No Water Change System with CA Reactor - Ideas?

[CMO]

I'm currently running Triton with great success on my 165g SPS dominant reef but as it matures the required dose is getting really high and somewhat cost prohibitive as I look to build additional SPS tanks.

Can some of those that run a no water change system with a CA reactor please explain how you manage trace element dosing and testing? What trace element products do you use and is there a non-ICP test that you can run to monitor your trace dose between ICP tests?

@rushbattle

 

[rushbattle]

I'm currently running Triton with great success on my 165g SPS dominant reef but as it matures the required dose is getting really high and somewhat cost prohibitive as I look to build additional SPS tanks.

Can some of those that run a no water change system with a CA reactor please explain how you manage trace element dosing and testing? What trace element products do you use and is there a non-ICP test that you can run to monitor your trace dose between ICP tests? Maybe testing and targeting a mag level for example to adjust dose between ICP tests?

@rushbattle

Thanks for starting this thread! I noticed that @glennf had mentioned that he struggled with B, Sr, K, I, Mg when he combined dosing with CaRx.

The DSR Method (Dutch Synthetic Reefing)

Triton has mentioned that they can work with CaRx, but I haven’t seen them state that in quite a while. Anyone seen them discussing this recently anywhere?

I think the amount and content of food going into each tank has something to do with a water change free scenario. Maybe something to do with the metal content? No idea how you could even quantify that easily amongst ourselves without analysis of the foods and measured feeding rates.

Maybe a system like DSR is cheaper than a CaRx and additional supplements in the end?

 

[CMO]

@Crustaceon posted this video in another thread that looks promising. Has anyone used Reborn and Remag in their CA reactors to maintain mag and trace levels with no water changes on an SPS system?

 

[Fishfinder]

I know @FarmerTy runs a CaRx with no water changes

 

[FarmerTy]

@Crustaceon posted this video in another thread that looks promising. Has anyone used Reborn and Remag in their CA reactors to maintain mag and trace levels with no water changes on an SPS system?

I know @FarmerTy runs a CaRx with no water changes

Been using Reborn for the last 4 years I believe and added neomag the last 2 since I got tired of adding Mg quarterly.

 

[CMO]

Been using Reborn for the last 4 years I believe and added neomag the last 2 since I got tired of adding Mg quarterly.

Good to hear. So how much correcting of various trace levels (if any) have you needed to do while using the reborn?

Also, what is the consumption rate of reborn on your tank? How many pounds per x length of time do you go through? Thanks!

 

[FarmerTy]

Good to hear. So how much correcting of various trace levels (if any) have you needed to do while using the reborn?

Also, what is the consumption rate of reborn on your tank? How many pounds per x length of time do you go through? Thanks!

I don't correct for any trace levels though I do submit an annual ICP test for monitoring.

Oh, consumption about 6" diameter reactor, 5-6" of media every 3 months roughly.

 

[jda]

You need to check out the Dutch Synthetic Reefing method. Most of the really good tanks are more like "minimal" water changes rather than "none." They are not afraid to do them, but they only do them when they NEED to. For the most part, the water changes are rare. This type of system is not for the lazy - they will spend more time on testing and supplementing than people spend changing water. They are also not usually cheaper.

I use CaRx and I still notice benefits from changing water, especially with my clams, few Z&P and the few mushrooms. I also change water because I am cheap. I can change 250 gallons of water for the cost of a single ICP test. I just buy ARM or reborn (whichever is on sale) and then change some water... I supplement nothing else.

If you are thinking that this will be less work and cheaper, then you will probably fail. It might end up this way, but this probably cannot be your starting goal.

You can put dolomite into your reactor if you need more magnesium. It does not matter if you use ARM or Reborn, you will still need to true-up the big-3 every few months and especially if you have large clams which do not use the elements in the same balance as acropora does. I use a 50lb sack every 6-7 months on my larger SPS tank.

 

[Crustaceon]

That’s pretty much where I’m at with my system. It’s sps heavy and I run reborn with neo mag. If I were to do a water change, it would be no more than a 2-3% amount with a “reef salt” simply to add trace elements if it’s even needed. So far my acros seem healthy and are growing so, do I really want to add more stuff to the tank? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[CMO]

I don't correct for any trace levels though I do submit an annual ICP test for monitoring.

Oh, consumption about 6" diameter reactor, 5-6" of media every 3 months roughly.

Sounds very reasonable. Thanks!

You need to check out the Dutch Synthetic Reefing method. Most of the really good tanks are more like "minimal" water changes rather than "none." They are not afraid to do them, but they only do them when they NEED to. For the most part, the water changes are rare. This type of system is not for the lazy - they will spend more time on testing and supplementing than people spend changing water. They are also not usually cheaper.

I use CaRx and I still notice benefits from changing water, especially with my clams, few Z&P and the few mushrooms. I also change water because I am cheap. I can change 250 gallons of water for the cost of a single ICP test. I just buy ARM or reborn (whichever is on sale) and then change some water... I supplement nothing else.

If you are thinking that this will be less work and cheaper, then you will probably fail. It might end up this way, but this probably cannot be your starting goal.

You can put dolomite into your reactor if you need more magnesium. It does not matter if you use ARM or Reborn, you will still need to true-up the big-3 every few months and especially if you have large clams which do not use the elements in the same balance as acropora does. I use a 50lb sack every 6-7 months on my larger SPS tank.

Will do. Totally understand the need for water changes at times but I just don't want to run a system that relies on regular water changes for trace element replenishment. I have done water changes on my Triton tank twice in about 14 months now to correct an issue with Tin showing up in an ICP and to remove chemiclean once. I could also get on board with infrequent water changes like you mention to realign any imbalances - that is not a problem.

As for cost. My 165g tank is only 14 months old and and I'm currently tracking to spend about $1,200 per year on Triton Core 7 to maintain my tank - I can see this easily getting over 2k per year once SPS is fully grown out and consumption rises further. Based on what FarmerTy said above about media consumption a CA reactor would be far less costly from what I can tell. And while I might be willing to pay that for success on a single tank, as I look to expand to more and larger tanks it's just going to get out of hand.

Thanks for the info. I'll check some of this out.