skippy Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'll approach it from a dollars and sense point of view Now we are talking Cost is always an issue but I have a bit of a habit of trying to buy quality if I can (within reason of course) rather than the cheap and nasty. Doesn't pay long term. Now everyone is saying "cheap" and "the more expensive ones" - what does that mean in real terms? Are we talking $150, $500, $1000 or $2000 Cheap is relative. $10,000 is cheap when you can spend $50,000!!! Puttputt wrote: All brands are neat intergrated units, no bigger than a small skimmer. Ok, that sounds a bit easier to deal with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 We are both in the NW zone but may draw our water from different wells. I used DI for a while ther and did notice some good results, at the time i was changing a few things so i can't say for sure if it was just the DI. It did make a difference but how much i am not sure. If i had the money i would get a good unit, one that i wouldn't have to wait a few days to fill a drum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 i quess in low levels but when you get a readings of over 80 it is pretty huge. Send some water to TM, i am sure he has a TDS meter its not working at the moment, but i think i can do it at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Now we are talking Cost is always an issue but I have a bit of a habit of trying to buy quality if I can (within reason of course) rather than the cheap and nasty. Doesn't pay long term. Now everyone is saying "cheap" and "the more expensive ones" - what does that mean in real terms? Are we talking $150, $500, $1000 or $2000 Cheap is relative. $10,000 is cheap when you can spend $50,000!!! Puttputt wrote: Ok, that sounds a bit easier to deal with Make one, its easy as i will see if i can find a photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Here it is http://www.melevsreef.com/dj88.html These are really easy to make and cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Now we are talking Cost is always an issue but I have a bit of a habit of trying to buy quality if I can (within reason of course) rather than the cheap and nasty. Doesn't pay long term. Don't worry I'm not talking about cheap in a nasty way. I don't skimp on quality if I can help it either. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Anyone want to volunteer some pricing of a calcium reactor for a mid size tank, and cost of media? I have ballpark figures, but might as well make my breakdown as specific as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Ive got a deltec PF509, didnt like it at first. Then i got a replacement pump free of charge and it is a beaut of a little reactor. Andwould definately recomend one. Why dont you get an RO/DI and just use clhorides i mean look at Crackers GROWTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I saw that Hollywoods had the caribsea ARM media, quite keen to give that a go once mine gets a bit lower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Got a nice little TDS unit from reef central, after seeing Chimeras. Measures TDS in and out of my RoDi unit. My water (tank water) goes in at 18-22ppm, comes out 0ppm. 22 in is good, its about 56-57 for me, Wellington North City supply. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I would defiantly recommend RO/DI over a Ca reactor, to totally different items but you will get more improvement in your tank from spending money on RO/DI than a Ca reactor IMHO i have a RO-MAN RO/DI, good unit, very slow as I'm sure they all are within reason, i got it from wonder world in rotorua, 4 stage, $390. bargain of the year (last year). i have the aqua medic Ca reactor, it is sitting outside my sump and i have no concern about it leaking. i have found this unit needs fine adjustments about once a week, i normally do these when i do the water change, some weeks its all good though. the reg for the Co2 was the pricey bit for me ($149 HFF), i have the tunze model, very good for super fine adjustments, i got the reactor for very cheap so i have no idea what there worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 lol good to know the right people :lol: What was it like $30 bucks or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbles Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Speaking for myself, I found automating my calcium and alkilinity supplementation to have a huge impact on my tank. Manual dosing works very well as others have shown (Fay eg.), but for me though I just wasn't getting results. Maybe I just wasn't as consistent with my manual dosing as I would have liked. At the time I considered balling method vs CA reactor. Too be honest I would have gone balling, but a well priced reactor popped up on trademe and I got it. Initial expenses for both methods were about the same from my research. All up I spend: $350 - Brand new Aqua Medic 1000 reactor (with media) $150 - S/H 6.7 kg CO2 cylinder (c/o Wasp) $150 - Tunze Co2 regulator $xxx - Bubble counter + non return valve This would be considered cheap for the setup given what it is. Been running it for about 3 months now and the impact on my tank has been staggering. If you're so inclined, a CA reactor is exteremly simple to DIY. If I ever have to add another chamber I'll DIY it. Just bought an RO unit, so can't comment on them really. There have been minor issues with my tank that correlate to using tap water (cyano, hair algae) but have just been putting up with it. Cheers, Bubs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Those are very good prices Bubbles, Run exactly the same but Jetski charged me far more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 What do reactor users consider an "average" cost for reactor media (per kg)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbles Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Those are very good prices Bubbles I was pretty lucky. Funny thing about this hobby, spending a fortune does not mean you'll have the best tank ever. Cutting curners though is a recipe for disaster. Moral of the story, spend wisely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 $5 -$6 dollars a Kg, Layton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 Speaking of TDS, is ppm the same as mg/l? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 ppm the same as mg/l? no. ppm is not accurate as it's often a guesstimate from what i've been told as it cant actually measure an exact figure, it estimates based on the percentage of water flowing past the sensor. its close enough though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 Speaking of TDS, is ppm the same as mg/l? Yes it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 Uhuh, just curious because Pies said that his water was 57ppm. So if our TDS is measured in mg/l, is it sort of equivalent to ppm? I only ask because this is the results for the bore water on the property where we are going to build our house: Boron mg/l <0.1 Calcium mg/l 96.1 Chloride mg/l 41 Copper mg/l <0.05 Iron mg/l 0.6 Magnesium mg/l 12.9 Manganese mg/l <0.1 Potassium mg/l .3 Sodium mg/l 27.0 Zinc mg/l <0.05 Nitrate mg/l (NO3-N) .4 Ammoniacal (NH4-N) <0.02 PH @ 25OC 7.1 Conductivity mS/m @ 25OC 69.7 Total Alkalinity to PH 4.5 mg/l (as CaCO3) 295 Total Hardness mg/l as CaCO3 292.9 Bicarbonate (HCO3) meq/l 5.9 Total Dissolved Solids mg/l 466 Free CO2 mg/ 13 It appears that our TDS is high? Does this mean we will have to get a super grunty RODI system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 wouldnt think so but it might have to have its media changed more often?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 So if our TDS is measured in mg/l, is it sort of equivalent to ppm? Not sort of, exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 Ok Wasp, I get the picture! They are exactly the same. Your post came up before I submitted mine as I was having trouble with the cut and paste thing out of word... grr I hate tabs! I was responding to Chimera's post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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