Two part versus Calcium Reactor thoughts...

[Liam]

Remeber, what ever in Dowflake was already in the sea water.

so does one gallon of dowflake have levels in the same concentration as one gallon of seawater?

 

[dz6t]

yeah you can stop dosing arsenic also Dong

According to Randy's article, Arsenic is below experimental detection limit. It means there is no detectable arsenic in Dowflake.

Where is the arsenic from?

 

[dz6t]

so does one gallon of dowflake have levels in the same concentration as one gallon of seawater?

I have no idea how you came up with that idea. Dowflake is solid and seawater is...liquid. hmmm...

 

[Liam]

I have no idea how you came up with that idea. Dowflake is solid and seawater is...liquid. hmmm...

all i am saying is just because it is derived from the ocean is not totally relevent to the consequences of dosing it.

Ice cream is solid but it can be measured in liquid units

 

[Liam]

According to Randy's article, Arsenic is below experimental detection limit. It means there is no detectable arsenic in Dowflake.

Where is the arsenic from?

i just used arsenic as an example Dong,there are many things on Randy's list that are detectable at low levels.
long term dosing could surely cause accumulation of certain elemnts could it not.

 

[RichConley]

yeah you can stop dosing arsenic also Dong

As can you liam, you're getting plenty from your salt.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1

 

[Liam]

As can you liam, you're getting plenty from your salt.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1

unfortunately i cannot avoid using sysnthetic sea salt, there are however alternatives to dosing,which is the topic of this thread

 

[RichConley]

unfortunately i cannot avoid using sysnthetic sea salt, there are however alternatives to dosing,which is the topic of this thread

Yes Liam, do you have any information about the levels of Arsenic in Calcium reactor media? I don't see any posted.


I also don't see any levels at which arsenic becomes harmful to marine animals. The numbers from the dosing article state that there will be an accumulation of less than .03PPM over a year, which is about the difference between salt brands.



Corals will absorb arsenic (among many other things) while they grow, and deposit these things in their skeleton at much higher levels than the water around them. Are you really so sure that the two part is contributing more arsenic than your reactor? And are you sure its at a high enough level that it even matters?

 

[Liam]

i just used arsenic as an example Dong,there are many things on Randy's list that are detectable at low levels.
long term dosing could surely cause accumulation of certain elemnts could it not.

i will post this again incase it was missed

 

[Aquaman_68]

I love this debate...You know what is funny.....Most times the person who sounds the smartest in this hobby doesn't really succeed....(why is that?)


Too much time with the book smarts & no real experience in actually keeping delicate organisms alive!!!! Never mind flourish!!!! Unbelievable....

 

[reefsmurf]

I don't know about you guys, but if limewater/kalk dosing is good enough for Randy and Dong, it's good enough for me

It's also the simplest solution for those of us with smaller tanks and or desiring a smaller footprint, you don't need any extra equipment.

I had a calcium reactor setup. But the two chambers and the CO2 tank combined was bigger than my tank. It was a sorry sight. Not an issue for those of you with massive stands and/or plumbing to the basement I guess.

 

[chew*]

I just added 0ne teaspoon to one gallon of ro/di,result was 12.0ph.
I increased in 1/2 teaspoon increments up to 4 tsp and the result was still 12.0.
so from my tests with my kalk and my ro/di i suspect anything over 1 teaspoon per gallon is kalk down the drain so to speak.

It could be possible my meter max's out at 12,i am not sure on the range of my acIII

This is an easy test for folks to do,i would be interested to see some other results.

I will try it this weekend with an alkalinity test, would be intersting to know, I would hate to waste kalk if i don't need to. Another benefit I might add to kalk is precipitating phosphates. I'll be the first to admit however that kalk has it's drawbacks and potential to cause damage if certain measures are not taken.

Speaking of phosphates Liam, any results on the eggcrate?

 

[Liam]

I don't know about you guys, but if limewater/kalk dosing is good enough for Randy and Dong, it's good enough for me

It's also the simplest solution for those of us with smaller tanks and or desiring a smaller footprint, you don't need any extra equipment.

