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- Today at BRStv,
it's Reef FAQ Wednesday and today we answer
is this reactor worth all the cash I'm putting into it?
(upbeat music)
Hey I'm Ryan with BRStv.
Every week we do our best to help you guys enjoy your tanks
and find new ways to explore the hobby with quick
straight-to-the-point answers to your questions.
Almost every reefer I know has contemplated
a calcium reactor at one point
and it seems to be the same three questions.
Is it hard?
Which we answered in last week's video.
And then, is it expensive?
And is it worth it?
Today we answer those last two with cost as well as end
the internal debate of is a calcium reactor worth it
with some pretty direct answers.
Some people might not like the answer we developed
but the end of this video,
I'm certain you'll have what you need to know
to make your own decision.
We can add up the cost pretty easy
and something that we will do in just a moment
but worth it is something else entirely
because different reefers value different things.
Most the advice we all get is hobbyists is inherently biased
to someone else's desires.
The answer is not found in a right or wrong approach
but one tailored to your specific needs and desires.
Directly put, what's right or wrong for you.
Everyone has a different demand tank, budget,
knowledge set, available space,
an idea of what makes this a hobby.
So I'm just going to list out some of those advantages
so you can make your own value determinations
based on your own personal desires.
First advantage is calcium reactors can be cheaper
than common retail 2-Parts on fairly large
or super high demand tanks.
That said, they're probably not be cheaper on 90%
of the tanks out there.
If cheaper is the only goal and you don't have a rather
large tank in the hundreds of gallons or really high demand,
I think I'd just stop here and move on
because it will not be cheaper for most reefers.
Next advantage is calcium reactors don't have the issue
of contributing to elevated salinity like salt based
2-Parts do on super high demand tanks
or tanks with minimal water changes.
Salinity from 2-Parts can be an issue and calcium reactors
are often one of the best solutions.
Calcium reactors also do add some other desirable elements
than just calcium and alkalinity,
most notably strontium.
Something that we've seen in the ICP testing
that we've done on the influent.
The reactor also likely adds some of these elements
at close to the ratio that the coral up takes it
because the media is often just old coral skeleton.
Relay to that, there's a cool factor of reciprocal
green element to the fact that you're melting old, dead
coral skeleton to provide the required nutrient of elements
to the new corals.
A jug of calcium chloride and soda ash essentially achieves
a similar result but just isn't as cool as using old coral
to regenerate new coral.
And lastly, this is a hobby and part of a lot of hobbies
is the gear junkie component.
Part of tricking out a car, woodworking,
or home brewing isn't just the act of a faster car,
building the perfect bench, or perfecting your favorite beer
but the process of learning about, acquiring,
and applying technology to achieve
different types of results.
Those last two things of cool factor and making a hobby fun
are obviously the most hotly debated elements
of this discussion.
That's because those two things are either of zero value
to you or they make up what a hobby is for people
and there's no wrong answer to that.
There might be some other personal reasons that you value
or devalue a calcium reactor so add those into the equation.
But in any case, you might already have what you need
to know to make a decision.
Economics might not be the sole primary driver.
That said, economics are always at least part
of the equation so what does it cost?
Let's look at one of the cheaper approaches.
You're probably looking at at least 300 to 350
for a small reactor.
60 to 90 for CO2 regulator.
50 for a feed pump.
35 in media.
50 for a CO2 canister rental and gas,
So you're gonna be into this for at least 500 bucks
and the lower cost gear approach
assumes that you're willing to do some manual adjusting
of bubble and flow rates
and deal with the related learning curve.
This is that point where the general long-term cost
a 2-Part dosing versus calcium reactor debate begins.
Meaning, what does the long-term cost of CO2
and calcium reactor media cost versus 2-Part additives?
It really depends on the 2-Parts that you're using.
Recently, Randy did a video which calculates the cost
of 2-Part on a hundred gallon tank and a fairly high
one dKH alkalinity consumption which range
from about 30 bucks a month to just $3.65
with the BRS 2-Part pharma.
