Ca reactor needed? Kalk drip okay?

[JJohn]

Thanks in advance for answering a beginner's question from a fairly old hand. I have a long established 75G mixed reef that I am slowly converting to SPS dominated. This is somewhat new territory for me. The most SPS I have had in my tank was two colonies before I made the decision to change. My water quality is fine, flow is good, lighting is pretty good and my results have been very pleasing... so far. All my new frags have grown very fast and have pretty good color and great PE.

Now the question: as things grow, will I need a Ca reactor. I have been using Kalkwasser for many years, all my top-off water is added with Kalk. Will this be sufficient in the future? I have limited room for any additional equipment so if I can avoid a reactor it would be great.

Thanks,
John

[murphreef]

u can away with daily dosing with a 2 part addative like B-Ionic

but if u get really into sps a CA reactor IMO is the best way to handle the load....

i used to do the addatives on my old 100 but when i set up my new 180 i went with the reactor and my life has been much easier since then ;)

[JJohn]

With a small 75G, I was hoping the Ca load would be low enough that I could handle it with Kalk. I have never used two-part additives. I will research that option as well. Thanks for the advice. I just don't have any room/space for a Ca Reactor although the thought of a semi-automated solution is very appealling.

John

[jiggly75]

I dripped kalk as my replenishment water in my 90 gallon sps tank for years. The only problem i had was trimming my corals! I do agree with murphreef i upgraded to a 180 also, and use a geo calcium reactor. It does make things easier.

[acropora nut]

Reactor all the way... A lot less work once you are set up.

[JJohn]

So, it sounds like that if I have to, the kalk drip will work, but, my life will be easier if I go with the Ca reactor option.

It would be hard for me to change a practice that I have trusted for 10 years. Every three or four days I mix up kalkwasser and setup a drip for topoff.

I'm also not sure anyone even makes a Calcium reactor sized for a 75G. I have no idea where to put one if I go that route. Oh well, I'll check what is available. I do want my SPS to flourish.

John

[kozmo02]

It depends on the demand of your tank, if a Kalk drip can keep up with your demands then it's ok, if not you will have to either supplement with chemicals like B-Ionic or a CA Reactor, to be honest though, next to a protein skimmer my CA Reactor was probably the second best investment I ever made. On larger tanks it basically pays for itself if you were to figure how much you'd spend over time buy chemicals to supplement with all the time.

[murphreef]

yeah i agree kozmo02

the reactor was my 2nd favorite piece of equipment after my skimmer

man its made my life so much easier and with the demans of having sps clams and lps on a large tank iw oulda gone broke and insane trying to keep up on dosing my tank with addatives

now i have the reactor set check the alk and ca once a week and go from there....

kinda pricey up front but ull have it pay for itself in a short time....

and yes they make reactors for a 75g tank

[NuclearReefs]

Im adding Kalk to my tank twice a day,,, I start a Drip at night and one in the morning before work.. Reactor is a good way,, But i stick to dripping because I lost faith in one from a fault controller that melted down media and snowed a tank on me... replaced it.. happened again ..... Im sticking to dripping .... Plus I think paying attention keeps me in check with tank.....

[Charlie Davidson]

A kalk rx is supposed to be fed with RO/DI water, the same amount you use for the "make up water" evaperated daily. I seem to have missed any fault that can cause it to snow...???

[Serioussnaps]

there are peristalic pumps which dose kalk but can also dose two part supplements as well and keep it constant and stable...also they dont fail on you...if they fail they dont add anything or take anything out they just dont work so the worst that can happen is you miss some supplementation for a day or so....

www.innovativeaquatics.com check it out...


also , it all depends on your rate of consumption....this is something you will have to guage over a period of time