kalk stirrer vs. Ca reactor

I have yet to be convinced that a "Kalk Stirrer" is any more effective than simply dumping lime in water and letting it dissolve on its own.  I used limewater for 30 years or so but I never had a tank with a huge demand.

Limewater is cheap - CA Reactors are more automatic once dialed in.

Limewater is more likely to cause a negative event

CA Reactor will also replenish Magnesium and a lot of the minor trace elements

Limewater dripped directly into a skimmer will remove Phosphate

Limewater will push PH higher

CA Reactors will push PH lower

The absolute best is to have both.  The CO2 added by the CA Reactor is immediately consumed by the limewater drip and keeps the PH stable.

I would advise getting the CA Reactor.

Mark and I have found a properly dialed in Ca reactor to be far more efficient. After the initial cost of the reactor, it seems to also be a little cheaper than just plain dosing. When a Ca reactor is properly dialed in, your pH should be fine. Some people throw an air pump in their sump just to punch the pH back up a little higher, but I'm not sure that's really necessary if everything is working properly.

We never did the kalk dripper or any of that, but we did manually dose a 2 part for Alk and Ca for a long time. It gets to be a pain. The Ca reactor is really a lot easier once it's tuned. I've definitely noticed more growth from my clam and SPS since switching from manual dosing to the Ca reactor.

dialed in cost less than dosing and easier to use,but with the cal unit you have to ck the needle valve to see if it plugs up.the calcium reactor has a controller to monitor and run it kalk just dripped in you have to test a lot more.