Calcium and Alk - Why aren't you doing this?

[MantaFan]

I'm upgrading my tank so I can begin keeping SPS, and I'm trying to decide how I want to go about supplementing my tank.

I've read through this article a few times on Chemistry And The Aquarium: How To Select A Calcium And Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme. And I noted Neon Reefer's comments in Jestep's thread.

I'm really leaning toward the Calcium Acetate method since there's zero equipment, it's very easy, and there's little risk. The cost for my tank would be about $100 a year.

What am I missing here? Why aren't more of you using this method?

I appreciate the feedback!

[MantaFan]

I don't know why I didn't see Neon Reef's post when I was searching before... you guys have already weighed in on this :-) I'm going to use the Acetate method... if I find I don't like it or something doesn't work, then you guys don't have to worry about buying any used equipment from me :-)

[victoly]

You can't independently tweak parameters. The cost per meq/l alk is 2 orders of magnitude greater than for a carx. Your startup costs are lower , but over time calcium acetate costs will far outweigh a carx. It's also going to be difficult for you to assume a cost per year when you don't know how your tank will react in terms of consumption.

[Sascha D.]

A good calcium reactor will cost anywhere from $150-250 used. All you have to do after the initial set up is test, which you would do anyway, and fill the media and Co2 as needed. I've been running a CaRx for about a year. In that time I've had to fill up my Co2 bottle twice at $10 each and I will probably need to refill my media for the first time in a few months.

I'm a hands-off kind of guy and I went with the reactor so that I could limit my time monitoring the tank. I don't want to mess around with dosing.

Here are some links:

Kalk Dripper - Easy, cheap, works

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/nftt/index.htm

Calcium Reactor Guide

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.htm