Originally Posted by
Kevin34
http:///forum/post/3078671
I was wondering if anyone could tell me about these? all i know is that they maintain calcium levels. how exactly do they work? and are there any downsides to them?
I dont know the details, but I bought one a few months ago because I got tired of dosing KALK. My prams are now always just about right on the money with normal variations.
Here is some info:
A calcium reactor maintains the level of calcium and alkalinity within a reef aquarium. More importantly, a reactor maintains the proper balance of calcium to alkalinity, which is critical over the longterm. Where calcification is concerned, these two values are intimately related (one affects the other, and vice versa). Most other methods of supplementation can lead to an undesired imbalance between calcium and alkalinity. Indeed, it is this imbalance that often lies at the heart of poor coral health.
Let’s examine how a calcium reactor works, in a bit more detail. The reactor itself is nothing more than a chamber that holds some sort of calcium-based substrate. At normal aquarium pH (7.9-8.3), this substrate is insoluable. At lower pH, however, the substrate dissolves, thereby freeing calcium and alkalinity ions so that they can be dripped back to the aquarium.
The pH inside the reactor is lowered by injecting a small amount of carbon dioxide gas into the water as it circulates through the chamber. In most cases, a pH between 6.5-6.7 will yield the best results. Too low a pH will quickly turn the substrate to mush, and too high a pH won’t dissolve the media.
As this acidic water circulates through the reactor at a very fast rate, two other processes take place. Raw aquarium water is slowly fed into the reactor, and at the same time, calcium and alkalinity-rich water is dripped back to the aquarium. These two processes take place at the same rate, so that the reactor doesn’t overflow or run dry. The rate of flow is very, very slow – just a few drips per second in most cases.