why is it that....

[StirCrazy]

everyone assumes you are doing SPS if you are looking for a Ca reactor.

I think if you look at it you will find a softies/LPS tank that has VHO or PC lighting will consume just as much Ca as a SPS tank with very intense lighting.

Ca reactors can be used on any tank to maintain a balance of minerals, Ca, and Alk in a efficient manner.

Steve

[Pro Fish Keeper]

Well said, and I belive thats true. I've seen softies use tons of calcium dosages.

[Aquattro]

It is because the vast majority of people buying/using/stealing Ca reactors keep SPS. It's generally accepted that they're the only ones nuts enough to spend that kind of money on coral growing toys.
Also, I don't believe that a tank of leathers consumes calcium nearly as fast as a SPS tank does, therefore presenting more cost effective measures of Ca supplementation. I could be wrong, but I'll need to see a bleached leather skeleton and compare it to a bleached acro skeleton. I think the latter contains more Ca.

[Samw]

If this is directed at me, it was because I know Pocillipora use to keep SPS. So i was essentially asking him if he is getting back into it.

[Jack]

Steve you're crazy if you think softies consume as much as SPS when growing.

[Quinn]

I'd be inclined to agree with Brad and Jack. I don't see where softies would be putting all that calcium.

[StirCrazy]

ok now let me explain a couple things.. yes softies consume Ca, but not as much as SPS, BUT in the lower light tank coralin algae grows way faster than in brightly lit tanks. (on average) also just think if you have halmidia (*sp) in the tank with the softies.

so now if you have a softie/LPS tank with halmidia and lots of coraline do you not think it would consume a lot of Ca?

SamW, it wasn't directed at you but your coment did remind me about making this post. I see it all the time where people have nice tanks that have what I would concider a hugeCa load, and people teling them to keep on spending big bucks on 2 part additives instead of getting a reactor.

also just wanted to start a discussion and maybe get people thinking about what all concumes Ca besides SPS.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

Steve you're crazy if you think softies consume as much as SPS when growing.

on that post Jack... lets assume SPS uses say 20X more Ca per mass than softies. so concidering how fast softies can grow compared to SPS would it not be a little closer in demand?

Also I got to add something to my original post I forgot.. LPS also.

Steve

[Jack]

When softies die they seem to melt and turn to mush. If an acro colony dies you can be left with a couple pound calcium structure. In my mind the logic points to the SPS consuming more Ca and Alk.

[Aquattro]

While "softies" do in fact use calcium, they in no way compete with an average SPS colony for Ca consumption. LPS may be real competition, as they do deposit a lot of Ca, it's just hard to tell because of the massive growth instead of branching.
On the coralline issue, again, no way.
None of this means a reactor isn't useful on a "mixed" tank, just that a reactor is often considered "required equipment" for larger SPS systems, hence the assumption that reactor purchasers keep SPS.

[Diomedes]

A cool question.

I feel that reactors are essential on any tank including corals. And it is true that some soft corals can consume calcium at rates greater than some stony corals. A large Sinularia dura colony is so chalk full (excuse the pun) of calcium carbonate spicules or sclerites that they must (IMO) consume more calcium than some typical LPS stony coral spp. and maybe some of the slower growing SPS. These things (S. dura) can quintuple themselves in an 10 month period without a sniff. That means a lot of spicules. Also stony coral skeletons are not solid aragonite. Does anyone know how dense your average Acro is? How much calcium is actually there? I don't know...thats for sure.

I just put a 225 in my wall (with reactor coming) and am going to have only aposymbiotic soft corals for the next couple of years. If I am consuming lots of Calc I'll let you guys know.

Stephen

[Delphinus]

For growth, alkalinity is also important to softeys. Honestly, the "set and forget" principle of a reactor makes them so attractive to me that I wish I could put one on any tank I set up, be it a 230g or a 20g and whether it be set up for SPS or mushrooms. As far as reactors go, certainly the acylic, the plumbing and the pump are no more major investment than any other component of a setup (e.g., good skimmer), ... even the CO2 cylinder is not so bad ... the bottleneck, I find, is when you add it all up and include the regulator.

Anyhoo that's just my $0.02. Obviously there are some situations where the reactor isn't cost optimal but boy oh boy is it sure nice to not worry about fiddle-faddling and/or adding this or that every 12 hours. The only real drawback is it leads to complacency, I've gone for huge stretches of time without testing Ca or Alk or really anything else in my tanks just because I know the reactor is doing it's job just by eyeballing the bubble count and double checking the effluent output rate every now and again.