50+g reef? Kalk just might be good for you...

[Sk8r]

Went through my first year hand-adding and, when I had to leave the tank for a week at a time, really having to brief my non-reefing tanksitter and hope...

Then I moved, re-set-up, and got a kalk reactor. Pricey, but so are corals. And I wanted something to smooth out the highs and lows of alkalinity and calcium. Kalk reactor's smaller and a significant little less expensive than a calcium reactor, seemed simple, just keep the medium stirred [an attachment does that] and route your automatic topoff through the cylinder.

Setting up was a bit of an adventure, but not hard. Knowing that the filmy water, not the white water is supposed to go in, is key. And you need a check valve. Must-have.

BUT...the reward. I've had it running a week without interfering at all---and my calcium is a perfect 420 and my alk a very nice 8.4. AND it's steady. No peaks and valleys.

The lime you add is 5 dollars a pound, and I'll have to add every couple of months. So ultimately this unit will pay for itself, not having to buy 20.00 jars of calcium and dkh buffer. But the big way it's going to pay off is in much happier corals. If I can get them growing again---and the poor things, including sps, are in a raw, newly cycled tank---the frags will help pay for this unit in much less time. The digitata is already budding new limbs and the lps is happy.

Good so far.

[sublime-1]

links or pics of your kalk reactor ?

[Sk8r]

This is a typical one. It differs in having a pump on the side. Mine has a stirrer that slides underneath the unit. All that does is keep the kalk [lime] in suspension, as otherwise it tends to settle. My unit is from BAS. Basically, topoff ro/di comes in one tube, mixes with the limewater, and goes out the other tube and into your tank: it's driven by your topoff pump, and tank chemistry means that the alkalinity and calcium levels of your tank will stay pretty well constant as long as it's topped off in this fashion. Some tanks require a bit more intervention, but basically if you keep your magnesium from depleting [that's the one thing the kalk doesn't supply] the alk and cal will stay basically up until the reactor runs out of kalk, which in my small tank [54g] will be about 2 months on half a pound of medium.

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_calcium_reactors_precision_marine_kalkreactor.asp?CartId=

[fish 511]

Sounds nice. Wish I had room for one of these :rolleyes:

[Sk8r]

What I did, post-move, was put the whole sump assemblage in the basement, which is directly downstairs from the tank.

But a decent-looking armoire set beside your tank can hold the reactor at a good gravity-feeding height, also hold your sump, refugium, and ballasts and timers, giving you a *lot* more room, leaving the under-tank area for the food and such.

I was baffled by the no more room thing, too, until I took a different look at the room and decided to get a spare tank stand, which I used until the house-move. But the armoire is an even better idea, because you've got all that height to work with. A tank with armoires on either side and a topper unit would be the equivalent of an inwall tank---but at very least, it would be lockable to keep the pets and kids out, and have the advantage of looking like furniture.