kalk stirrer vs. Ca reactor

snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Hey all
If you were going to set up a 75-110g aquarium, which piece of equipment would you use for your calcium and alkalinity demands in an SPS dominated tank?
I have never used either, but the Kalk stirrer makes the most sense to me. Which one would you choose and why?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
There is also the option of a couple of dosing pumps to dose a two part solution. I'm guessing it might be a good idea to get a pH probe with any kind of ca/alk equipment like all of this?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
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.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Thank you Guy for the response. I appreciate your thoughts.
I guess you are right... having both would keep the pH stable and would be better for the overall system.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
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.
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
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.
 
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