Triton method VS calcium reactor

[JOKER]

Nice discussion.

I think so too!! I just hope it keeps going. There are so many ways to keep a reef!!

 

[d2mini]

Ok I just looked up the bionic and it does say it includes everything.
Would be interesting to see an ICP test comparison between the two. But you'd never get two of the EXACT same tanks to test it on.

But the brs stuff (which is personally what I would refer to as "two-part") isn't really comparable. Even mag has to be dosed separately in my experience, nor is everything dosed in equal amounts IME.
I've always found BRS two-part to be a pain in the tuckus to get dialed in compared to a CaRx or Triton. I curse it on my nano, too. LOL

Re-visting the OP's question, I'd say the choice between Triton and CaRx comes down to how they want to run the tank.
If able to go full triton method, go with triton. Otherwise the CaRx is a great choice and I highly prefer it over standard two-part. Set up correctly it's so much easier and it's cheaper in the long run.
That's what I would personally do.

 

[JOKER]

Ok I just looked up the bionic and it does say it includes everything.
Would be interesting to see an ICP test comparison between the two. But you'd never get two of the EXACT same tanks to test it on.

But the brs stuff (which is personally what I would refer to as "two-part") isn't really comparable. Even mag has to be dosed separately in my experience, nor is everything dosed in equal amounts IME.
I've always found BRS two-part to be a pain in the tuckus to get dialed in compared to a CaRx or Triton. I curse it on my nano, too. LOL

Re-visting the OP's question, I'd say the choice between Triton and CaRx comes down to how they want to run the tank.
If able to go full triton method, go with triton. Otherwise the CaRx is a great choice and I highly prefer it over standard two-part. Set up correctly it's so much easier and it's cheaper in the long run.
That's what I would personally do.

I too have found in research the cal RX is cheaper and easier to maintain in the long run. I plan a daily water exchange on the tank so I would be replacing elements daily. I also plan a large skimmer and possibly an ATS if needed. I have found the DaStaCo cal RX which I really like. I know pricey, but would be able to run my system for a long time between media replacement.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

But the brs stuff (which is personally what I would refer to as "two-part") isn't really comparable. Even mag has to be dosed separately in my experience, nor is everything dosed in equal amounts IME.
I've always found BRS two-part to be a pain in the tuckus to get dialed in compared to a CaRx or Triton. I curse it on my nano, too. LOL

.

I cannot imagine how it is harder to dial in than the reactor, but if the reactor works for you it is a fine way to go.

 

[cb684]

Calcium reactor and Triton would make sense under the premise that all corals use the same amount of the same elements in all different settings. Because they don't Triton tells you to test the water of your aquarium frequently. How is that different than dose 2 part + water changes and testing with Triton occasionally? All methods would have to address the concentration of elements that are low or high eventually.

 

[d2mini]

Calcium reactor and Triton would make sense under the premise that all corals use the same amount of the same elements in all different settings. Because they don't Triton tells you to test the water of your aquarium frequently. How is that different than dose 2 part + water changes and testing with Triton occasionally? All methods would have to address the concentration of elements that are low or high eventually.

With both a CaRx and Triton (and remember, this is obviously just MY experience) all i test every few days is Alk, because the Calcium falls right in line. And with Triton, the mag is usually pretty close too.
With two-part, I could never dose both Alk and Calc in the same amounts so I am always checking both and always correcting both.
In 6 months running triton now, I have never had to correct for Calc and mag only once.

 

[cb684]

With both a CaRx and Triton (and remember, this is obviously just MY experience) all i test every few days is Alk, because the Calcium falls right in line. And with Triton, the mag is usually pretty close too.
With two-part, I could never dose both Alk and Calc in the same amounts so I am always checking both and always correcting both.

I dose 2 part and I only test Alk as well. The calcium is fine in all my tanks (by a recent Triton test). Magnesium was fine too.

 

[skim]

The one big thing I believe with the so called Triton method is Zero water changes is it not?

 

[JOKER]

Yes they say no water changes. I don't mind water changes, and plan a daily water exchange unless I go triton method. I still am debating on what I want to do. The cal Rx seems like a lot less maintenance to me. I know I will need to dose mag, but that should be all. With triton I will need 4 or more dosers (which I have), but ya have to fill the containers. I am looking at less maintenance as that would make life easier, and I would enjoy tank so much more. I now have to fill ATO every few weeks, and that's it.

 

[Big E]

I've been keeping Sps dominated systems for 16+ years.

I'm a guy that follows what has proven to work over years........calcium reactors have decades of success.

Balling method has also proved to work very well for years if you stick to the what each manufacturer recommends.

I've used CA reactor for 8 years and Randy's two part for about the same amount of time and both worked well for me.

I do appox 10% water changes for all 16+ years using both methods......my Mg stayed replenished by this.

Triton is micromanaging a tank and adjusting to test results.........not the same as the above methods and it's very new in respect to years of proof. The focus is on trace elements & testing.

Imo, I'd focus more on your alk, nutrient levels, lighting and flow............ they are way more important to success once you decide on your method of replenishing alk,calc and mg.

 

[JOKER]

I have never ran a cal RX, but it seems very low maintenance. Is my thinking right after setup weekly testing or by weekly about all ya have to do?

