CA Reactor or Dosing
 

I would like to ask canreef member which is better. Currently I am using Coralife CA reactor and giving me a hard time. I guss what you pay is what you get. Anyway I am thinking to move over to 2 part dosing but I am still serching. Before I will make a decision I just like to hear your opinion and experience.
Thanks

I have tried both, IMHO on a larger system with fair amount of sps and lps will highly benefit from a calcium reactor. If your system is under a hundred gallons or less then dosing might just work for you. It all depends on what suit you better.

Over the last 7 months or so, ever since I switched over to a vertex calcium reactor I haven't messed around with it for more then a few hours and that's including setting it up. Ph probe and solenoid control is a must if you are setting one up, besides filling the media and the co2 which I haven't done yet the unit has been rock solid(knock on wood) compare to when I was dosing, I was using 1 gallon jugs of bulk reef supply chemicals which cost me a arm and a leg just for shipping. I would have to fill the jug up every week or less. I know some can argue why not just get some bulk from around town and use some larger containers so the refill intervals are shortened but for the quality of their bulk chemical product, you just can't beat BRS and until you start mixing chemical yourself, it is just a pain in the where the sun don't shine. I personally hated doing it. I had 6 jugs in rotatio and it still ****ed me off. Some days when I am shaking the alkalinity bottom and the rest just won't mix, it always brought me back to a childhood story of me shaking a Costco size salsa in the kitchen and the lid flew off, needless to say my mom was not impressed with me.�� One thing dosing seem to have an edge over calcium reactor is the ability to fine tune your parameter, as long as you make sure your salinity is in check then it's all good.

The choices is really entirely up to you. Both system has pros and cons. It's just in a larger system, a calcium reactor seem to have more pros then cons over dosing but you still need to purchase a decent reactor so you don't have to mess around with it too much. Same goes for dosing. If you are going that route, make sure you purchase a good dosing unit like a liter meter or the profilux stand alone unit for accuracy and reliability. One thing I have learns from this hobby is if you are dedicated reefer and are willing to do it right, spend the money and buy some decent equipment cause if you don't you will regret it later.

I hope this helped, let me know if you have anymore questions about the 2, I will be happy to help you out.

I'm new to this obsession since this past summer and have decided with the new tank, I am going the reactor route. Right now I am using the vinegar & Kalk method, but its a PITA. Dosing cant keep to keep up via evaporation & my auto topoff. I need additional dosing every week and dont like the shock to my corals. I am not so picky with LPS, its all the SPS I am most concerned about. I have a lot of chemicals... I'll finish them off with the big tank start up then set up my reactor. Much more stable from what I have read.

I think its better to spend on good equipment. I always look for opinions here or online reviews before deciding on any equipment.

Someone on RC compared the costs between the two and I believe generally speaking once you're over the 180g mark a reactor is cheaper. I dose on a 400g anyways and love the complete control I have. I have much more faith in a peristaltic doser than I do pressurized gas and needle valves/solenoids etc.

I use Reef Crystals which is quite high in Calcium and as a result I dose less Calcium than Alkalinity. A balanced addition of the two (which from what I understand is what reactors do) would create an imbalance in this case.

I have about an 800gallon SPS system and I use Balling system via Profilux doser. Much easier to maintain and dial in. No more sudden failures(plugging of the Mazzei injector) of the Ca reactor just as I am about to leave on a trip. :)

I go through 720ml of Alk a day. It got to the point where I was using so much chems that I just bought in bulk and started producing smaller sizes for people to use in their tanks. My philosophy in this is I sell the same products I use. Check out http://www.oceanfreshaquarium.com/aquarium-additives/ or click my banner on this site.

