Calcium Reactor Media- What tha HECK happened?

[Saltyanimals]

hey @Reefahholic what happened to this thread? Is this now available for purchase somewhere? I'm also a @Marsh guy so local to H-town if it's something I can run out and pick up as well.

 

[Reefahholic]

We went full throttle with it and ran into cites issues. We had a sample shipped to us for ICP analysis and it got stopped in Alaska I believe. Just when we were about to say screw it, the owner went and got cites permits for exportation. So it appears we are good to go now. I’ll keep you updated as we move forward.

I have another connection in South Florida though.

hey @Reefahholic what happened to this thread? Is this now available for purchase somewhere? I'm also a @Marsh guy so local to H-town if it's something I can run out and pick up as well.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Sounds good. Those photos made me want to grab a shovel and start scooping like at a Chinese buffet. lol.

 

[jda]

If this whole process is this hard now, just wait a year or two. Might as well get onboard with the finer stuff or calcite. This all used to work plenty fine for people who reefed more than a decade ago (it still does). I have to tune a bit differently, but notice no difference in results between ARM (calcite) and the Reborn. I have 2 50kg sacks of the old Reborn that I will get around to using eventually, but I am using the larger ARM now since it is open... just no reason for me to skip over it.

BTW - dolomite is magnesium rich stuff. You can order this as dolomite and get it cheaper than in a bucket with a reef name on it. It is fine to run 100% if you need the magnesium content.

 

[jda]

If TLF, or whomever, is not going to get the phosphate out of this stuff, then you might have to. Could be really easy with a large vat, skimmer, circulating pump and some Lan Chloride, but it could take a few months. It might be OK too... most of this media is terrestrial which can be full of phosphate, but if it was in the water, most of it was probably unbound. ...just a wild card to consider... and it could change from batch to batch.

 

[Reefahholic]

Sounds good. Those photos made me want to grab a shovel and start scooping like at a Chinese buffet. lol.

Haha…some of these other countries are sitting on Calcium Reactor gold. The beaches are literally full of media.

 

[Reefahholic]

If TLF, or whomever, is not going to get the phosphate out of this stuff, then you might have to. Could be really easy with a large vat, skimmer, circulating pump and some Lan Chloride, but it could take a few months. It might be OK too... most of this media is terrestrial which can be full of phosphate, but if it was in the water, most of it was probably unbound. ...just a wild card to consider... and it could change from batch to batch.

No doubt! Some of it is heavy with phosphate for sure. Others may not be at all. It’s could go either way and really depends on the source and origin.

A lot of people also may not realize that after you add a big reactor full of coral bones, you might notice a significant drop in nutrients after it becomes colonized. It’s basically like adding bio media. Especially tanks that are BB and run cleaner or those with good husbandry skills. Although I have seen some become a nutrient sink in dirty tanks.

 

[TDEcoral]

We went full throttle with it and ran into cites issues. We had a sample shipped to us for ICP analysis and it got stopped in Alaska I believe. Just when we were about to say screw it, the owner went and got cites permits for exportation. So it appears we are good to go now. I’ll keep you updated as we move forward.

I have another connection in South Florida though.

Is your FL connection selling?

 

[coralbeauties]

I recently purchased the 44lb bag of the reborn and it has much larger pieces then the small bag that I have. Not quite as large as the original stuff but pretty close. It has a lot of sand in it though. Even after rinsing I have sand in the bottom of my reactor.
Jeff

 

[Jposch]

We went full throttle with it and ran into cites issues. We had a sample shipped to us for ICP analysis and it got stopped in Alaska I believe. Just when we were about to say screw it, the owner went and got cites permits for exportation. So it appears we are good to go now. I’ll keep you updated as we move forward.

I have another connection in South Florida though.

Guessing this never went anywhere?

 

[JMetaxas]

Big fan here of the new larger Reborn. Yes, it still needs to be cleaned well, but it’s MUCH cleaner than the smaller grained Reborn.

