Calcium Reactor daily consumption question

[Gungo]

Hello,

My tank has been stable for the past months with my MRC Calcium Reactor. Recently I am more interested in dosing trace elements and I am trying to understand how much calcium my tank is consuming in order to know how much trace elements I need to dose. I am planning to use the Red Sea Trace Colors and their instructions says that I need to dose 1 ml of each bottle per 10ml of calcium consumed (10ml of Red Sea Foundation Calcium). What I am trying to do is try to understand the calcium consumed in my tank with my calcium reactor and try to convert those numbers to simulate the Red Sea foundation dosing program with the calcium reactor.

To start, I used Randy's CaRx calculator in order to know how much alkalinity my tank is consuming. Here's the numbers that I came up with:



Basically what this is saying is that my tank is consuming 0.2 dKh every day. Now, how can I translate that 0.2 dKh consumption to Calcium consumption? That's the number I need in order to understand how much calcium I need to dose according to red sea and have my number for the trace elements program. Is there a way?

Thank you

 

[KrisReef]

consumption of Calcium = ~Dkh consumption. They are roughly 1:1 output from a Calcium reactor which is why a calcium reactor works for both.

 

[Gungo]

consumption of Calcium = ~Dkh consumption. They are roughly 1:1 output from a Calcium reactor which is why a calcium reactor works for both.

So if my dKh daily consumption is 0.2 dKh in 80 gal, what is my calcium daily consumption in ppm?

 

[KrisReef]

So if my dKh daily consumption is 0.2 dKh in 80 gal, what is my calcium daily consumption in ppm?

I don't know. Hopefully the supplement you plan to use will provide the calculations of equivalencies. The right side of Randy's calculator also looks like it wants to make those calculations for you?

The trick is to measure the volume outflow from your reactor and use that volumn and Dkh to figure the equivalents and replace addition sources. For chemistry calculations, I don't trust myself to make that jump and provide you with a correct answer. Sorry.

 

[KStatefan]

From one of Randy's articles

Calcium carbonate formation consumes its two components in an exact 1:1 ratio. In the units used by aquarists, this ratio corresponds to one meq/L (2.8 dKH; 50 ppm CaCO3 equivalents) for every 20 ppm of calcium. Not surprisingly, this is also the ratio of alkalinity to calcium that is supplied when calcium carbonate is dissolved, as in a CaCO3/CO2 reactor. Fortuitously for the aquarist, this is also the ratio supplied when calcium hydroxide is dissolved, as with the use of limewater (kalkwasser).

 

[Gungo]

From one of Randy's articles

Calcium carbonate formation consumes its two components in an exact 1:1 ratio. In the units used by aquarists, this ratio corresponds to one meq/L (2.8 dKH; 50 ppm CaCO3 equivalents) for every 20 ppm of calcium. Not surprisingly, this is also the ratio of alkalinity to calcium that is supplied when calcium carbonate is dissolved, as in a CaCO3/CO2 reactor. Fortuitously for the aquarist, this is also the ratio supplied when calcium hydroxide is dissolved, as with the use of limewater (kalkwasser).

Thanks for that info! According to my math then 0.2dKh = 3.57 CA. With this I can work it out

 

[KStatefan]

Thanks for that info! According to my math then 0.2dKh = 3.57 CA. With this I can work it out

That seems high

 

[Snoopy 67]

The only true way would be to shut off the CO2 supply & measure daily.
Let the water run through the reactor to prevent stagnant water in the unit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

0.2 dKH per day is quite low and I’d expect a reactor to typically deliver a lot more.

That said, 0.2 dKH corresponds to about 1.4 ppm calcium.

 

[Gungo]

0.2 dKH per day is quite low and I’d expect a reactor to typically deliver a lot more.

That said, 0.2 dKH corresponds to about 1.4 ppm calcium.

My tank is 14 months old and I have mostly frags. PH in the reactor is about 6.85 and im running a kamoer pump at 8.5ml/min. It keeps the tank stable. Thank you!!!