 

[d2mini]

The one big thing I believe with the so called Triton method is Zero water changes is it not?

Correct, no water changes.

Yes they say no water changes. I don't mind water changes, and plan a daily water exchange unless I go triton method. I still am debating on what I want to do. The cal Rx seems like a lot less maintenance to me. I know I will need to dose mag, but that should be all. With triton I will need 4 or more dosers (which I have), but ya have to fill the containers. I am looking at less maintenance as that would make life easier, and I would enjoy tank so much more. I now have to fill ATO every few weeks, and that's it.

Other than filling the 4 containers once every few weeks, its the same maintenance as running a CaRx.
And now with the new Core7 elements that are 7x as concentrated, that will be 7x less filling.

Triton is micromanaging a tank and adjusting to test results.........not the same as the above methods and it's very new in respect to years of proof. The focus is on trace elements & testing.

I suppose it's what you make of it.
So far I've done ICP tests once every 2-3 months. Twice so far. This second time I was a little low on two elements so I brought those two back to where they should be.
Other than that, just testing Alk every few days, and testing calc and mag once every few weeks.
IME, it has been VERY hands off, just like with a properly tuned CaRx.

 

[cb684]

So far I've done ICP tests once every 2-3 months. Twice so far. This second time I was a little low on two elements so I brought those two back to where they should be.

So for how long have you been using Triton?

 

[d2mini]

So for how long have you been using Triton?

6 months. I started this tank with Triton.
I'm following their recommendation of testing just 3-4x per year once dialed in.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

With two-part, I could never dose both Alk and Calc in the same amounts so I am always checking both and always correcting both.
.

That should not be needed. That is the purpose of a two part: to avoid that. Over-correcting for changes in calcium and alk is why they were invented, and the intent is if you always dose equal amounts, things will generally be OK with just occasional adjustments (assuming water changes don't mess with ratios). Problems come from trying to micromanage them.

 

[JOKER]

Randy I also had to when I dosed 2 part. I used BRS alk and cal, and kent mag

 

[Hans-Werner]

ESV B-ionic adds (so they claim) all biologically active elements such that when the calcium and alkalinity are used up, there is no net change to any of these elements. So that includes magnesium, potassium, vanadium, iron, etc.

That is, as I understand it, exactly what Balling claims to accomplish.

BRS is my recipe adapted to the bulk density of the materials they sell. It is a DIY that maintains some of these (e.g., magnesium), but not all of them. It is designed to be a less expensive alternative, and if you want to add trace elements, then that would be a separate addition that you'd do, either based on testing (like Triton does) or just trial and error.

Hi Randy,

I think there is no easy way to accomplish this with a two part additive. Where do you add the sulfate to to avoid a relativ increase in chloride? In theory it can be added as sodium and potassium sulfate to the alkalinity solution but this would incrase the salt freight and would increase salinity a lot. So I guess no two part method adds sulfate and they accept a shift towards chloride. There is no way to avoid the addition of chloride and not balancing it with the right proportion of sulfate just means a shift towards chloride. In my eyes this means this claim is just a claim and it is not completely true.

 

[1979fishgeek]

I installed a Calcium Reactor recently, found it really easy. Have it on 1 CO2 bubble every second and a half, running 12 hours a day and the effluent going through a secondary chamber to boost ph that drips out about 1 drop a second. Been measuring my KH/Alk, calc, PH and mag daily and it took about a week to find the correct stability for my tank, but I will continue testing daily for a month or so. So far absolutely love it and feel it's a game changing bit of kit, for me far easier and straight forward than any dosing.

 

[chema]

I must reply, because every time I hear the expression "triton method" I got adrenaline in my blood;_)..Triton has no own method. The use an ordinary Balling classic (but it takes several pages for them to tell what we all know since 1994 when Hans Werner Balling posted his receipt), AND the use an ordinary algue-filter in form of macroalge, a filter technique which has existed so long as the hobby have existed...
The only new is that they offer lab-analyses to a affordable price, thats it, nothing more. Then they do a profit on that by selling single elements with no information of concentration so you have to buy theirs, according to frequently testing by their ICP-OES-machine. Besides that, I think 10 of their elements(do not remember exact just now but around 10), has a level of detection above level of seawater, thus you can only say that you have no too much, and sometimes not that either. Third, their is very little evidence, or no evidence at all, concerning a lot of these elements importance. Some of them have no biological functions at all...but still exist as single adding elements. This is more business than scient. I use triton lab regularly but only for testing that type of elements I know(or think) is important and is not chasing numbers concerning the others. And yes, I use macroalgerefugium, long before Triton did, and cannot see any new in their concept. I use calcium reactor, that is according to my believe the trend today, that more and more use reactor because of the big sps-dominated aquarium increases, and for a big sps-tank Balling is very expensive and time-consuming (and place consuming)with all liquids. I think we are in a shift when Balling diminish as the SPS-era is increasing. My swedish friends have almost all of them sps-tanks and almost all of them have calciumreactor. 10 years ago it was the opposite in Europe.

I suscribe every word of it. I also use the ICP-OES based Triton analysis service from time to time, but calling their business new method is a complete misconception.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy I also had to when I dosed 2 part. I used BRS alk and cal, and kent mag

What happened?