This review is based on my experience with Calcium Reactor RX-C 6D by VERTEX. The purpose of this review is to get you acquainted with it and give some valuable insights on the features of this calcium reactor. As I am constantly searching for new solutions and equipment, I feel motivated to share all the advantages of my recent purchase. We all are familiar with the importance of water quality and its impact on the corals, and even though there are several ways how to keep perfect water parameters in a reef tank, I believe that calcium reactor is one of the most up to date and stable solution. In my review I will share my thoughts on water chemistry problem and how exactly calcium reactors are dealing with it. Naturally, I have made a short overview on my own RX-C 6D with some valuable tips included. In case you are just starting your path to become a reefaholic, do not get overwhelmed with all the technical stuff that will be mentioned. I try to put it as simple as I can, but even if something remains unclear, you are most welcome to contact our Reef Hacks team for additional help.
Now let’s get started!
Author:
As a lifelong aquarist, Yuliya has an endless curiosity about our underwater universe. After graduating with a bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering, she transformed her passion into a successful career. While working at the Institute of Environmental Protection in Moscow, her passion for saltwater and reef aquariums only increased. Moving to the United States in 2013, Yuliya embarked on another impactful journey by sharing her unprecedented experience for all aquarium hobbyists ... Read More.
Meet my new Calcium Reactor RX-C 6D from VERTEX.
Water chemistry is a really big topic. It is highly important to maintain well-balanced water condition to support corals and other reef-building inhabitants in your marine aquarium. By water condition I mean everything that puts an impact on quality of water, such as temperature, lighting and nutrition. As people need micro and macro-nutrients to keep organism stay alive and healthy, the same way marine reef life depends on the condition of water. Through all my years of experience in the field of environmental protection, I am used of drawing parallels between us – humans and other creatures of nature, like marine ones. If you have ever heard of acidification of the ocean, you might know that many of the reefs around the world are suffering from it. Oceans become more acid nowadays, and that is the direct reason of reefs bleaching and growth retardation. The reef is a living ecosystem that consists of colonies of different corals, they produce calcium carbonate by obtaining carbon and calcium from water. It's a reef-building material, which forms skeleton of the reef. But in your reef tank the level of calcium and carbonate has to be maintained by the additional supplement to support corals thriving and reef growing. Bear with me, because I’m going to show you how it's done.
Perfect water parameters in a reef tank.
There are a lot of different ways to achieve good chemical balance for your corals and one of the possible solutions is to use a calcium reactor. Let me dig deeper into the topic and explain briefly on how calcium reactors work and what their advantages are. Calcium reactor helps to maintain calcium and alkalinity level by recirculating water, slowly dissolving calcium carbonate and releasing it back into the water of aquarium, making it bioavailable for inhabitants.
These two parameters, calcium and alkalinity level, are the major water chemistry parameters for stony corals and other tank inhabitants such as clams.The more SPS corals in a reef tank are, the higher their demand for calcium and alkalinity is. A good example would be stony corals such as Acropora that are in need of more calcium comparing to LPS. There are several reasons why I like reactors so much. First of all, no matter how large your reef set up is, it will be well supplied with calcium and alkalinity. Secondly, if something goes wrong, the risk of overdosing is much lower. Thirdly, they are quite easy to set up, at least from my experience. The only disadvantage that I can see is that they are a little too pricey, but at the same time they have a very low maintenance cost, which is again a huge plus. The only items that you might need to refill/replace in the future are carbon dioxide (CO2) and your calcium reactor media.
My personal choice is RX-C 6D Calcium Reactor by VERTEX.
I was planning to share my experience with calcium reactors for quite some time, but now is the best occasion as I have eventually done my major upgrade of Red Sea REEFER 250. I was very excited to try my new calcium reactor instead of my KORE 5th dosing system. I had an idea to get this new device for a long time and now I can say that it has totally met my expectations. It doesn’t mean that ATI Essentials worked worse for me, but being a curious scientist and true reefer, I constantly search for new solutions and equipment, which could help me maintain water balance more effectively and with less efforts. This time I felt that a new upgrade was necessary for my aquarium. I really liked this model of calcium reactor by VERTEX. As you already know, I have used equipment by Vertex before. I have to say, that there was never a reason to complain.
I trust this company, as it has proven quality standards and is respected by reefers all over the world. That’s why, when the time came to choose the manufacturer of my future Calcium reactor, I was almost sure, that it would be Vertex. Even if you are not a newbie in this area, I’m sure you’ve already heard about the Vertex Aquaristik company. This Canadian company has collected valuable experience in manufacturing and designing next-level equipment for all the reefers. Their location is currently in Huntington Beach, California, Shenzhen, China and Germany. If you visit their website, you will clearly see that Vertex offers a wide range of quality equipment. As they are the leaders in reef tank equipment, I did not even consider any other calcium reactors before my final decision. But let’s get to the point.
