calcium reactor vs dosing pump

[reef fish]

well been look at some reefer seen lost of people are using dosing pumps and not calcium reactor i have a 150 gallon tank 60x24x24 and have a geo calcium and kalk reactor should i sell it and start dosing or stay with the reactors please explain why

 

[jservedio]

well been look at some reefer seen lost of people are using dosing pumps and not calcium reactor i have a 150 gallon tank 60x24x24 and have a geo calcium and kalk reactor should i sell it and start dosing or stay with the reactors please explain why

If it is working for you why would you sell it? There are pros and cons to both CaRx and 2/3-Part dosing and they can be used together. With a CaRx, there is less messing around, you are constantly infusing your system with Ca/Alk/Mg and you only replace media and CO2 infrequently - but it tends to cause lower pH if you don't have degassing and you don't have fine-grain control. With 2/3-part you have control of Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium independently, but you have more adjustments to make and storing/making up the parts can be a pain and/or very expensive.

They can both be used extremely successfully and can both be misused to cause catastrophic failure. Do your own research on it and pick which one is best for you. Or use both - use the CaRx to dose the majority of the your Alk/Ca and use a doser for Magnesium and to "trim" your Ca and Alk. You can also use a doser to supplement Kalk to reduce the burden of the CaRx and counteract the pH reduction.

 

[davocean]

As mentioned they both have their good and bad points, if you have a reactor already I probably would stick w/ it, just make sure you have a quality regulator, and a controller is a nice safegaurd for both, I would be looking at that first if you do not have one already.
My dosers are cool, but I think I need a kalk reactor added to really cover what my tank needs, I did not feel that so much when I had a Cal reactor on last tank.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I wouldn't get rid of my Geo and go back to dosing for anything.

 

[davocean]

I wouldn't get rid of my Geo and go back to dosing for anything.

I have not seen that screen name in a long time, good to see, AZ knows his stuff!

 

[marke]

Tell us more about your experience with your reactor? What media, is your drip rate constant? What ph do you maintain and how? Apex? Have you had trouble? I love my geo 618 but had issues initially. Once resolved its set and forget. Was doing 2 part before. Both work. This is as mentioned. What works for you. Not others. So if you share your results we can offer suggestions.