Lifereef Ca. Reactor.

michael_cb_125

michael_cb_125

Well-Known Member
I dont mind spending money of my tank. Its not really a hue issue. But obviously everyone likes to get out as inexpensively as possible.
 
michael_cb_125

michael_cb_125

Well-Known Member
Well I have been planning on doing the same thing, Maybe I should get a new credit card, I have hit my limit every month. Or maybe I should raise my limit. I keep it low so I dont go crazy.HAHAH
 
blue_eyes53813

blue_eyes53813

Well-Known Member
I also want a heavy sps/ Mix tank. (mostly sps) I will follow this thread. I love all my lifereef equipment. Jeff is very very very helpful and will answer any question you shoot at him.. he may even send you hook up information and supplies needed if you ask him. So you can plan it all out and order accordingly. I have been stepping away from all the reactors from fear of setting them up wrong. It would be cool to see pictures and a discription of the set ups if anybody has time to post it.
 
JFK_Jr

JFK_Jr

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
blue_eyes53813 said:
It would be cool to see pictures and a discription of the set ups if anybody has time to post it.
Click to expand...


Here's my Lifereef Calcium reactor... Oh yeah... the labels on the CA reactor and skimmer are for my tank sitters benefit... :lol:


Calciumreactor.jpg



The reactor's connection to the sump


sump.jpg
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
yup both a Ca+reactor and kalk reactor for a sps "super" tank is the way to go. i have both a DIY kalk reactor and a korillin Ca reactor. the Ca reactor did get air lock at first. i took it off for a while because of the air lock, untill my tank tanks demand went way up, now it works great. it just did not do so great with a lower demand. once you play with a Ca+reactor they are really simple and easy, they just sound and look complicated. the lifereef i hear good things about. if there coustomer service is really good go that rout, all reactors will have their own little quirks. good coustomer service is one of the most important things, IMO.

one thing to think about while running a kalk and Ca+reactor is your Mg is likely to become depleated. adding something like ZEOMag media to your Ca+reactor(like 3% compared to Ca+media) will keep the Mg right or dosing when it gets out of wack.
 
michael_cb_125

michael_cb_125

Well-Known Member
I have been looking at several tank setups that I like. I think I am going to go with 90% SPS in the upper 20 inches of my tank. In th lower 11 I will have my LPS and ZOOs. I talked with Jeff at lifereef, and he said that he does not make Kalk Reactors/stirrers. He said that there just too many isues associated with their upkeep. Is it possible to use a Ca. Reactor and just add boosts of calcium with Turbo Calcium?
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
yeah but you dont drip kalk for the Ca and alk really. the Ca reactor will add and keep levels at whatever its adjusted to. you drip kalk with a Ca reactor because a Ca+reactor adds balanced Ca/Alk but with a low ph(high CO2) solution. kalk drip adds balanced Ca/Alk but a high ph solution. both togather really keeps the ph stable in a good range. Kalk drips only tend to run higher ph's(too high sometimes) and Ca+reactor only tanks run low ph's(too low sometimes).

the issue with only dripping kalk is its limited to your evaporation rates, so you can only add so much. usually its not enough for a SPS tank. the isssue with using only a Ca+reactor is on higher demanding tanks you add to much low ph(high CO2) solution and it pushes the ph lower than we like.

give this a read. some good info here Chemistry and the Aquarium
 
Woodstock

Woodstock

The Wand Geek was here. ;)
RS STAFF
If the effluent is sent to a small area and aerated aggressively to blow out the co2, the low ph would not be a problem, correct?
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
in theroy, no problem. in reality it only helps. it depends alot on where you are too. city air, mountain air, new home or old stuff like that, amospheric CO2 levels stuff. i drip my effluent into a bowl where my ph monitor is then that overflows into my skimmer area next to the skimmer pump. the bowl alone reduces the effluent ph 1.5-2.0 from the actual effluent. the skimmer i am sure helps too, but if i remove the Kalk reactor(happend twice with pump failures) my tank ph quickly drops to 7.8(normally runs 8.1-8.2) where my controller turns off the CO2 or it would drop even lower.
 
prow

prow

Well-Known Member
o yeah and like someone mentioned above the media used plays a big role too. some media dissolves in high ph's so less CO2 gets in.
 
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