2 part dosing vs. Reactors

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by tatted4ever, Oct 20, 2009.

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  1. blackraven1425

    blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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    "Buffering" is bringing it up to the levels int he tank. For example, if your salt mix, at 1.025, mixes to 400 ppm calcium, and your tank is at 500 ppm calcium, you should add calcium supplementation to bring the water change level up to 500ppm.
     
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  3. Peredhil

    Peredhil Giant Squid

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    and since most brands of salt require some level of buffering of at least one material anyway, is the reason I stick with el cheapo Instant Ocean.
     
  4. Seano Hermano

    Seano Hermano Giant Squid

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    OK so it's sort of what I though it was. I use Instant Ocean. I've used several brands, like Kent, IO. and they seem to work the same way, always needing "buffering".
     
  5. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    IO I test has a DKH of 11 and CA of 380. I don't buffer I just adjust with my regular dose. I always use more Ca of my 2 part. Now that I am doing daily WCs, it should come out pretty stable.
     
  6. yamaharider73

    yamaharider73 Kole Tang

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    I know this is an older thread but is a great read. I learned a lot of great information on here. Thanks to all of you that contributed to the thread. Are there any updates from the doser or reactor guys out there? would anyone do anything differently now? I think I am going to order the BRS 2 part and some dosing pumps. Anyone got any recommendations on dosing pumps,timers,controllers for the 2 part?

    Thanks
     
  7. tatted4ever

    tatted4ever Clown Trigger

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    I use BRS dosing pumps with esv 2 part.... dosing pumps are controlled by my APEX...

    Whats nice with the APEX is you can control the pumps down to the second giving a more precise dosing amount.
     
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  9. ReefSparky

    ReefSparky Super Moderator

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    Same here, except I make my own calcium and alk solutions. I couldn't agree more with what tatted says.
     
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  10. yamaharider73

    yamaharider73 Kole Tang

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    Thanks for the info......I just ordered the BRS dosing pumps and was going to get some timers to operate them. Thought about some type of controller but I dont know anything about them. Which controller do you have and how do you it set up to the pumps?.
     
  11. ReefSparky

    ReefSparky Super Moderator

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    The Apex is a controller, yamaharider73. It's made by Neptune, and is called the Apex Aquacontroller. It's the cream of the crop at this time. The programming language is both not too technical, and the software allows very granular control of variables.
     
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  12. gabbagabbawill

    gabbagabbawill Pajama Cardinal

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    Well, I've had a calcium reactor set up now since April. It's been great watching my corals grow! I believe the stability and simplicity of the system is what makes the reactor great... It has been low maintenance, since I set it up, no problems... I just check everything over as part of my routine, but once it was adjusted, I haven't even had to touch it. My calcium and alk levels are very constant... There's absolutely no way I would want to mess with dosing now that I have it.