MountainBorn
New Member
Do you know of any resources to learn how the apex/trident works to control a calcium reactor? I was thinking of getting a trident this winter and then a calcium reactor for my 200g setup. Thanks in advance.
Is calcium reactor worth the buck?
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costaricareef
Active Member
I used this thread as a guide and has worked very well.
www.reef2reef.com
Calcium reactor control by Neptune Trident
Since the beginning of April 2019 I've had my Trident and after a couple weeks when I trusted it, I started experimenting with some programming I thought of well before its release. More people with reactors need to know about this easy to create and use program to help with Alkalinity...
www.reef2reef.com
In my ~100 gallon system, I have maintained Ca/alk/Mg levels using: kalk and dosing Mg; by dosing Randy's two-part recipes; by dosing commercial supplements; and by using a calcium reactor. Ya know... they all worked. I still have the equipment required to use any of these methods. I'd choose the calcium reactor every time where kalk alone is not sufficient to meet demand.
cocoReefer
Active Member
I like the reactor because you can still adjust by dosing 2 part or also use kalk. If you just use 2 part and / or kalk, you cant really plug in a reactor for a day.... cover all the bases
Borat
Valuable Member
Here's the link mate:
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-blow-lots-of-money-feel-good-and-not-give-a-dang/
I use calcium reactor for simple reasons. I am cheap, lazy and adverse to risk.
A good regulator, feed pump and flow control pinch is still eons ahead of a trident in terms of reliability and my reactor is as stable and steady as anything out there (I long since have abandoned any trust in pH probes, so I just let it run 24x7). I learned how to tune mine and can just glance at it and see if it is running OK and along with weekly carbonate tests, that is all that I have needed for a decade. I bought good used CaRx a long time ago and they just run and run and run with no issues, so I am probably down to $20-25 a year in costs which is mostly media and co2 refills. The laziness is that carbonate, mag and calcium all gets taken care of for me and all that I have to do is change some water every few months ($12 in IO for 44 gallons) and everything works great - I only have to dose some iron if I get busy and miss out on some water changes.
CaRx is not for folks who don't want to dig in and learn something all the way. You need to know how the thing works, how to tune it and all of that before you try and have a co2 regulator do things for you - they are mostly a mess and eventually all of the pH probes fail. Learning to tune a reactor by hand is paramount, IMO. It can be hard at first, but it is like figuring out a carb and timing on a car where at first, you are terrified, but after a while, you can just smell the exhaust and check the throttle response and know exactly what needs to be done.
The effluent from the reactor does almost nothing to my tank and pH, which I rarely check, is about 8.39 in the day and 8.05 at first light. Keeping the home aired out does way more to help than any effluent can do to harm. Of course, when the home is closed up in the winter, my pH can drop .1 in a few weeks, but I can always find a nice day a few times a month to let the 48" 10k+ CFM attic fan take care of the air in the house.
Lastly, I have had CaRx components fail and nothing crashes. It would take weeks to get out of whack to cause a crash which means that I was not paying attention. Pump on Kalk, pump on 2 part failure and you have a crashed tank in a few minutes.
A good regulator, feed pump and flow control pinch is still eons ahead of a trident in terms of reliability and my reactor is as stable and steady as anything out there (I long since have abandoned any trust in pH probes, so I just let it run 24x7). I learned how to tune mine and can just glance at it and see if it is running OK and along with weekly carbonate tests, that is all that I have needed for a decade. I bought good used CaRx a long time ago and they just run and run and run with no issues, so I am probably down to $20-25 a year in costs which is mostly media and co2 refills. The laziness is that carbonate, mag and calcium all gets taken care of for me and all that I have to do is change some water every few months ($12 in IO for 44 gallons) and everything works great - I only have to dose some iron if I get busy and miss out on some water changes.
