Calcium Reactor

[mmstillwell01]

Hello everyone,
I was wondering if a calcuim reactor is a good thing to get for your reef tank.
I have a 125 gallon tank about three years old now and I have been wondering if I should add a reactor to it.
It has a 55gal sump with a skimmer and UV light along with Live rock est....
I have mostly soft coral but would like to start getting into the sps corals.
Lights are MH, T-5 and led moonlights
I do water changes about every two weeks if everything is ok.
I'm not even sure what a reactor does per say, just started trying to find info on them, and I thought someone here could help me out.
Thank you.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Calcium reactors add calcium carbonate to the water column, where LPS corals and hard corals and coralline algae regularly take it into their tissues. A calcium reactor requires a CO2 tank to be filled regularly. The CO2 is injected into the reactor where it lowers the pH of the saltwater so that the calcerous medium can be dissolved into usable calcium carbonate. Calcium reactors typically require a pH probe and controller to keep the water columns pH steady.
To me, there's better ways of adding calcium to a tank for a 125g. Once you get up to the 240+g mark that's heavily SPS dominated, then you would need some serious calcium additions. Kalkwasser adds calcium and alkalinity in equal parts, it also maintains a high pH and can precipitate phosphates. I supplemented my 240 with kalkwasser additions and I was able to keep a high calcium and alkalinity level. You might want to look into that. A simple DIY fix for calcium hydroxide is to use pickling lime, like Mrs. Wages pickling lime. At $22 for 500g of kalkwasser and $3 for ~500g of pickling lime, I'de rather the lime. lol!
Also, you need to know if your calcium and alkalinity are in balance - so test your water for calcium and alkalinity. If one is higher then the other, you'll have to increase the low one before you can dose kalkwasser. You bring up calcium with a calcium chloride additive and you bring up alkalinity with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). They both have their set of rules for how much to dose in x amount of gallons... you'll have to research that.
Two part solutions can also be a viable source of calcium and alkalinity additions to an SPS dominated reef tank. You can buy calcium cloride and sodium bicarbonate on a bulk reef supply website. There are several different versions of mixing your own two part solution, so find a DIY solution that fits for you. If you don't like DIY and prefer to buy it at 110% markup, then go with Brightwell brand two part solution. It's been tested and proven.

 

[acrylic51]

In agreement with Snake.....First I'd determine want your supplementation rate is for your tank, before throwing cash at a reactor.

 

[mmstillwell01]

Thank you for the info, I was hoping that I didnt need to buy another peace of equipment to have SPS corals, took me for ever to save up money for the MH lights.
Just so I have this stright I need to keep my Calcium and Alkalinity in balance with each other?
What should my calcuim level be? I've never even tested for calcium.
I'm gonna need to do more research

seams like thats all I've done in the past four years o well I guess you live and learn.
Ok, Mr. Wages Pickling Lime and Baking soda?

 

[snakeblitz33]

No. Mrs. Wages Pickling lime increases calcium and alkalinity at the same time. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) increases only alkalinity. Calcium Chloride only increases calcium. Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) increases magnesium. Each one of those has it's own rules for how much to add and when to add. You'll need to find them, because I don't know them right off hand. I have my own little tricks to doing things.
If you use Mrs. Wages, you'll need to research how to drip kalkwasser in the system. You'll also need to master those calcium and alkalinity test kits. Don't dose what you don't test for.
I prefer using Magnesium Chloride to add magnesium to my system, instead of magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) because I don't like the idea of sulfates building up in my system. Although, I can't find a single study that has shown detrimental effects of sulfates.
Either dose a two part solution, one is calcium cloride and the other is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or dose kalkwasser (pickling lime) if your calcium and alkalinity are both low.

 

[mmstillwell01]

O, I see
I will not dose anything until I know what I'm doing and as you can see I dont.
I'm going to go out and get a calcuim test kit and start by seeing what my calcuim is in my tank.
when you do water changes does that put calcium in the water?
I've been using instant ocean, is there a better salt mix that is better to use with SPS coral?
Thank you for all your help.