I had a calcium reactor setup. But the two chambers and the CO2 tank combined was bigger than my tank. It was a sorry sight. Not an issue for those of you with massive stands and/or plumbing to the basement I guess.

yes it may well be good enough for Randy and Dong but i am pretty sure neither has a loaded stony coral tank.
we all have different set ups and needs in this hobby,to use a method just because it works for one person is rarely the best solution IMO.

 

[Liam]

I will try it this weekend with an alkalinity test, would be intersting to know, I would hate to waste kalk if i don't need to. Another benefit I might add to kalk is precipitating phosphates. I'll be the first to admit however that kalk has it's drawbacks and potential to cause damage if certain measures are not taken.

Speaking of phosphates Liam, any results on the eggcrate?

no results.The company i ordered my meter from did not even have them in stock so i cancelled the order after waiting several weeks and have'nt got around to ordering another at this point.

 

[chew*]

To do a stony tank I'm using a 5g homemade kalk/reactor.

It probably takes up the same or more space than a CA reactor.

Liam my hanna meter should be in next week, after my initial tests I need to do to fire up a phosphate reactor on my frag tank your welcome to borrow it, I know you take care of equipment. IIRC it should have enough reagent for 100 tests, I ordered the one that comes in a case.

 

[Liam]

To do a stony tank I'm using a 5g homemade kalk/reactor.

It probably takes up the same or more space than a CA reactor.

Liam my hanna meter should be in next week, after my initial tests I need to do to fire up a phosphate reactor on my frag tank your welcome to borrow it, I know you take care of equipment.

Thanks for the offer,i will likely just order one from Clarkson lab,if that does'nt pan out i will lyk

 

[Reef55]

You know what is funny.....Most times the person who sounds the smartest in this hobby doesn't really succeed....(why is that?)


Too much time with the book smarts & no real experience in actually keeping delicate organisms alive!!!! Never mind flourish!!!! Unbelievable....

Brian, who are you referring to? I'm pretty sure every person who has posted in this thread has plenty of experience keeping "delicate organisms alive". Here, I'll make a list and you tell us who it is:

Reef55
PVH
Dave McReeferson
Liam
Delta
chew*
Greg Hiller
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reefermedic
Aquaman68 (you)
dz6t
RichConley
reefsmurf


Your post provides absolutely zero valuable input to this thread.

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The good news is that the rest of this thread has provided good information. Nothing we add to our tank is perfectly pure.. there are always things being added that we probably don't want to our tanks.

I would think we can all agree that both calcium reactors and two part additives add other stuff besides pure alk / calcium.

For me, I prefer to keep alk and calcium levels as stable as possible. Which in my experience with both methods, I have found using two-part on a timed doser provides a much more stable alk and calcium levels with less of my time spent making it happen than with a calcium reactor.

 

[RichConley]

i will post this again incase it was missed

Liam, that was exactly my point though, long term dosing of ANYTHING is going to cause accumulation of secondary elements. This is not a fault of 2-part, but a fault of our unbalanced environments. Whether its 2-part or a reactor, we're going to get accumulation of undesirables, and I don't think "two part has arsenic" is helpful without an actual comparison to the levels of arsenic in reactor media.


Knowing that we get .03 ppm/yr of arsenic out of two part tells us absolutely nothing if we don't know how much arsenic we're getting out of the alternatives.

 

[dz6t]

yes it may well be good enough for Randy and Dong but i am pretty sure neither has a loaded stony coral tank.
.

Think again. I have a 125 gallon fully loaded with SPS that I have to trim down so frequent to make room for new growth.

 

[Chuck Spyropulos]

In my opinion a calcium reactor is the easiest choice, at least for me, to provide calcium and alkalinity for my tank. I buy 1 50 pound bag of ARM every year and a half to two years and fill up my 20 pound CO2 tank once a year and I'm all set. The reactor is so easy to use and is almost set and forget. I have never used 2 part dosing except in small amounts to correct Ca or Alk during the few times that required it. For me time is worth more than money and I like the automation that the reactor provides.

Perhaps dosing 2 part with dosing pumps is equally automatic, but is it really easier and less time consuming to implement/use than a calcium reactor?