Regal Angel and SPS

[btkrausen]

Cool, sounds like you got it going now. I didn't really know mag would effect growth that much, but from what you are saying it seems like it does. What test kit do you use to test for mag?

I drip kalkwasser, but really hate mixing it and everything. So I want to order a 2 part as they call it on BRS, but it actually has the alk/cal/mag and I will manually dose it until I get a handle on what needs to be dosed daily. Then I'm going to get a dosing pump that will dose all three solutions out of the bottles. I figured out how much evaporation I get everyday and I'm going to hook my my ATO system to keep the water level in my sump stable. So I'm slowly working at getting the tank automated. One thing I've learned from reading a bunch of post is Keep Things Stable for the best success.

I use only Salifert for my test kits.

Look into a reactor, its almost set and forget once you get the right amount of kalk in it. Makes a world of a difference. Mine is dosing for 2 minutes every 11 minutes or something like that.

 

[swannyson7]

Magnesium goes hand in hand with Alk & Ca to create a balance. If one is too low or too high, it will effect the levels of the others. As for test kits, I use a RedSea kit and it's been nothing but problems. It gives me inconsistent readings. Yoou may want to try out the Brightwells Kalk+2. It has Magnesium in it to help maintain your Mg levels.

 

[clowndude]

Magnesium goes hand in hand with Alk & Ca to create a balance. If one is too low or too high, it will effect the levels of the others. As for test kits, I use a RedSea kit and it's been nothing but problems. It gives me inconsistent readings. Yoou may want to try out the Brightwells Kalk+2. It has Magnesium in it to help maintain your Mg levels.

Wow, I wish I knew about that brightwell product long time ago. Would have bought that instead of the Kent. What kind of Kalk reactor do you run?

 

[clowndude]

I use only Salifert for my test kits.

Look into a reactor, its almost set and forget once you get the right amount of kalk in it. Makes a world of a difference. Mine is dosing for 2 minutes every 11 minutes or something like that.

What kind of Kalk reactor do you run?

 

[swannyson7]

Wow, I wish I knew about that brightwell product long time ago. Would have bought that instead of the Kent. What kind of Kalk reactor do you run?

I use the cheap-o Two Little Fishies Kalk Reactor. It isn't nearly as nice as many of the kalk reactors, but the $60 price tag sold me. While the brightwells does add Magnesium to the tank, I found that I still had to dose some mag to keep my levels where I wanted them

 

[btkrausen]

What kind of Kalk reactor do you run?

I"m running a Precision Marine kalk reactor. Its just as nice as the Geo, but drops the cost down a bit. I had the Geo before this one, and it works equally as well.

 

[btkrausen]

Wow, I wish I knew about that brightwell product long time ago. Would have bought that instead of the Kent. What kind of Kalk reactor do you run?

Don't run the Kent on a reactor, it'll eat up your impeller on the maxijet that comes with it. I went through several impellers on the Geo, and when I switched to BRS kalkwasser, which is much more pure, I never had to replace it again. I'm still on the same impeller I started with on this reactor running BRS kalk. Just something to think about.

 

[swannyson7]

I"m running a Precision Marine kalk reactor. Its just as nice as the Geo, but drops the cost down a bit. I had the Geo before this one, and it works equally as well.

Does this reactor use a recirculating pump or a stirring rod?

 

[btkrausen]

Does this reactor use a recirculating pump or a stirring rod?

It uses a recirculating pump, hence the Maxijet post above :) I read too many bad things about stirring rods when I first got into kalk reactors, so I've stayed away from them. That was many years ago, before some of the newer ones were on the market.

 

[btkrausen]

Here is my picture of mine in action...well...kinda. Its sitting there with kalk in it, not sure if water is actively going through it at this time, haha.

 

[swannyson7]

My TLF reactor works well for the price, but no way it could keep up with that bad boy. I can only put about 2 tablespoons of kalk in there at a time and it is fed with a pump like the TLF phosban reactors. Inside of it, there's a tube that goes down to the bottom with a little spraybar that spins from water pressure. I have to disassemble it every month or so and give it a vinegar bath or the tube gets clogged up with calcium deposits because it's about the same diameter as a coffee stirrer. All in all, I'm happy with it for the price, but there's no doubt that most reactors would blow it out of the water

 

[btkrausen]

My TLF reactor works well for the price, but no way it could keep up with that bad boy. I can only put about 2 tablespoons of kalk in there at a time and it is fed with a pump like the TLF phosban reactors. Inside of it, there's a tube that goes down to the bottom with a little spraybar that spins from water pressure. I have to disassemble it every month or so and give it a vinegar bath or the tube gets clogged up with calcium deposits because it's about the same diameter as a coffee stirrer. All in all, I'm happy with it for the price, but there's no doubt that most reactors would blow it out of the water

Yeah, there is a good write up on that TLF one in the Chemistry forum. Looks like a slick little piece thought, but I love the big guys like I have. I can dump as much kalk as I want in there really, haha.

 

[Gondore]

I would suggest waiting on the Regal. I have had one in my tank for about a year now. My tank is 80-90% sps for a few lps. My Regal will eat zoas and picks on most new lps that are added to the tank. On top of that he definitly does some damage to sps. If you sps are colonies they can handle the damage; however, if they are frags my guess is that it will kill them. Regals can also be challenging to initially get to eat and a lot of people lose them early on.

 

[clowndude]

Don't run the Kent on a reactor, it'll eat up your impeller on the maxijet that comes with it. I went through several impellers on the Geo, and when I switched to BRS kalkwasser, which is much more pure, I never had to replace it again. I'm still on the same impeller I started with on this reactor running BRS kalk. Just something to think about.

Does the BRS has a mag supplemented with it, or do you manually add mag?

 

[clowndude]

So if I recall right, when running a kalk reactor you have to run your ato through it correct? So I would have a budget of 5 gallons or whatever that will have a ato pump water through the reactor correct?

 

[btkrausen]

Does the BRS has a mag supplemented with it, or do you manually add mag?

The BRS does not have the Mag in it, so I was using the BRS mixture to dose it. Its fairly cheap and very easy to do.

 

[clowndude]

Also, is this the reactor you are talking about?

PM-KALKREC Premium Aquatics - PM-KALKREC Aquarium Supplies

 

[btkrausen]

So if I recall right, when running a kalk reactor you have to run your ato through it correct? So I would have a budget of 5 gallons or whatever that will have a ato pump water through the reactor correct?

Correct. I use a cheapo AquaLifter pump, and its worked fine for me. Mine is timed through the controller.

 

[clowndude]

The BRS does not have the Mag in it, so I was using the BRS mixture to dose it. Its fairly cheap and very easy to do.

So you would just mix up the Mag solution from BRS and dose how much manually as needed?

 

[clowndude]

Correct. I use a cheapo AquaLifter pump, and its worked fine for me. Mine is timed through the controller.

LOL that is exactly what I use from my ATO now. It works great and if it craps out it's so cheap you just get another one without thinking about the cost.