Why does RX-C 6D make me so excited?
This calcium reactor came with many features that I will describe in my next article, where I’m going to dive into nitty-gritty of launching and using of this reactor. For now I am excited to share my first thoughts on my new reactor and give you a better understanding of how it looks and why I’m so inspired to use it. Trust me, it is never easy to go for an upgrade when there are so many existing solutions, including the one that I had before.
The first time I saw the new RX-C 6D Calcium Reactor, I was surprised how many details it has but you can also feel the quality of this reactor. The construction is very robust and it is obvious that this equipment is built to last. The reactor is assembled with high-grade cast acrylic, titanium screws and heavy-duty PVC parts, and it’s designed to operate with medium to large size of aquariums. In my case, I could already understand how to set up my new reactor, as I have done a thorough online research before purchase. However, I would say that the instructions that were in the package are very detailed and easy to follow. It took me around 30 minutes from opening the package until I could connect my new reacto to the system. Another important feature, which I have to mention, is the color of the reactor. For some of you it might seem like an unimportant thing, but I am really confused by vivid colors chosen for technology. The color of the reactor is white, thus it allows different placement options: can be placed in a wide range of cabinets and spaces without looking inappropriate. It definitely fits well to my white stand. When I tested it for the first time, I was also surprised by the fact that the Vertex reactor is quite, which is not always the case with such reactors. Overall, the device seems very appealing to me and at the moment I cannot even think of any potential critics. The fact that Vertex products are always tested for safety, efficiency and reliability also calms my mind. So let’s take a closer look.
What are the main technical features?
Coming closer to the technical features of RX-C 6D Calcium Reactor, let me first clarify how calcium reactors produce and maintain calcium and alkalinity level? Carbon dioxide has to be injected into chamber of calcium media and seawater or just salt water. This process lowers PH level of water that leads to dissolving of the calcium media and enriching water with calcium and carbonic acid. Actually there are a lot of details, which make an impact on the efficiency of calcium reactor. For instance, the high level of water flow will cause underproduction of carbon dioxide. This particular model of calcium reactor is equipped with bubble counter and gas venting lid that controls the speed of injection of CO2 and prevent overpressure of this gas.
Different tank owners have different preferences in media solutions. I bought Carib Sea ARM™ COARSE media, though if EXTRA COARSE was in stock, I would prefer to buy that one. Carib Sea ARM™ COARSE is mostly used for rapid up flow type reactors. I’m afraid that COARSE media will clog faster, but I will find it out only after I use my new calcium reactor for some time. Now it works perfectly and the flow through this coarse media does not give any concerns.
It is hard for me to predict how familiar you are with calcium reactors, so I would also like to have couple of words on the pumps that calcium reactor is equipped with. So there are two kinds of pumps, which are used in calcium reactor: feed pump and recirculating pump (Sicce Syncra for RX-C 6D) . Feed pump brings the water in the reactor and controls the volume of it. Normally there is a need to buy an additional pump for calcium reactor. However, as I have an ARID reactor installed (which I absolutely adore, by the way, and if you still have not got it, perhaps my review can persuade you - Read it Here). As a matter of fact, my smaller Reefer 170 has ARID N18, but for Reefer 250 I chose PAX ARID n24. This means that I was lucky to have a very strong adapter from n24 model, which I could use for feeding my calcium reactor and did not need to buy an additional feed pump.
Concerning the ARID reactor itself, I am very glad that PAX ARID n24 Reactor has an option of returning the water from the reactor to ARID back. That way, my chaeto will be in good condition as it will be consuming the excess of CO2. I am still testing it now, but as my new reactor is with dual chamber, the second chamber is made deliberately for consuming the excess amount of CO2, that is why you may be sure that the water return can be done directly to the sump and not to ARID. There are definitely more features to be described in my next review as I am just at the start of my consumer experience with this model.
To crown it all...
I should admit that there is no other person, who would be as picky as I am when choosing suitable equipment for my aquarium. I pay attention to each and every single detail and I always do a thorough research before purchase. No doubt that it is also the reason for my really high expectations. After testing RX-C 6D Calcium Reactor for some time now, I still have a very strong excitement about my choice. Everything from the features of this calcium reactor to its design has definitely met my expectations.
As you already know me, I am curious to know your thoughts on RX-C 6D Calcium Reactor as well. I would appreciate your feedback and gladly answer all your questions. Feel free to visit the Reef Hacks Facebook page and leave a comment or send a message. I will do my best to send you a swift and detailed reply.
Happy Reefing!
by Yuliya Ivanova for ReefHacks.
