Your thoughts on reactors .. all of them

btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
My husband feels it necessary to add a PhosBan reactor, Carbon reactor (carbon in a Phosban), and Calcium Reactor to the tank. Our readings are fine, I think most of you know by now that I know what good water parameters are.
He claims that he wants to do it as a preventative measure. Your thoughts?
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On a side note, I hate being one of the only ones online at 130AM, lol
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
unless you have large colonies of SPS everywhere, you shouldnt do a calcium reactor. Running carbon in a reactor doesnt hurt and helps remove toxins out of the water. Running GFO doesnt hurt either. I personally dont run it cause i get undetectable phosphates and my sps arent losing their colors. i do run carbon actively though
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Running media in a reactor is the way to go, that's the way the media was designed to be used. A bag of carbon, plopped down in the sump doesn't cut it. If you actively run carbon and/or phosban, they need to be used in a reactor.
The calcium reactor is only required in specific tanks that have a high demand for it. That said, there isn't a drawback to one, other then costs, which is fairly sizable.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I agree with the above 2 posts....I might add the addition of a calcium reactor should be based on your consumption needs not as preventative. Carbon is effective being run the the "passive" mode just as well as the "active" mode. Just in the "mode" your using the carbon and such to it's fullest.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Thanks for the replies.
We have undetecable readings on both nitrates and phosphates and currently use ChemiPure Elite (in a bag) and PhosLock (in a bag) but both have always been in a very, very high flow area of the sump so that water passed through them. I do agree, that just plopping them in the sump isn't the best idea, but with correct water flow, I've never had an issue.
We might just go ahead and do the Phosban and carbon in a reactor, it's not like the phosban is that much money.
Our calcium is always all over the place. It's the one number that is never stable, it's always high. Alkalinity, Ca, Mag and Strontium are all where they need to be, but Ca likes to float around from 400-500. This doesn't really bother me, since it never goes low and frankly I've just given up after numerous replies from people on what to do and nothing really worked. He wants to do the Calcium reactor because someone told him that this would keep our Ca level consistent. The money isn't an issue (well it is, but I don't want to loose thousands of dollars in corals either, hahaha). I guess the real argument is that I don't care for SPS all that much, and he would load the tank with it......
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I had VERY high phosphates.....got the phosphate reactor 550 and they almost immediately went down to a reading of 1
I also run chemi-pure elite in a canister.....
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
We bought the Phosphate 550 tonight, one is running Phosban and the other is running Chemi Pure Elite.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3283640
This doesn't really bother me, since it never goes low and frankly I've just given up after numerous replies from people on what to do and nothing really worked. ......
Buy a huge, like 12"+ clam. Should fix that problem asap!
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Agree with aquaknight that a big clam will seriously drain your calcium :)
One of the reasons I run a carbon/phosphate reactor is
1 -- it was like 35 bucks for the 2 stage reactor
2 -- great preventative measure should you have any kind of toxin on your hand (like dish soap or detergent) and keeps your water amazingly clear!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/3283896
Buy a huge, like 12"+ clam. Should fix that problem asap!


There's two in there already, about 5" each. He wants a ton of SPS, but we keep being told on another forum that if the calcium fluctuates, SPS won't flourish. All the other levels except alkalinity are and always have been stable. Alk was an issue, but it was quickly fixed and hasn't been an issue since. I don't know
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I would say your just fine at 380-400+ on your calcium. Lighting, calcium, stable alk and mag and you'll see great growth.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/3283906
Agree with aquaknight that a big clam will seriously drain your calcium :)
One of the reasons I run a carbon/phosphate reactor is
1 -- it was like 35 bucks for the 2 stage reactor
2 -- great preventative measure should you have any kind of toxin on your hand (like dish soap or detergent) and keeps your water amazingly clear!

DO you have 2 reactors? Or do you mix carbon, calcium and phosphate stuff in the same reactor??
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
nope. 2 stage reactors are good, but its better off as two different reactors in the long run becuase different media require different flow
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I have a two stage reactor as well... but I also have two of them (no I don't run both but thinking I should sometimes lol).
The reactors are easy to clean, quick disconnects on everything and kind of pretty much plug and play. Rereading some things the carbon does clog in about 2 weeks although I change it monthly on schedule with my GFO. You can really tell when you put new carbon in as it's hard to tell theres actually water in the tank the next day :)
 
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