Kalk and Ca Reactor together

[snowmansnow]

So, I'm going to join the world of ca reactors. I have read several things about running a kalk stirrer in conjunction with it to help balance PH swings...

any insight into this? what are the pros and cons of running them together?

please dont feed me stuff about how good or bad a kalk reactor is... just wanna know how it works WITH a ca reactor

thanks for any insight

B

Edit: ALSO, is there advantage of running the output of the Ca reactor directly into the skimmer? Seems I've heard this too....

B

 

[fidofence]

I run just a mrc calcium reactor and my Ph stays very steady, you could do Kalk as well but I don't think you will need it

 

[jj ocean]

I run both. The kalk reactor is used predominately to raise the ph. Without it my tank runs .5 to .7 lower. I also only run the kalk in the non-photo periods of the tank to help keep the ph swing to a minimum.

I'm not aware or experienced any negatives running both - all positive. Well, other than another device expense.

 

[grouper therapy]

I ran both and it worked well for me. I was able to keep very steady pH ,alk and calcium levels.

 

[ripped tide]

The buffering chamber of the reactor evens out the PH swing. I haven't had any issues maintaining ph as long as I keep the alk around 3.0-4.0mg/l(seachem) and the calcium around 420. The ph doesn't really drop below 8.00(even at night). The only time it did was when I was still using the biopellets.

Before I needed to dose, it was maintaining between 8.20-8.00. Now that the consumption has sped up, and I have to dose, the ph stays between 8.00-8.25 depending on when i add the alk buffer.

 

[snowmansnow]

I have a lot of homework to do

 

[fidofence]

Those using a Kalk stirrer also is your calcium reactor a single chamber or double?

 

[acroholic]

I haven't been able to maintain a very steady KH using a calcium reactor and Kalk. In my tanks, the amount of Kalk used will vary with the evaporation in the tank, as I use(d) a Nilsen Stirrer, and all evaporation is made up with water passed through it.

But, I don't need a Nilsen right now anyways, as I can maintain my big three with the reactor, at least right now

 

[grouper therapy]

Acroholic;818399 wrote: I haven't been able to maintain a very steady KH using a calcium reactor and Kalk. In my tanks, the amount of Kalk used will vary with the evaporation in the tank, as I use(d) a Nilsen Stirrer, and all evaporation is made up with water passed through it.

But, I don't need a Nilsen right now anyways, as I can maintain my big three with the reactor, at least right now

That is one of the reasons I never used a ATO devices of ANY type to add Kalk. I let my reactor drip 24/7 just under the summertime evaporation rate. VERY simple and stable method really. The other reason was an actual overdose. I realize that the ATO malfunctioning may be rare and that the dropping of salinity would eventually crash the tank but I felt it would do so quicker if Kalkwasser was overdosed as well. By dripping 24/7 my ATO only activated every couple of days in the summer and maybe once a day in the winter.

 

[atmercure]

I run a GEO 612 and an aqua medic 1000 for kalk and run it thru my ATO. Def helps stabilize my ph.

 

[snowmansnow]

Is there a PDF of CA reactor setup for the Dual Nano from MRC? I looked and couldn't find it