Do SPS require Mg and CA+ reactors?

[Ballyhoo]

I was watching a YouTube video on how to upkeep SPS and the guy was saying that it's really important to have magnesium and calcium reactors. Is this true? He also mentioned of course it's important to maintain the pH because that's related to alkalinity and the SPS exo skeletons. But more than that do SPS suck up magnesium and calcium such that we have to be constantly supplementing our tanks with it?

 

[Poseidon03]

I was watching a YouTube video on how to upkeep SPS and the guy was saying that it's really important to have magnesium and calcium reactors. Is this true? He also mentioned of course it's important to maintain the pH because that's related to alkalinity and the SPS exo skeletons. But more than that do SPS suck up magnesium and calcium such that we have to be constantly supplementing our tanks with it?

You have to have some way of keeping calcium, alkalinity and magnesium stable. Calcium and alk deplete significantly faster. This can be done with various methods like reactors, dosing 2 part, and kalkwasser. I'd look up each and see what works for you. What kind of sps are you looking into? There's all different types and each have different requirements. Most do best in established, stable, higher flow and higher par aquariums.

 

[FMF0331]

All I have is a calcium reactor, nothing else

 

[Matt L]

I was watching a YouTube video on how to upkeep SPS and the guy was saying that it's really important to have magnesium and calcium reactors. Is this true? He also mentioned of course it's important to maintain the pH because that's related to alkalinity and the SPS exo skeletons. But more than that do SPS suck up magnesium and calcium such that we have to be constantly supplementing our tanks with it?

It depends on how many sps coral you have and how much money you want to spend on replenishing the alk, Ca, and Mg. I use Reef Fusion 1&2 two part. A reactor isn’t required, but is one method to dose the tank. Dosing limewater and Mg is another. When just starting out with sps, water changes will usually keep up until the coral grow out.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

2-Part Pharma Calcium & Alkalinity Starter Package

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With water changes this is all you need. Cheap and easy.


It will be a while if ever that you would need a reactor.

 

[billyocean]

2 part with diy part c works fine for me. Acro dominant/heavy and no needs or plans for a reactor. Nothing wrong with calcium reactors it's just too many moving parts for me.

 

[FMF0331]

Nothing wrong with calcium reactors it's just too many moving parts for me.

Just expensive.

Cal reactor + regulator + Ph probe + C02 tank + ++ = $$$$

 

[billyocean]

Just expensive.

Cal reactor + regulator + Ph probe + C02 tank + ++ = $$$$

Supposedly in the long run it isn't more. But...at a gallon a month of alk and calcium that costs less than 10 bucks for 2 part it would take quite a while to pay itself off lol. 2 dosers still has level of liability but a calcium reactor is too many fail points for my taste. Both can be just fine but I agree with you and choose the 2 part

 

[Dburr1014]

You definitely need to keep an eye on alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. PH is also nice to keep at 8 or above, your tank may already be there I don't know you'll have to check yourself.

If you're just starting out in SPS, you can get away with water changes for a tank full of Frags. They don't use much elements in the beginning.

As they grow you might want to move into a kalk reactor or maybe a 2 part dose or all for reef. Or kalk with dosing.

And once you have a tank full of big colonies like I have, it may be more economical to have a calcium reactor like I do. Calrx tends to lower pH so I use a kalk reactor with it that raises pH.

Mine wasn't very expensive. I was at a local Reef show we do here every year at a school and they happen to be selling theirs. For 50 bucks I got to reactor complete minus the tank and gauge set. The tank I stumbled upon for free and the gauge set I bought used on eBay. All in for $125 plus the cost of the media.

Once you get the hang of it it's very easy to tune and very cheap to maintain.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

I have a dominant sps tank still smaller frags and started out with kalk and manually adjusting magnesium once every 2 weeks. My consumption started getting high so just started up my calcium reactor that has magnesium media mixed in as well. I love calcium reactors and find that alk, calcium and magnesium stay in good ranges if I only check alkalinity.

My last reef tank I ran a calcium reactor and to fill a 20 lb tank of CO2 only costs $12 to fill up and lasted me 18 months before the next refill and the media lasts a long time as well. Cost is high to start but in the long run they are the way to go

2 part is very popular as well and will grow sps with no problem, I found that 2 part is harder to all keep in good relation, sometimes my calcium would be crazy high and sometimes my magnesium or alkalinity. Just a lot more swings that I didn’t care for

 

[bobnicaragua]

I’ve always started with kalkwasser. You only dose one thing and it provides a PH boost.

Based on your questions, you still need to understand the basics of SPS keeping. Reefbum, coral euphoria, and BRS have lots of SPS focused videos on YouTube. The BRS hybrid method videos with world wide corals were very thorough.