Regulators & Needle Valves..

[jcarlilesiu]

I have been spending a good part of today trying to understand a sump system and how to integrate an automatic top-off.

My question however revolves around a piece of equipment I usually see in freshwater.

Why do I keep seeing pictures of peoples sumps with some sort of compressed gas and a regulator? You don't need CO2 on a reef right?

I am getting ready to sell mine in anticipation of getting rid of the freshwater, but if there is a possibility that I will need a regulator and CO2 tank, Ill hang onto it.

 

[ccCapt]

If you ever decide to go with a full blown reef with SPS corals, you would need to dose calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. One way of doing this is with a calcium reactor. Basically you inject co2 into a container holding aragonite media. The co2 drops the pH of the water and starts to dissolve the media which in turn supplements your tank with calcium and alkalinity.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Gotcha.

I really don't think I want to get rid of my CO2 tank and regulators right away then. I probably won't have a need in the near future, but whats the point of selling it at a lose just to possibly buy a new one.

Any other reason you can think of that you would need pressurized gas and a regulator in a setup?

 

[BigJim]

I've heard of people dosing ozone in reef tanks, but I don't know much about it. I don't have any experience with SW.

If you're interested in getting rid of your CO2 stuff, let me know.

 

[ccCapt]

No other reason for co2 in a saltwater tank besides a calcium reactor.

Ozone (o3) is totally different. You don't buy ozone in a tank. It's generated electrically and pumped into an ozone reactor, but that's a whole other thread.