CaRx is not for folks who don't want to dig in and learn something all the way. You need to know how the thing works, how to tune it and all of that before you try and have a co2 regulator do things for you - they are mostly a mess and eventually all of the pH probes fail. Learning to tune a reactor by hand is paramount, IMO. It can be hard at first, but it is like figuring out a carb and timing on a car where at first, you are terrified, but after a while, you can just smell the exhaust and check the throttle response and know exactly what needs to be done.
The effluent from the reactor does almost nothing to my tank and pH, which I rarely check, is about 8.39 in the day and 8.05 at first light. Keeping the home aired out does way more to help than any effluent can do to harm. Of course, when the home is closed up in the winter, my pH can drop .1 in a few weeks, but I can always find a nice day a few times a month to let the 48" 10k+ CFM attic fan take care of the air in the house.
Lastly, I have had CaRx components fail and nothing crashes. It would take weeks to get out of whack to cause a crash which means that I was not paying attention. Pump on Kalk, pump on 2 part failure and you have a crashed tank in a few minutes.
Spare time
10K Club member
I was just thing simple 2 part
There is a google doc in my signature with some ramblings and tips about learning how to tune a reactor. It might seem hard, but everybody who digs in eventually gets it... I start out getting PMs from members with questions and then all of a sudden, the questions stop, which is the point where they get it. I highly suggest a hand tune with the dKh around 25 which means that you are wasting less co2 than usually when you run it higher - higher dKh tunes do not HAVE to waste co2, but most of them do. If people trap co2 in the top, you can see if you are wasting co2, or not. (some reactors do this from the factory, but some need to be modified).
I've used JDA's suggestions to tune my reactor. Once you understand how it works, what to watch, and get a reactor tuned, it is the easiest and cheapest long term answer to alkalinity (s well as CA and Mg) control available.
OP
OP
I have a 150 gallon, total 220 gallon.
I’m not dosing much anymore I had to restart my tank this month due to quarantine but I read Calcium reactors Keep dkh and ca solid consistent ? Currently using trident/Dos
I looked on BRS I don’t see myself buying the $600 reactor next week
cocoReefer
Active Member
Sounds like youll have time to save up, and or research more while your tanks consumption increases.
A 150 is big enough to warrant a calc reactor for sure.
Like stated above, you can maintain healthy kh/calc with 2 part. But, a reactor setup well, can save money in the long run and allows you more options in the end.
OP
OP
Do you recommend buying used on here or is it one of those things u need to get new due to parts
cocoReefer
Active Member
Id say the used market for calcium reactors would be a good bet. Only ph probes and maybe pumps would go bad. All replaceable.
Also, Id make sure the co2 controller isnt rusted or corroded.
Also, Id make sure the co2 controller isnt rusted or corroded.
Yep, the start up cost is high and the reactor is just a start. If I remember correctly, I bought my used reactor and a used high end regulator/needle valve/bubble counter for $400 shipped. I bought a CO2 bottle for $85 new. That enabled me to set up a basic system that worked just fine for a little over $500. But I couldn't leave well enough alone. I bought a pH controller/probe and a continuous duty dosing pump. They set me back another $300.
MountainBorn
New Member
If a person has a trident/dos and are using say All for Reef, what would be the benefit of switching? Other than not having to mix all for reef every so often to fill the dosing container? If a years supply of all for reef is say $120 and it is $1200 to get a new reactor, regulator, bottle and continuous duty dosing pump, that is 10 years of mix.
cocoReefer
Active Member
Looking quickly at recommended dosing for all for reef..
I would be dosing 100ml/day. The 1000ml bottle at brs is 33$ thats 99$ per month.
Also what cost of dosing container and dosing pump?
For large tanks even the 1200$ calcium reactor idea wouldnt be a bad long term setup.
And fwiw there are less expensive reactors.
cocoReefer
Active Member
Not sure the cost/dosing for mixing dry.
