Calcium & other reactors

[thompson2224]

I have two reactors so far and haven't started my tank yet. Still trying to make sure I've got everything figured out.

My plan for the tank is to have a mixed reef, so I know that keeping phosphates low and calcium high is important. So if I only run these two reactors how do I run them?

Do reactors stay on constantly or do they run on a timer or controller and only run for a set amount of time a day or as needed?

With the reactor for phosphate can I mix a phosphate reducer with a ammonia remover and carbon? Again would this be run all day long or on a timer?

I know that kalkwasser is also important and I will have the hydor auto top off system, should I have my top off water have dissolved kalkwasser or any other mineral so that when it kicks on it doses something as well?

What changes or advice can you give?

Thanks

[jewlz]

How big is your tank? I'd run phosphate remover or GFO and activated charcoal and run them all the time.

As for Kalk, I think that you'd be better off establishing how much calcium your tank is using before you start dosing calk with every top off.

[thompson2224]

The tank is 90 gallon with a 20 gallon sump.

Okay cool so run the phosphate remover all the time. So I can have multiple media in one reactor? Such as gfo, Caron, and ammonia neutralizer?

How often do you dose kalk and calcium? When are the best times to do so and how long if put on a timer?

[thompson2224]

Are there any just ph controllers for a decent price? I already have an auto top off, heater that shuts off at set temperature and lights that are programmed. The only thing I need to automate would be dosing for alkalinity and calcium when needed. What's the cheapest most accurate way to do so?

[SGT_York]

Running GFO is a full time gig, you can't let the water stagnate in the reactors so it's just easier to let them run, One problem is that your water can get too clean and limit your coral growth by not having enough nutrients to grow. Probably better to cycle your tank and monitor your levels before starting the reactors. You probably won't need to dose Kalk until you purchase some larger stony corals. Also a kalk reactor by it's nature does saturated kalk. Likely you won't need a saturated level for some time, so I'd skip that reactor as well until you have calculated your calcium/alkalinity usage. Too much kalk and you will get precipitate which isn't a serious problem but does cause some issues.

[thompson2224]

Okay sounds good.

I just bought a PH controller, so what would I hook up to that? Would I have my calcium and kalkwasser reactor on that so that when PH decreases those reactors turn on til the PH returns to 8.2?

[sde1500]

I'm getting pretty confused just reading what you may have. What reactors do you actually have? What are your plans for the tank? Not sure what you mean by ammonia remover, why do you think you need that, since that is what the live rock is for? If you have two reactors, I'd run one for carbon, one for GFO. Calcium you'd need a specific reactor for, not too familiar with them. How big is the tank? You could probably just set up some dosing pumps for alk/calc/mag.

If you plan on running GFO, you can mix carbon in there as well, they run 24/7.
Kalkwasser many people add directly to their ATO container, if you have a Kalk stirrer, its a separate unit with concentrated Kalk in it.

I think you need to put together a solid plan of what you want to keep, and run. Because it seems like you may just be buying things without a plan. Like that PH controller.

[thompson2224]

I plan to keep all kinds of coral and for it to be a mixed reef and I want to get the majority of the setup costs out of the way now so that I can buy any coral whenever so long

The ammonia remover is white diamond crystals.
The reactors I have are 2 phosban reactors for which I will put the GFO and Carbon in one, and the other I want to put calcium and maybe kalkwasser as well. Will this work seeing as it is not a traditional calcium reactor with CO2?
An auto top off, which will have kalk mixed in for when the top off activates.

So run the phosphate reactor at all times.
What should be hooked up to the PH controller and what makes sense to?

[thompson2224]

Also it is a 90 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump. Could I do a 1.1 ml/min pump to dose calcium that is turned on by the PH controller? Would that be better? My initial plan was to use a timer to activate the phosban reactor that would have calcium and kalkwasser inside and then have that act as a "doser" and then I thought maybe to use a PH controller to activate that instead.

So would using a ph controller to activate a reactor with calcium and kalk in it work to dose calcium and alkalinity? Otherwise I could have kalk and calcium mixed into the auto top off and have it dose when that activates

[scar79]

Also it is a 90 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump. Could I do a 1.1 ml/min pump to dose calcium that is turned on by the PH controller? Would that be better? My initial plan was to use a timer to activate the phosban reactor that would have calcium and kalkwasser inside and then have that act as a "doser" and then I thought maybe to use a PH controller to activate that instead.

So would using a ph controller to activate a reactor with calcium and kalk in it work to dose calcium and alkalinity? Otherwise I could have kalk and calcium mixed into the auto top off and have it dose when that activates

Don't do this! Calcium solution shouldn't affect your pH anyways, but your alk solution will. The correlation between pH and alk is not good enough to rely on. Your pH will swing naturally with the light cycles, or if you just spend too much time breathing (converting oxygen to CO2) near the tank! In that case, you pH would drop unrelated to alk, and your doser would spike your alk through the roof.

Using a pH controller as a fail safe is always a good idea. Use 1.1ml/min pumps, set your times/dosages. You want regularity in your dosing schedule. The amount dosed will depend on regular testing of alk and cal and minor adjustments of your dosages, especially when first setting up the system.

Kalk in top-off water is a bit tougher to regulate, but is much simpler and cheaper if dialed in properly.

[thompson2224]

What should I do with my PH controller then? And my second phosban?