Help Me Decide... Calcium Reactor or Dose.

[dansreef]

Hi Everyone. Hopefully you have seen my 180 build over the last few months. The tank is doing awesome...I have a great selection of fish...and have been accumulating some nice SPS corals....with a couple of LPS as well. All is doing well and I am at the point of the build that I need to decide to start serious dosing or move to a calcium reactor.

My DT is 180 with a 100 gal rubber maid sump in the basement. With rock, sand and equipment I am guessing total volume to be around 220-230 gals. I am currently dosing BRS two part manually. My Alk is around 6.9 -7.5 and not consistent... My calcium ranges 390-425. The tank clearly is starting to consume a fair amount of alk and calcium.

I have about 35 plus frags,in the tank with the majority being SPS. My PH runs about 8.5 +/- .15. I run Gen3 Radions and have an awesome LifeReef Skimmer. I top off about 20 gals of RODI per week...automatically using a Tunze topoff. My Nitrates are zero and Phospates are 0 -.02.

So... For all of you experienced with SPS tanks....With all the incredible tanks I see here on R2R..... I would like some guidance on whether I should continue dosing and automate it with dosing pumps... or should I go to a calcium reactor. I know there is a huge cost differential... I am looking at a brand new calcium reactor from my friend Jeff at LifeReef which will just be shy of $1k...including tank, regulator...etc... Basically plug and play. All I need is a PH probe for the Apex. Other calcium reactors are about the same... Maybe +/- $100-150. I can get a decent dosing pump for a lot less...and automate it....etc....saving quite a bit of money. But I also need to dose trace elements....etc...

Let's here the opinions.... Pros and Cons... I need to make a decision in the next week or so...

 

[marinelife]

I have a calcium reactor on my sps tank. I can not see how I would live without it. a 180 is pushing the manual dosing limit for me. I think you would be happy with a Reactor versus dosing. It will cost you more up front but once you set it you can almost forget about it and then the yearly cost will be way lower than dosing. I would check around for other Reactors, 1K seems like alot. I would also recommend an electronic regulator. It makes bubble counts for much easier to set.

 

[TUSI]

I have a cal reactor, it's definetly cheaper to run than dosing etc. I think for SPS a reactor is the way to go since alk is an important element to keep steady so dripping 24/7 is a much steadier way than dosing in my opinion. $1000 seems to be high unless it's a geo. Good luck