the best calcium reactor for sps.

[urb77]

Hello friends, would you please recommend me what do you think is the best Calcium Reactor?

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by urb77

Hello friends, would you please recommend me what do you think the best Calcium Reactor?

Back when I had a sump room and more disposable income- meaning noise and money weren’t an issue- I owned and absolutely loved my MTC Pro Cal. They even made me a custom reactor chamber that was taller than the standard. Loved that machine. Pump is a bit noisy..
I use a Deltec PF 601s now and love it as well. Very quiet But it has no second chamber for degassing co2.. I went out and bought a second chamber and just run the effluent through it.. does the job.
Those are my choices.. there are many more quality manufacturers out there, that’s for sure.

[Bpb]

Whatever reactor uses a good condition brushless masterflex pump and dual stage co2 regulator with quality needle valve. Those are the important and expensive components that can make or break your reactor performance


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[urb77]

Thanks friends.

[jda]

I just want ehiem pump and reverse flow in a reactor. I can feed mine with a perilistic pump, majijet or a T of of the return with the same performance. I do have good needle valves and/or carbon doser boxes.

There are not tricks to what they are doing, just need them to be reliable. Reverse flow can be a big deal, though, so that the media does not get all compacted as it melts and gets smaller.

[Haksar]

For me the best reactor is Dastaco , expensive but worth every penny.

[stryker]

Geo is solid, I use a maxi jet feed pump. Carbon doser regulator is pretty easy to use and I no longer measure pH.


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[DanConnor]

If you get a lot of responses on this post, you will find the most people using and enjoying Geo reactors and carbon doser regulators, so that's probably a good option.

Personally I like MTC reactors and 2 stage custom regulators, so there's another.

[Alex Costa]

I'm using for the past 5 years an Octopus SRO 5000 dual chamber.
Water Blaster pump running well since the beggining, CO2 recirculating system, upflow, solid construction....
This is one of the best equipment that I ever had.

[Piper27]

Originally Posted by Alex Costa

I'm using for the past 5 years an Octopus SRO 5000 dual chamber.
Water Blaster pump running well since the beggining, CO2 recirculating system, upflow, solid construction....
This is one of the best equipment that I ever had.

+1!!! This thing is beautiful and has a screw on lid which is awesome and makes life so freaking easy. The bubble blaster pushes the water through the reactor very well too! Finally a company that doesn't skimp on reactor recirculation pumps!!!


But ANY reactor setup the right way will work just fine as long as it's sized accordingly. That means the reactor is leak free and sturdy, co2 check valves are medical grade or whatnot while a carbon doser regulator is being used, a masterflex pari pump, the recirc. pump is sized right and pushes the co2 bubbles through it without big bubbles leaving the pump, plus it needs to be strong enough to push trapped co2 through the average small media without any staying trapped.

When it comes to reactor models, it's all about how you want it setup, what's easiest for you, and what size needs to be used. Especially when your putting one under a tank in a cabinet. You should make sure the pump is detachable and all unions are easily accessible. The worst thing is fooling with calcium reactors and kalk stirrers that aren't easy to get to when you set it up. Also making sure a drain valve is at the bottom of the reactor makes life so much easier, at least with any of the larger sized ones.

[Stickboy97]

Geo with second stage, masterflex brushless & a dual stage reg built by Alan Le

[ReefBum]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Back when I had a sump room and more disposable income- meaning noise and money weren’t an issue- I owned and absolutely loved my MTC Pro Cal. They even made me a custom reactor chamber that was taller than the standard. Loved that machine. Pump is a bit noisy..
I use a Deltec PF 601s now and love it as well. Very quiet But it has no second chamber for degassing co2.. I went out and bought a second chamber and just run the effluent through it.. does the job.
Those are my choices.. there are many more quality manufacturers out there, that’s for sure.

I used the MTC Pro Cal for many years and it served me very well.

[DanConnor]

Originally Posted by Stickboy97

dual stage reg built by Alan Le

That's what I have- very nice.

[Optionman]

Reef octopus dual stage. Don’t skimp on the regulator. I control co2 via apex ph probe.


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[Bpb]

Originally Posted by DanConnor

That's what I have- very nice.

Same here. I’ve got a couple of his. Awesome gear


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[DubleD]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Back when I had a sump room and more disposable income- meaning noise and money weren’t an issue- I owned and absolutely loved my MTC Pro Cal. They even made me a custom reactor chamber that was taller than the standard. Loved that machine. Pump is a bit noisy..
I use a Deltec PF 601s now and love it as well. Very quiet But it has no second chamber for degassing co2.. I went out and bought a second chamber and just run the effluent through it.. does the job.
Those are my choices.. there are many more quality manufacturers out there, that’s for sure.

