Calcium Reactors

[El Jefe9830]

Hello all...

I am fairly new to the hobby, and when I was designing the sumps for my 300 gallon tank, I posted here. The help I received was tremendous (and confusing....LOL). So I thought I would post here again to get the opinions and ideas of others on Calcium Reactors.

Background: I have a 300 gallon Tenacore display tank, with two 55 Gallon sumps underneath - 1 for a skimmer and the other is a refugium - plummed together with a large return pump. The tank has three 400 watt Pendant HQI Metal Halide lights over the top. Total volume of water is about 380 gallons, give or take. I am hoping to plumb in a frag tank at some point, to the same system that would up my total water volume to about 425 gallons or so. The tank is almost brand new right now, and has been cycling for about a month. It has about 75 lbs of live rock and four fish in it.

I am looking at calcium reactors, and would like to see what you recommend, and what your experiences are. I want to get this and bit more set up and running before putting corals in the tank. I would like to do everything from Zoas and mushrooms to SPS in the tank.

I am looking for ideas on cost effective vs. quality when it comes down to the Calcium Reactors. Buying a used one would probably be best, but I will spend the money for the right item.

Let me know what Calcium Reactors you recommend, please.

[Willi]

Plain a simple, Geo calcuim reactor. Pair it up with high quality regulator/solinoid (Reef fanatic) and controller and you should be good to go. I use a AC3 with lab grade probes to control the solinoid on/off. Geo's come with a probe port in the lid. I have also heard good things about the Pinpoint controller too, which may be a little cheaper but does not have the expandablilty of the AC3. I don't think you will find a better build quality in a CA Rx. Another plus is that you can actually call Geo and get help if you need it.

[El Jefe9830]

OK, that is good information. I will check the Used Equipment forum, see if I can pick one up.

I think a Geo 818 is going to be best suited for me as the others seem to be rated for 400 gallons or less, give or take. That is a pretty pricey Calcium Reactor, but maybe I can pick one up for a deal.