Is this a poor man's calcium reactor?

You're welcome.

Neat idea, isn't it?

Too bad it won't work for me. I'm 100% mechanical on my top off and don't want to risk crudding out the float valve. Otherwise I tend to replace 4-5 gal/day on the 300. That should leach out some CA.

 

Yeah that's too bad. Do you have the kent float valve? Because I used to dose kalk water with that and clean it now and then. Go for it! C'mon! heheh.. Don't leave me on my own here!

Well hopefully it will work with my setup. It seems safe and I don't have much SPS. I can see Covey's point though if I were SPS dominant. But a big point to me is that it beats just adding straight RO water to the tank as far as I can tell. I'll test my water in a while and see if there is any difference and report back. I love messing around!

 

I think I will try it too, Matt. With my DIY float valve, It should not cause any issues!

Mike

 

I'm using a modified Randy's mix and currently not even dripping it in. I toss a measured amount of A&C in once a day. (I am going to set up drip buckets for both.) I put the initial rock in Thanksgiving weekend and currently my CA is running between 430-440, ALK is 300ish and Ph is 8.2. Ammonia, NO3, and NO2 are 0. I'm supplementing with Kent Coral Vit and iodine. I've got lime green 1st stage coralline growing all over the place along with older established purple. Happy Zoos, Stars, Hammer, Leather, some free SPS and a clam. I'm seeing sponges, and fans popping out all over the place. The initial brown algae bloom was mild and 90+% gone.

I sure hope I'm not cursing myself but everyone in the tank including 11 fish (5 are tangs), 24 Mexican turbos and a coral banded shrimp seem to be very happy campers. I really am shocked that the tank has matured this fast and has been so stable. Maybe the huge sump and skimmer have helped.

I think I'm going to stick with the original game plan for a while.

As long as I'm rambling... My main problem, for the moment, is micro bubbles. The pressure needed to raise the water from the basement just seems to produce them. I'm still playing with the ball valves to try to shake them without reducing the total turnover in the tank. I'm really trying to stay at what I'm guessing is a minimum of 3600 to 4000 gph. I may be significantly over that. I'm just not sure how to measure it. I have pretty well maxed out the flow in the sump.

 

Sounds like you have a good thing going. I wouldn't change it either!

Back to the subject, something from a Bob Goemans' book - Water Quality Guidelines for Marine Aquariums booklet (page 46):

"The Aragonite Solution
When purified water is used for water changes or evaporation makeup it
contains no calcium. And its pH, especially that of reverse osmoses and deionized
water is usually quite low, e.g., 6. 5. Now take into consideration the
aragonite particle enters a condition of equilibrium at a pH of 8.2. That is to say it
begins the reversal of the very process that originally formed the particle
and starts to dissolve. This can be quite beneficial, as the aragonite particle
is about 97% calcium.
Most of us have seen calcium reactors where carbon dioxide is used to lower
pH to a point where the water becomes acidic enough to dissolve its calcareous
gravel. But, what if you didn’t need carbon dioxide to accomplish a "modest"
dissolution process. Why not use RO or DI water to dissolve some aragonite
gravel in a storage container. Water with such a low pH is an excellent solvent
for almost any type calcareous gravel. Yet aragonite, because it is so pure, is
a much better choice than crushed coral or oyster shell and contains much less
phosphate.
I should note this method is not for maintaining the calcium level in a reef
aquarium. It is simply a process by which the water used for evaporation
make-up or water changes will be "enhanced" prior to use. I use about 50 pounds of
aragonite in a strong plastic container that in turn holds about 35 gallons of
RO and DI water. It is occasionally stirred to prevent any anaerobic areas
from forming. When water is needed for my aquarium it is drawn from this
container and what is remaining is topped-off with more purified water that is stored
in other large containers. I have found enhanced water to contain somewhere
between 50 to 100 ppm of calcium and have a pH of 8.4. I want to thank Leo
Wojcik for this idea."

 

Interesting read, but did I hear the word Phosphate?

 

Yeah. But not so much if you use aragonite. (And probably the same as a real calcium reactor. ) I do use a phosphate pad in my sump though.

I should note that the way he does it is more passive than mine.
I force all water through the reactor. So maybe I am getting more calcium? Anyone have a freshwater calcium kit?

 

You could take a water sample. Then add table salt to get the SG right then test for Calcium if you were curious.

 

Well if you do get a little extra Phosphate I see it as a great excuse to get some Giant Clams. They like phosphate and remove it from the tank.

 

I found this while crusing Premium Aquatic's site. Has anyone heard of it and what do you think? Sounds a little like what's on this thread doesn't it?

Mike

Carib-sea ARAGAMIGHT Price:$11.95

New Aragamight! tm is a revolutionary product that puts the power of aragonite in a fast dissolving, easy to use powder. Pure Aragonite, ground to 10 microns for Ultra high surface area, provides flash remineralization of purified water, and with no two parts to mix. This non-caustic powder supplies both calcium and carbonate buffer, as well as a full suite of natural trace elements, all without any ionic residual or by-products of any kind. How? Aragonite is what your corals are made of, nothing more and nothing less.