Co2 tank

[strgazr27]

Nobody is arguing lol. Is this a case of needing the calcium because it's being used or is it to save money? I see a tank that is damn near perfect. I see it as another piece of equipment to maintain, clean etc. we tend to over complicate this hobby and the
Last few months have proven that to me. I you need it Gary than by all means give it a shot. I just can't see a softie mix tank needing that much calcium. If his numbers warrant it than by all means. If its about saving money one needs to look at how long it takes to break even than start saving...

 

[ecvernon]

I have a spare tank 5# with no regulater. I'll look when I get home. I will even trade for corals

 

[garys reef]

bobby the tank has alot more sps than before i have been getting rid of corals to make room for sps lmfao still have no room ecvernon hit me when you can on what you want for it i am still up in the air if im gonna do this right now everything is doing great im dosing 180 cal 155 alk and 55 mag a day im using brs stuff and my #'s are 430 cal 8.9 alk and 1440 mag and the tank is doing great i got the reactor from a good friend thats why i was looking to do this but everyone has me scratching my head WTF

 

[MIKE NY]

Gary's reef for TOTM!... any system can fail and most do at one time or another...for smaller tanks and/or light bio-loads a doser can work fine, but in larger system with alot of rock and SPS a cal reactor is the way to go...a doser would need to be filled to often...

BTW I should be at the top of the list because I think I've been using one longer than any of you....LOL

 

[duke62]

there is no need to scratch your head man. its the easiest thing to set up and is my favorite piece of equipment i own. i was nervous as well ask charliethetuna but now i look back and laugh that i was so scared. as long as you have a controller there is no need to worry. it will shut off when your ph reads to low which you set yourself and it will shut off regulator so no more media gets disolved.then it will automatically turn back on when your ph again hits a number you want which you also set yourself. only way it will overdose your tank is if the regulator AND the ph probe both fail at the same exact time which will never happen. imagine a world with no more dosing. you can leave your house for a weekend and not worry about your levels. do you have a controller?

 

[ducati335i]

That actually sounds great. And when you use a reactor, you don't need to add alk? This true more or less?

 

[duke62]

True

 

[ecvernon]

I have this tank with broken dials on regulater. I don't know if it works. The tank is full and it is a ten pound tank. Send me names of corals you can frag and we can work something out

 

[strgazr27]

As far as leaving the house for the weekend why can't that be done w a doser? If you manage your numbers and know what the tank needs than if you make sure your containers are full I don't see the issue.

If it's strictly to save money why not make your own 2 part Gary? easy and relatively inexpensive.

Maybe my first post was misunderstood. If you want to try the reactor route Gary go for it. To save money? In THIS hobby ?? Lol. As far as to simplify the system I don't see it.

Any of the 3 major ways of maintaining Cal work. And they all work as well as the others. Each has it's pro's and cons. Hell ask those who saw my tank. The 10-15 SPS pieces I had showed pretty impressive growth using only Kalk in my ATO. Just one way to skin the cat so to speak.

I've learned that if it isn't broke, DON'T fix it

And that's still a 60/40 tank Gary Lol. And still one of my favorite tanks on MR.

 

[ecvernon]

I know you asked for 5# but here is pic of size it's not that much bigger

 

[charliethetuna88]

Cal reactor is the way to go bro don't listen to to people who fear it ,I had one laying around for a year before i had enough nut to hook it up ,its been running for over a year now and its the best move i ever made ,if u or ducati need a had setting it up ill help u ,u def need to understand how it works though ..

 

[charliethetuna88]

Duke add mikeny to Ur list bro he's a totm and runs a reactor ,also we need to start a thread post ur full tank shot if ur using a cal reactor !!!!!! Start it up bro

 

[ducati335i]

Charlie sounds great! I go through two large containers of part a and b each month! Sux.. And I manually dose, lol..
I'll take u up on that offer soon as the fall is here
Thank you

 

[charliethetuna88]

Any time bro ,u will ask urself y u havnt done it sooner

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[brunoboarder2444]

im pretty sure airgas rents out 5 lb co2 tanks for like $40-$50 which has a $25 deposit included in the price....I have a 5 lb tank for my kegerator and it only costs me $15 to swap tanks

 

[fishome25]

A 700 gallon system and you manually dose 2 part? once you get a reactor you will curse yourself for not doing it sooner.

 

[Montaquelaveist]

so can i join in because i had a reactor and just put new media into it and then the tank ran out and i have been dosing two part but when i get my larger tank im thinking of hooking it back up not sure if its large enough for a 240g but i will look up the specs but i could use a hand in dailing it in i could never get it right and i still have to get my tank refilled

 

[ducati335i]

A 700 gallon system and you manually dose 2 part? once you get a reactor you will curse yourself for not doing it sooner.

lol i know.. i have been making my own for the last week and so far so good.. i may not change since its easy to make and cost is so cheap... (its probably 500 actual gallons of water)

may change in the future, but no time to sit and monitor daily right now and i cant take chances yet.. i have hundreds of diff corals in there.. soon ill get a nice photoshoot of the tank i hope

 

[charliethetuna88]

Ur missing out ,best part of a cal reactor is it adds everything perfectly balanced plus other elements that are benifical .

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[20gallonreefer]

This thread made me rebuild and reinstall my unused cal reactor yesterday can't wait to start seeing results!