But id bet the calcium reactor appeals to larger higher consuming tanks over small ones
I got my latest Korallin used for about $150, got a maxijet to feed it, used Tunze regulator (which I had) and a 10lb co2 bottle on Craigslist from a failed home brewer (plenty of these in Boulder). All in, about $200-225 for a true decade plus reliable unit (maxi jet probably won't make it that long, but they are $25, or so).
I have one setup with a stainless oil filled victor 2 stage regulator and it acts just like the Tunze does or the Aquarium Plants one did before... they work great right up until there is no more gas in the cylinder... then the pressure declines for a day or two if you don't catch it. I see no benefit to the more expensive regulators in action, but they also don't hurt. Just a reliable regulator is fine with me. That stainless victor looks nice by the tank. The key is top pick up your tank now and again, swirl it and see when it is almost empty... then go and fill it, but they usually exchange it. Get a spare when you see one out and about - 5lb are easy to find at garage sales from keg-a-rators and stuff. 20lbs are like gold, but you can find them sometimes too... I got a 40lb from a welding kit at a yard sale and traded it for a 20 once.
If you have a doser and trident, and that is your paradigm, then stick with it. It is not like that stuff was free to where you just have to buy stuff to fill them. Eventually, you can get to where you are using whole containers more than one time a week and not once a year - we have a local who replaces 100% of his top off with fans (has to use fans to evaporate enough) with just carbonate and alk from a 55g barrel. If a trident worked flawlessly (other than the owner using it wrong which does not count for any equipment) for a decade without needing much that cannot be replaced with a cheap part in a minute or two, then we are talking about maybe being on the same level as a CaRx - it might get there someday. I have already seen a handful drop their tridents for for CaRx, but this does not mean anything since some people will hate anything. ...maybe keep in mind for when the Trident does not work anymore... but there will likely be Trident II, or even Trident III come along.
I have one setup with a stainless oil filled victor 2 stage regulator and it acts just like the Tunze does or the Aquarium Plants one did before... they work great right up until there is no more gas in the cylinder... then the pressure declines for a day or two if you don't catch it. I see no benefit to the more expensive regulators in action, but they also don't hurt. Just a reliable regulator is fine with me. That stainless victor looks nice by the tank. The key is top pick up your tank now and again, swirl it and see when it is almost empty... then go and fill it, but they usually exchange it. Get a spare when you see one out and about - 5lb are easy to find at garage sales from keg-a-rators and stuff. 20lbs are like gold, but you can find them sometimes too... I got a 40lb from a welding kit at a yard sale and traded it for a 20 once.
If you have a doser and trident, and that is your paradigm, then stick with it. It is not like that stuff was free to where you just have to buy stuff to fill them. Eventually, you can get to where you are using whole containers more than one time a week and not once a year - we have a local who replaces 100% of his top off with fans (has to use fans to evaporate enough) with just carbonate and alk from a 55g barrel. If a trident worked flawlessly (other than the owner using it wrong which does not count for any equipment) for a decade without needing much that cannot be replaced with a cheap part in a minute or two, then we are talking about maybe being on the same level as a CaRx - it might get there someday. I have already seen a handful drop their tridents for for CaRx, but this does not mean anything since some people will hate anything. ...maybe keep in mind for when the Trident does not work anymore... but there will likely be Trident II, or even Trident III come along.
MountainBorn
New Member
The larger powder mix is $68 and that makes 10L but I get your point. The OP mentioned he already has a dos/trident so the money is already spent there. I also have a dos and am getting a trident, so that is why I was trying to evaluate using that for a while and then moving to a reactor. Are there any other benefits outside of long term cost? I see that stability once it is setup and running as a benefit so I am not denying that.
cocoReefer
Active Member
I have mine drip the co2 filled effluent into my high demand chaeto chamber. So mine speeds the growth of my filter.
Also, one can still dose anything along side the reactor setup, allowing more flexibility and options. Which could equate to more stability.
A good setup wont need maintained or media replaced for 6 months to a year.
Every system is different as well as individuals ideas or ways of husbandry.
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