I'll just say it, if savings is a priority here
I just assume that you're gonna be using the BRS Pharma.
A tank like this just matching the original $500
calcium reactor set up versus a 2-Part pharma
set up at $3.65 a month, and a pair of $80 Dosers,
it's going to take around eight years
and not a realistic return.
Even at double the tank size and double the consumption,
the payoff is probably three plus years out
once you factor in the consumables of CO2 refills,
calcium reactor media, replacing pumps and components
of either automated 2-Part or the reactor.
Now that math is obviously very different
if you're using $30 a month 2-Part.
In that case, the return could be as little as 18 months
on that hundred gallon one dKH a day tank.
If it was twice as big and double the consumption
it could be as little as six months.
A return on investment of six to 18 months
sounds solid but in reality
I don't think anyone looking for the cheapest solution
was using 60 to $120 a month on high end 2-Part additives.
So that's more when you're in the hunt for what you believe
to be the absolute best available option.
So in that spirit, I think we also need to look at this
not just from a budget calcium reactor angle
but actually from one of the best
or easiest to run solutions.
Meaning a solution which automates the reactor setup
and tuning make it easy enough that anyone can do it
and has almost no meaningful learning curve.
In that case the reactor is probably a bit larger,
advanced with higher grade pumps and around 500 bucks
rather than counting CO2 bubbles,
you're probably using a $350 carbon Doser
and it has a super easy dial to get the bubble rate right.
Most will also use a pH controller like the Milwaukee
or Apex to control the pH of the reactor
because that makes controlling the concentration
of the solution inside the reactor near brainless.
The standalone controller's about 103 bucks
or 500 for something like the Neptune Apex.
Then lastly, the $300 FX-STP Continuous Duty Dosing Pump
from Kamoer is probably the most groundbreaking change
for calcium reactor in recent years
because it's rated for 24/7 use which currently no
other aquarium dosing pump is.
Combined with the benefits of a pH controller
and stable concentration, a continuous duty dosing pump
makes a calcium reactor about as easy as dosing 2-Part,
re, calcium and alkalinity levels dropping,
turn the knob and dose a bit faster from the reactor.
Levels rising, turn the knob down.
A calcium reactor is literally that easy.
That's why I say there's near zero learning curve
to this combination.
So that price of that combination can be in excess
of 1400 bucks but you can see why all the design tweaks
and additions are so valuable and why many
calcium reactor owners are now running them this way.
So in the spirit of cost savings,
if you're willing to make that kind of investment
there's a good chance that we're using one of the more
expensive 2-Parts out there as well.
If that's the case, most reefers
with that one dKH consumption
hundred gallon tank are probably looking at a return
on investment of around four to five years based
on initial cost.
We're probably closer to six years when gear replacement
is factored in.
If you have or will have a higher consumption tank
or something significantly larger than a hundred gallons,
you might see that payoff drop to two to three years.
There are obviously a lot of moving pieces
including the type of 2-Part that you're using.
So in that spirit, that's super direct answer
to today's question
is the reactor worth all the cash
that I'm going to put into it?
For the average reefer with a normal sized tank
and affordable 2-Parts like BRS Pharma I just don't think
there's a meaningful financial return on investment
so based on that criteria alone I would just skip it.
However, it can absolutely be a solid financial investment
if you're in one of three common situations.
You have a very large or high consumption tank.
You're using high-end expensive retail 2-Parts,
or okay with fairly long return horizons.
In each of those cases there is a legit payoff.
However, if you're a gear junkie and this kind of thing
makes the hobby for you and you have the budget
to support that, then the answer's an obvious yes.
It's worth it.
We all work hard so we have a few bucks to spend
on the things that we enjoy.
So in that spirit, the part of enjoying it
means actual success.
We just released a video called calcium rector setup,
the easy way.
We actually put together a cool playlist of all the best
setup in tuning videos.
If you're ready for that leap
this is probably the best place to start.
Randy and I also have some cool reactor video ideas planned
so subscribe and hit that bell to be notified.
See you next Wednesday for the next batch
of BRStv reef FAQs.