Hello, i have same reactor, Deltec PF601, can you please give mae some details about your setup? how you connect to the system, what kind of pump you use?
Thanks

[tom obrecht]

I know this is an older thread when it originally was started. Perhaps by now you have made a decision so take this for what it’s worth at this time. I recently purchased a full blown calcium reactor package. I used a reactor roughly 13-15 years ago and swore I would never purchase one again! Waay to finicky to adjust with needle valves, feeder pumps etc. Today I have a larger system with all sps. The calcium and alkalinity demands were becoming cost prohibitive. I was purchasing 4 gallon 2 part monthly and although I have the time to manually dose (I have had issues with dosing pumps as well) I finally got tired of dosing and needed to move to a reactor to keep up with demands. I did a lot of reading and had decided on a Dastaco. Problem was I couldn’t get one for months for they were back ordered. Gave me an uneasy feeling if a problem arose how long until parts would be available. I had dealt with overseas manufacturers before and it wasn’t always good. Personally I chose a Geo reactor with a second stage, a carbon doser regulator and a Masterflex pump. Expensive...yes...however I need a unit I can trust to run consistently if I’m out of town etc without worry of inconsistency of breakdown. I consulted a group of reefers and not one had a complaint of the combo. So far I have been pleased with the units and quality AND if something goes wrong everything is here in the states. Gives me more peace of mind.

[JMetaxas]

MTC Calcium Reactor is a remarkable piece of engineering.

[reeefninja]

I have used vertex and geo. Both are great

[Achilles Torben]

Dastaco is the easiest for settings. Just one button for more ore less KH. I have my second now



Greetings Torben


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[stephj03]

Schuran Jetstream if you can still find one.


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[biecacka]

I run a geo and love it. However I would like to try a Dastaco if I could afford it. They just look simple.

Corey

[dangros]

Then let me be the first to complain. Geo was amazing when I ordered my 612 reactor. He built it custom in order to ensure it's fit in my sump. But he said a 2nd stage was not going to be needed so I ordered w/o one.
Well fast forward 2 years and not only do I wish I had the 2nd stage but my reactor isnt keeping up with my 90g mixed reef. I emailed him 2x to see why but got no response. Taking matters into my own hands, I decided to clean the setup and use smaller media for increased surface area. In doing so, I found an o-ring sitting on the counter where I had cleaned it the next morning. Not sure where it belonged, I put it aside for later and went to work. Of course it was thrown out by someone by the time I got back home. SO I emailed him for help (twice) but got no response. I decided to guess which one it was so went on the site and order one. It's been about 2 weeks and no o-ring. I emailed for the status and still no response. Personally, I wish I went with another manufacturer. I want to switch out the media again but I want to have that o-ring in hand in hand so I dont have to break the whole thing down again once I receive it. So now I'm stuck waiting for a $3 part while my $500 investment doesn't meet it's expectations or appear to be functioning at 100% and am having to dose Kalkwasser daily.

Originally Posted by tom obrecht

I know this is an older thread when it originally was started. Perhaps by now you have made a decision so take this for what it’s worth at this time. I recently purchased a full blown calcium reactor package. I used a reactor roughly 13-15 years ago and swore I would never purchase one again! Waay to finicky to adjust with needle valves, feeder pumps etc. Today I have a larger system with all sps. The calcium and alkalinity demands were becoming cost prohibitive. I was purchasing 4 gallon 2 part monthly and although I have the time to manually dose (I have had issues with dosing pumps as well) I finally got tired of dosing and needed to move to a reactor to keep up with demands. I did a lot of reading and had decided on a Dastaco. Problem was I couldn’t get one for months for they were back ordered. Gave me an uneasy feeling if a problem arose how long until parts would be available. I had dealt with overseas manufacturers before and it wasn’t always good. Personally I chose a Geo reactor with a second stage, a carbon doser regulator and a Masterflex pump. Expensive...yes...however I need a unit I can trust to run consistently if I’m out of town etc without worry of inconsistency of breakdown. I consulted a group of reefers and not one had a complaint of the combo. So far I have been pleased with the units and quality AND if something goes wrong everything is here in the states. Gives me more peace of mind.

[biecacka]

That really stinks
Check your pm dangros.

Corey

[speedstar]

Originally Posted by Haksar

For me the best reactor is Dastaco , expensive but worth every penny.

This, set ALK and forget it, no bubble counts no trouble, just yearly maintenance.