 

[Saltyanimals]

What pH are you guys running your reborn and which size at? I got the coarse few months ago and it runs fine between 6.5 and 6.8. I go through barely a 5lb tank annually so gas is not a concern more of running it too low to turn into mush.

 

[JMetaxas]

The effluent from my Ca+ reactor is about pH 6.6. It’d a double chambered reactor, so possibly it’s lower in the first chamber.

What pH are you guys running your reborn and which size at? I got the coarse few months ago and it runs fine between 6.5 and 6.8. I go through barely a 5lb tank annually so gas is not a concern more of running it too low to turn into mush.

 

[Reefahholic]

Guessing this never went anywhere?

No it didn’t, but the good thing is that the old reborn is back the last I heard.

 

[Reefahholic]

Big fan here of the new larger Reborn. Yes, it still needs to be cleaned well, but it’s MUCH cleaner than the smaller grained Reborn.

I loved it too. However, I did buy the small size media when the old version was unavailable. It has been doing really well and tests well on ICP-MS. Initially I had barium coming back high, but that was short lived. Nothing is going out of target range now, and I’ve done at least 15 analysis since.


When this runs out I will be going back to the old school. That was much cleaner.

 

[Saltyanimals]

When did you get that batch? It definitely looks bigger, but I have no comparison with the original. My batch around this last Nov/Dec was a good size, but not as large as what you showed in that video. So far it seems to work fine and I do have a bit of PO4 issues but not saying it's media related. However I considered moving to ARM or something the next round, but may stick around if Reborn looks like that again. The mid 6.5-6.6 pH for Reborn seems to be working for most people, but I would love something that melts at a higher 6.9 pH to help minimize the tank pH impact from CxRX. I tried to raise my CaRX pH higher, but the effluent was not strong enough.

 

[zoomonster]

I have always run Caribsea ARM coarse in GEO 618 reactor and fine in an added secondary chamber. I also mix in some Korallen-Zucht Zeomag magnesium media. Running PH 6.6-6.8 right now but have run lower. Slow process but one fill-up probably lasts a year or more as does a 10lb tank of Co2. Tank PH generally stays in the 8.24-8.34 range. Can't say I ever "melted" media either.

 

[IKD]

When did you get that batch? It definitely looks bigger, but I have no comparison with the original. My batch around this last Nov/Dec was a good size, but not as large as what you showed in that video. So far it seems to work fine and I do have a bit of PO4 issues but not saying it's media related. However I considered moving to ARM or something the next round, but may stick around if Reborn looks like that again. The mid 6.5-6.6 pH for Reborn seems to be working for most people, but I would love something that melts at a higher 6.9 pH to help minimize the tank pH impact from CxRX. I tried to raise my CaRX pH higher, but the effluent was not strong enough.

The video is 2 years old, so I don’t think that’s a current picture of the media size.

 

[IKD]

I have always run Caribsea ARM coarse in GEO 618 reactor and fine in an added secondary chamber. I also mix in some Korallen-Zucht Zeomag magnesium media. Running PH 6.6-6.8 right now but have run lower. Slow process but one fill-up probably lasts a year or more as does a 10lb tank of Co2. Tank PH generally stays in the 8.24-8.34 range. Can't say I ever "melted" media either.

I use ARM also after using my last Reborn. Haven’t had any issues with it either.

 

[Reefahholic]

I use ARM also after using my last Reborn. Haven’t had any issues with it either.

Reborn dissolves at a higher pH and is also more natural. Calcium Carbonate coral skeletons uptake more Trace Elements that the corals actually used to grow vs Aragonite rock or sand which is more of a carbonate mineral. Although very similar, I do believe you would be able to appreciate a difference if you tested them both with ICP. Anything that dissolves at a higher pH is already a win for my tank, but the added trace elements in real coral skeletons is a nice bonus. I’ve only had Bromine elevated, but nothing else, and that was short lived.