Is this a poor man's calcium reactor?

Discussion in 'Filters, Pumps, etc..' started by Matt Rogers, Jan 16, 2006.

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  1. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    I visited a friend's house this weekend and was really impressed with the coral growth in his tanks. He had a wide selection of all types of corals including acros growing like crazy.

    I asked him what supplements he was adding to the tank and he said only the Kent dkh for alk every other day when 'he remembers to.'

    What was really interesting was that he also credited putting aragonite calcium reactor (A.R.M.) media in a canister on his freshwater top off dripper. He says it actually breaks down in there and he has to add to it occasionally.

    I had never heard of this before and it's made me really curious. I have a Tunze kalk reactor in my auto top off and could easily do this as well. In fact I filled it last night and put some floss near the top to prevent jamming.

    Do you think there is any merit to this freshwater, no c02, calcium reactor setup?

    PS- he has these corals growing under normal output bulbs! :eek: 8) Impressive.
     
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  3. Diver_1298

    Diver_1298 Eyelash Blennie

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    You should have took pictures. Most of us have a hard time growing corals with a thousand dollars worth of lights. And here he is with fifty bucks worth growing corals like mad. :D
    As far as your question goes, I really do not know ;) What ph does it take to break down the aragonite so that it mixes with his freshwater top off?? It would be nice to pull a couple of samples from his tank and lines to see what it is.

    Jim
     
  4. rickzter

    rickzter Torch Coral

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    You know, that's pretty neat that his tank is soo successful yet, he isn't running anything expensive or exquisite. I really think you should talk to him more often Matt.

    -Rick
     
  5. Blade_Runner

    Blade_Runner Gigas Clam

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    Unless I'm missing something, if he is running RODI it shouldn't be acidic enough to dissolve aragonite, but as the saying goes water will move mountains. Erosion is going to happen and will pull some CA into solution. It's just hard to imagine it happening at the pace of an auto top off. It might be interesting to take a sample of his RODI and his produced water and check the CA content.

    If it does work, I'd be worried about clogging the float valve. I'd hate to come back to a flood. A better solution might be to just rig a powerhead to circulate water through the aragonite.
     
  6. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    I had the same thought about the freshwater.

    There is not a float involved, it's a drip on his. I'm using the tunze setup myself which is an infrared sensor and a straight line back to the tank.

    I'll ask him about pics. I wish I had thought about that, but that was the first time I had been there. Maybe Gresham can elaborate, it was his friend's place.

    EDIT - hmm.. maybe he is using tap water. That can be harder, no?
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2006
  7. Jason McKenzie

    Jason McKenzie Super Moderator

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    Well A.R.M requires low PH to "melt". It could be the lac of O2 in the container? IDK (i don't know)

    J
     
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  9. Blade_Runner

    Blade_Runner Gigas Clam

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    OK you got me curious so I double checked. Aragonite will begin to dissolve at a ph of 7.7 or less. Most reactors run at 6.5 to 6.7. Lower than that they are too acidic and turn the media to powder clogging everything up. Ph neutral pure fresh water is 7.0. Untreated tap water will typically run 7.2 to 7.6. Guess what? In the words of the "Mythbusters" it's plausible.
     
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  10. mmakay

    mmakay Feather Duster

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    I've heard of this. It does add to the calcium content a little, and more importantly, it helps to buffer the top off water. It won't replace calcium additions, but it's enough to help keep levels a bit more consistent.
     
  11. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Got a link to anything Mickey? I was wondering if I was late to the party on this one.

    I think this is pretty huge! Karma for looking that up Blade. :)

    So when my evap sensor starts going, it pumps new water in to the reactor and pumps out water that has been stewing in the aragonite media.

    Now my top off water is buffered more like Mickey said, has some calcium, strontium, and magnesium running through it, what's the downside?

    I see the pros/cons so far as:

    Pros - Simple, cheap, less obtrusive (reactor is in my evap bucket), buffers top off water and adds elements to some degree.

    Cons - Not constant - at least with my setup it only goes a number of times a day. Can't control output like a real reactor. May jam if setup wrong.

    Are we missing something here?
     
  12. Covey

    Covey Scooter Blennie

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    The biggest con is most of us would out pace it. Basically using my system as a example I have about a 100g and add 1g of top off a day. That water is only buffered to NSW levels as 400-420ppm cal and I would only be adding a gallon of it. Saturated Kalk is like 1100-1200ppm calcium in it and that doesn't keep up with my cal/alk demands. Its not a bad idea just not powerful enough.