My 210 FOWLR Turned Reef

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Personally I'd go with the Calcium reactor. They can be a major pain in the ass to set up in the first place, but once they are they run like a dream, though will need adjustment with coral growth of course but its usually easy to do, as growth is consistant so usage goes up in at a pretty steady rate (though somewhat exponential). If you use broken coral skeletons as your media you don't have to dose traces either as the skeletons have alot of them already in it. Generally I've seen little change with pH, but you may need to add buffers to the display keep it consistant, but generally the acid (carbonic) is very short lived as it is considered unstable, so it will either evap out or get used by plant life as fuel (once it converts back to CO2). So unless there is a large failure in the system it is unlikely to cause major damage. Here is a link on how to use/setup one http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php (don't be surprized if some of what I said is contradicted here, its been a wile since I read it/used one lol). This link at the bottom actually has some excellent tips on how to keep acidity out of your display, or at least how to minamize it (namely using airstones at the drip outlet and stuff like that).

Oh and btw that is actually a sick recactor setup, I've always DIYed my reactor chambers though to save cash.
 
I appreciate the input. I have been doing a ton of research last night and this morning trying to figure out what I want to do. I have heard a lot both ways, but see quite a few people, even with big tanks, switching to dosing.

A lot of people suggest calcium reactors as a cheaper option to dosing after the initial investment. I am not so sure that is the case. Forgive me if I am missing something, but I think I covered what is needed.

Calcium Reactor
-Co2 filling ($5 to $10) twice a year or so.
-Reactor Media ($10 to $15) refilled/topped off a couple times a year.
-Ph Probe($20) replaced every 2 years(they actually say 1, but I will stretch it.) so half of $40.
-Electricity($60) for 2 pumps, Eheim and Maxijet (48 watts 24/7, approx. $5 a month)
TOTAL over a $100 annually

Dosing setup
-Baking Soda($7) 12 lbs. should last me a year at currently usage, won't last as long later on.
-Calcium Chloride($34) BRS 2 gallons should last about a year, again won't last that long later.
-Dosing pump electricity would be very small with small pumps running only a small percentage of the day.
TOTAL less than $50 annually

Magnesium will need to be dosed with either method so isn't factored into either side.

I can buy 2 dosing pumps and holding containers for about $200 bucks.

I should be able to get at least $500 total for my calcium reactor setup. Paid $300.

So I could get my investment in the calcium reactor back and have new dosing pumps.

The dosing does fall short on the trace elements front, but I do about 100 gallons of water changes a month, so I think I should be good there.

In short, I think I am going dosing pumps.
 
Yah, I get that for sure, costs deffinatly very, grand scheme of things your probably right. That said, I never payed for the true "media", just bought coral rubble for cheap and broke it smaller then mixed it with a pure calcium carbonate pellet that I had a contact for and could get super cheap (I've also thought about using Limestone gravel... but need to get it tested for its makeup first). Also I think costs depend on size of tank/amounts of calcium used by corals. Also I only had one pump on my reactor and it was super small/low flow rate so lower costs there. PH prob I never used, I just tested the ph directly with a test paper, by unscrewing an access port that I built in (tested once a week or less and the papers were very cheap). From what I've read, generally people switch because dosing is easier, doesnt require fine tuning. Reguardless, it seems like dosing is the most cost effective method for you.
 
Just looked at the pumps again. My electricity calculation was wrong because the pumps are smaller than I thought. Electricity for the year would be about half, $30.
 
I feel like except in the largest of systems the costs would be more similar then you think, especially if you take pH probe out of the mix. Also I feel like I didn't go through that much media... but it was a wile ago that I had one running... haha. Oh one more thing, wouldn't you technically need 3 dosing pumps? Calcium/Alk/Mag?
 
Kevin8888 said:
I feel like except in the largest of systems the costs would be more similar then you think, especially if you take pH probe out of the mix. Also I feel like I didn't go through that much media... but it was a wile ago that I had one running... haha. Oh one more thing, wouldn't you technically need 3 dosing pumps? Calcium/Alk/Mag?
Click to expand...

That is probably true. I think some of the written works on the cost analysis are dated and getting raw ingredients are cheaper now for dosing. The probe was definitely a consideration because I don't have much experience with them and will have 2(Ph, ORP) already and don't want another really(I am sure it wouldn't be hard, but ya.). Maybe it won't use quite that much media, but filling the reactor and effluent up once would cost about $15 or so, and a lot of people use that much up within a year(including the guy I got it from who had it on a 120 that wasn't overly full of sps.).

I am going to dose the Mg manually. With the calcium reactor I would need to get dolomite to put in the chamber or dose it anyway. That is why I didn't include it in the numbers.

I have enjoyed the dialogue with you on the subject and have definitely weighed the pro and cons of each, but I just put in an order for 2 dosing pumps while they are on sale at BRS. Time to sell the reactor setup I guess!! Anyone? lol.
 
Ya, prices on the addatives are pretty good, even more so if you buy in super bulk (like 5gal buckets or whatever) I may do dosers instead of reactor on my future systems, since all my stuff has been sold and will need to be replaced in the future. It's one of those things I need to look into again more thuroughly, along with lighting. One thing that is still bugging me is the viewing panel for the tank I'm designing... 8'x5' huge piece of glass or acrylic... its either going to weigh litterally a ton (laminated glass), or its going to cost a ton (acrylic)... LOL.
 
My 2 BRS dosing pumps came in today!! Can't wait to get these bad boys hooked up.

I bought a 13.5 lb bag of Baking Soda from Sam's Club(6 bucks!) and bought some more Calcium Chloride from BRS(couldn't find what I felt was a safe alternative from anywhere for cheaper) so I should have enough to last me a year or more now.

I also got my new ATO with backup valve that will hook into my Apex. Sounds like Sunday afternoon I will be getting my new full blown Apex with 2 EB8's, PM1, Socket Extension, 3 probes, and he's throwing in a battery backup for it. The guy is taking his tank down and selling off everything and I bought his Apex package.

I am trading a guy 2 frags for a battery backup for my MP60 also.

My semi-DIY ozone reactor has been up and running for a couple days. Working well so far. It is going to be bigger once I meet up with Fleshy to pull a trade. Right now I can't dial it up to where I want because the carbon chamber doesn't seem to be big enough to capture all the excess ozone and you can smell it when it's turned up so I am keeping it turned down for now.

I will try to get some pictures up of this stuff later today or tomorrow. Off to do a water change and put the 2 Carberryi Anthias into the display!
 
OMG. I got some good news today!!!! I am going to be getting some sick stuff this coming weekend. Don't think I will be keeping a ton of the stuff, but I am getting a sick sick deal on a setup and will be reselling a lot of it. This thing has everything from vortechs to salinity and calcium probes with controllers just to name a few. Man am I excited!!!
 
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