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Ca Reactor vs. 2-Part automated system
- Thread starter jceli728
- Start date
We never went down the automted 2 part direction, but LOTS of folks have great success with it. I would strongly consider that route first. Adding a Ca reator causes a chain reaction of other necessities (kalk reactor, low ph, ...) that you may want to delay.
If I was going to choose between a Ca reactor and a Kalk reactor, I'd go with the Kalk with the next step being the Ca reactor. JMHO.
If I was going to choose between a Ca reactor and a Kalk reactor, I'd go with the Kalk with the next step being the Ca reactor. JMHO.
I will leave the CA reactor issue to the expert users, but I can tell you that Automated 2 part solutions are a hands off no brainer. They are reasonable and work well.
There are lots of ways getting CA and ALK into your system:
Manual 2 part dosing
Automated 2 part Dosing
Automated Kalk Dosing w/ minor manual 2 part dosing for imbalances
CA Reactor w/ Kalk topoff for low PH
Which you choose depends on how much ALK and CA your tanks consumes.
I have been using 2 part of a long time and buying in bulk from BulkReefsupply.com the cost is a fraction of what it would cost in the LFS. I use a doser pump that has 2 feed lines, so the single pump and put out equals amounts of each solution. Plug that into my Aquacontroller and I drip 140 ml's a day over a 6 hour period during the night. The side benefit is I get little to no drop in PH at night.
I test every 2 weeks after a water change. Any slight inbalances are correct by a manual addition of 1 solution or the other. If I make the same correct twice in a row, I up or down the dosing pump just a bit to correct for it. In reality, I think I have only made 3 changes to the pump in the entire year.
My total cost to CA, ALK and Magnesium based on 1 1/2 gallons a month was $79 for the entire year. (based on a water volume of 120 Gal and a light coral load - your mileage may very)
There are lots of ways getting CA and ALK into your system:
Manual 2 part dosing
Automated 2 part Dosing
Automated Kalk Dosing w/ minor manual 2 part dosing for imbalances
CA Reactor w/ Kalk topoff for low PH
Which you choose depends on how much ALK and CA your tanks consumes.
I have been using 2 part of a long time and buying in bulk from BulkReefsupply.com the cost is a fraction of what it would cost in the LFS. I use a doser pump that has 2 feed lines, so the single pump and put out equals amounts of each solution. Plug that into my Aquacontroller and I drip 140 ml's a day over a 6 hour period during the night. The side benefit is I get little to no drop in PH at night.
I test every 2 weeks after a water change. Any slight inbalances are correct by a manual addition of 1 solution or the other. If I make the same correct twice in a row, I up or down the dosing pump just a bit to correct for it. In reality, I think I have only made 3 changes to the pump in the entire year.
My total cost to CA, ALK and Magnesium based on 1 1/2 gallons a month was $79 for the entire year. (based on a water volume of 120 Gal and a light coral load - your mileage may very)
I have been doing my research on both systems, I have come to the conclusion that a CA reactor is not really the best way to go unless you have a tank that is over the 120 total water volume and heavily stocked with SPS.
With that in mind I'm looking to upgrade to a 90g or maybe 120g tank (I'm limited to the size, can't go over 48" in length) with a few SPS, LPS and some softties. I'm also limited in the space so the less equipment the better.
Give me a few comments if the automated two part will be a better choice since after all my research have come to the conclusion that a 2 part system will require less maintenance, space and time consumption in the setup process.
With that in mind I'm looking to upgrade to a 90g or maybe 120g tank (I'm limited to the size, can't go over 48" in length) with a few SPS, LPS and some softties. I'm also limited in the space so the less equipment the better.
Give me a few comments if the automated two part will be a better choice since after all my research have come to the conclusion that a 2 part system will require less maintenance, space and time consumption in the setup process.
This is the dosing pump I use to feed my 2 part solution. You can purchase a controller interface for another $30 so you have turn it off with an AC controller if you want even more control.
http://www.innovativeaquatics.com/products/nautilis2.html
http://www.innovativeaquatics.com/products/nautilis2.html
pgordemer
Thanks for all your info... Can you please tell me a little more about that dosing pump. I was reading about and to my understanding it has a dual tubing that simultaneously doses both parts at once, can it be set to dose different amounts of each part or does it do the same amount for both?
Thanks for all your info... Can you please tell me a little more about that dosing pump. I was reading about and to my understanding it has a dual tubing that simultaneously doses both parts at once, can it be set to dose different amounts of each part or does it do the same amount for both?
You can click the link about and it explains it. The doser uses a tubing set that has 2 input and 2 output lines. So the one pump can dose equal amounts of both. You could set the dial to dispense xxxML an hour and just let it run all the time, or in my case its hooked up to my AquaController 3 so I only run it for 6 hours and dispense 20 ML and hour.
This is a balanced solutions so you really only want to does them in equial amounts. When you are making minor adjustments you would manually add one or the other.
This is a balanced solutions so you really only want to does them in equial amounts. When you are making minor adjustments you would manually add one or the other.