Calcium Reactor Or B-ionic Doser ?

[littlefish]

Greetings

To all of you that are experience in this hobby, I have a question.
My question is very simple.
I just got a brand new Calcium Reactor. I still have time to exchange it for an automatic B-Ionic doser.
What's the best way to go about it?


Thank you.

Alfredo

 

[fritz]

I vote deltec (or any other fluidized reactor) rather than a doser for b-ionic, but that's me.

 

[cali_reef]

FWIW, I always used a Ca reactor and will continue to use it. I don't think a properly setup quality reactor will require as much work as people using two parts claims to be. However, I would return the crappy MRC reactor you have and try using two parts for a while to decide for your self. Get an automatic doser and some b-ionic to start with, you can always sell the doser down the road if you don't like it.

 

[ShaunW]

I had both and like the two part! with a aquamedic doser. It is some work, more than a Ca reactor like Pierce above said, but my growth and color have never been better since switching.

 

[regal]

I used to run my calcium reactor but switched to 2-part b/c my pH is always running low. I found it easier to manipulate the Cal and Alk levels with the 2-part (or the b-ionic) rather than guessing by adjusting the CO2 input or the flow rate of the cal reactor and waiting for days and retest. With 2-part, I just use the calculator and find out how much I need and drip it over a day or two.

 

[fluidimagery]

I can second / third whatever the Aquamedic Doser and the b-ionic. I have coraline growing all over the place in under a month. Very easy to setup.

The only problem I can speak of is if the power goes out... the aquamedic doser does keep the correct time for each dose but doesn't fluctuate them like I setup. For example... I dose my alk and calc with it... alk doses for 4 seconds every hour... then 15 minutes later I have the calc going for 4 second server hour... when the power goes out it will dose both at the same time and lose the 20 minute offset. Hopefully they'll fix that soon, other than that it's great.

I actually bought and returned the CA reactor from MRC... not because it looked bad but I wanted to keep the system simple. I absolutely love my MRC MR2 Skimmer though... great products.

 

[House of Laughter]

Fredo,

I am a firm believer in both - I set my reactor a little lower than normal and "dose up" when I do water changes.

Worked wonders for my health and growth.

House

 

[littlefish]

Dosers

Which aquamedic doser do you recomend?

 

[fluidimagery]

I bought this one:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=AQ4531

I think they have it cheaper elsewhere but I've had good luck with marine depot. You could get the triple and dose Magnesium with it, but I decided to save the money and just dose it manually when I do WCs.

 

[regal]

Since you have the AquaJr, I would just get 2 single units without the timer. That's how I run mine.

 

[cali_reef]

Since you have the AquaJr, I would just get 2 single units without the timer. That's how I run mine.

The problem with that is he can only increase\decrease dose amounts in 30ml increments since all Aqua Controller have a minimum on-off time of 1 minuet.

 

[regal]

The problem with that is he can only increase\decrease dose amounts in 30ml increments since all Aqua Controller have a minimum on-off time of 1 minuet.

It's true. It works for my 500g system. I dose 1min every hour and I go throught 5 gallon every 2 weeks. But if you don't need too much 2-part to maintain the level, you can make the solution less concentrated so you don't get a big spike everytime the doser is on.

 

[PalmTree]

I've been using a Koraline CA reactor for about 6 monthes now. I have to say that even though I did not mind dosing w/ 2-part B-Ionic I love not having to dose at all now! It really frees me up to do other things with the tank. I know that everyone is diffrent. FWIW.. My PH has been very stable and I have not experienced a drop at all. I think it might be the deisgn of the reactor.

 

[pecan2phat]

Dosed 2-part when my system was small but even modestly moving up to a 120g & then tying in a 100g additional system, I've never had any problems with a Ca reactor since the setup period which required some adjustments.
2-part gets expensive for large systems unless you make your own home brew.

 

[Wes]

i use 2-part and a refurbished 2-channel medical dosing pump you can dose as low as 1.5 ml/hr so it's pretty easy to dial in the exact amount to add with the combination of this pump and a timer....i have the pump at it's lowest setting and dose for 18 hrs/day right now which equals about 27ml/day of each part...

The best part is i only paid $90 for the pump.

www.innovativeaquatics.com

When i get a big tank i will most like go w/ a reactor.