate consumed and sodium free in the water. You will need to change water frequently to remove the over abundace/remaining chloride and sodium left over from dosing. If not, you run a great risk of throwing off your water chemistry parameters which can lead to a system crash. I believe this accounts for the "unknown crashes" we hear of. Those remaining ions which you stated are sodium chloride which is just salt and is the most abundant compound in salt mixes. From my understanding, the biggest concern is that you have to keep an eye on your salinity level which will rise over time. I'm not a chemist by any means but I have read a lot of information on the chemistry forum on Reef Central by the chemists over there and feel pretty safe dosing two part. I really wish I had better luck with my reactor but it did just not work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaunMonahan Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Those remaining ions which you stated are sodium chloride which is just salt and is the most abundant compound in salt mixes. From my understanding' date=' the biggest concern is that you have to keep an eye on your salinity level which will rise over time. I'm not a chemist by any means but I have read a lot of information on the chemistry forum on Reef Central by the chemists over there and feel pretty safe dosing two part. I really wish I had better luck with my reactor but it did just not work for me.[/quote'] Yes correct, assuming you are making your own dosing chemicals and know their make ups and know they are pure. There are a lot of pre-made 2-part solutions that will include a greater mix of included "salts" such as strontium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium chloride, calcium sulfate, molybdenum chloride and the list goes on.... With differing amounts of unknown concentrations being added to a reef tank, you could potentially have some unknown chemical reactions taking place (within the aquarium). A calcium reactor is dissolving coral rubble/skeleton in the same natural proportions that our corals need it. I prefer this method for CA and ALK maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Imo depends on what you want to keep, without enough stonies a calc reactor sits or overdoses system its hard to regulate lower needs, ime until i had enough sps/lps to require it being on 24/7 required a little more testong now though it sits perfectly stable and am loving it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.