Here is a pic of part of the tank.
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/...woutsystem.jpg

and a few of the corals
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/...reechinata.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/...dbluemilli.jpg

Cheers,
Tim

Thanks for the information. My system is about 120 gal total water, so dosing might be better way? However I am thinking to do DIY dosing before I will get nice one. I just like to try. I was serching DIY dosing and found one of the reefer was using Aqualifter pump and gang valve. What do you think about this idea? I have very limited budget to keep my tank running, so I try to keep cost down. Maybe I have wrong hobby.
Thanks

I would imagine we're all trying to keep the costs down if and where we can :biggrin: I have used both a reactor and dosing pump. Personally I like the dosing pump as its easier to maintain my chemicals (used to have to take my co2 tank in fairly often and the shops hours were pretty restrictive, same hours I work) and I think the dosing pump keeps my parameters much more stable. You may want to invest in a better reactor? I don't know how great the coralife ones are (I've seen their skimmers in action and I wasn't impressed by them). My first calcium reactor was great, no problems and I filled the co2 tank every 9 months or so like clockwork, then I decided to "upgrade" to a fancier reactor and I had nothing but problems which made me want to switch to dosing. I do find dosing to be more expensive so far but not expensive enough to make me switch back to a reactor.

Nowadays everyone is on a budget, some are just bigger than others. I wouldn't give up just cause you can't afford all the fancy contraptions. My buddy Chris does the same thing, he doses calcium and alkalinity VIA a up side down container, some tubing and a regular adjustable valve. He uses it on a 75 gallon sps tank and it works awesome, never ever has he experienced any issues and his sps growth is rock solid. This is just an example of DIY that works as good as any 600 dollar doser and it only cost him a fraction of that. Give it a try and see how it turns out. Don't be discouraged.

I've done a full "budget" SPS reef tank. Look for used calcium reactors, lots of people switching to fancy new dosing systems. I picked up mine for $200 and will provide more than enough for any growth. Costs me about $50 a year refilling my CO2 and buying a gallon jug of ARM media that lasts a year and a half. The cost for Dosing would be much higher yearly. Lots of ways to save money on a reef tank, but sometimes the fancy new start-up systems are actually worth the money to save hassle.

WOW Tim, I would love to come out and see your place one day and buy some frags off you.

I've been running a Ca Reactor since 2006. My current PM 622 (old down flow style) was purchased used and has worked very well for me since 2007. The only issue I've had is with the CO2 Regulator. I tried a Milwaukee and then an Aquariumplants.com unit, both have given me more trouble than they should have. I'm not sure what the best on the market is right now but its well worth your while to not cheep out there.

Total system volume is 240gal.

Do I sniff a frag sale???

I'll give it a try diy dosing. If My tank and I like it then get a better pump. If it doesn't work, I have to upgrade my reactor. My negotiation will start pretty soon. Hopefully my wife says ok to get nice one.

I'll never understand you guys!! Isn't the goal to get the wife to say "ok, I'll forgive you this time" ?
And if you're good, you lead in with "huh? This old thing? I've had it in a box downstairs for years!!"

what if the wife is watching over the budget and the money that come out? That old excuse "I've had it for years" wont help to justify the 500$ hole in the bank account :)

That's crazy talk!! Who would do such a thing?

I am also trying to figure out what I want to do.
I have a 66 gallon now and will upgrade in a couple of years

Doser

Kalk Reactor

or Calc Reactor...


I dunno what do to just yet

My wife never watch the bank account or credit card bill, but I know she is giving up a lots of stuff she wants. I try to be honest and never hide anything from my wife.

I've run a full sps tank for 2.5 years with crazy amounts of growth and good colours. I run a calcium reactor and haven't tested any parameters except for salinity for the past year. I just run my reactor full blown and my corals are still growing. I have only had to remove corals over the last year due to excessive growth.

On the flip side, I've never tried dosing so I can't compare. I simply fill my reactor every 6 months or so with media and the CO2 gets filled about every 6 months as well.

Hope this helps.

you will need to decide for yourself.
I have originally started with a calcium reactor and always worried about excess CO2 into the tank,checking the pump making sure no leeks and not saying all reactors are the same but these are some of the problems I ran into until I started dosing and now with a few tanks full mix reef using top quality pharmaceutical chemicals never worry about a thing I test my water maybe every 6 or so months and the doser I use never gave me any hassle as it has few safety features witch I like never needed but safety in the mind.
Bottom line good luck and keep us posted.

for the future information, what dosing pump or CA reactor do you use? And any recommendation?

I cannot help you on the calcium reactor as I had a DIY reactor.As for the pump check out this thread caco3reef dosing pump group buy

I am looking at the GHL doser myself.. Heard it was among the best.

pricy though

true.. The one I was looking at is 399.00 give or take..

I know there are cheaper ones like aqua medic.. but heard they were cheap and not that great..