Help understanding a Kalk reactor

[Guest vatbrew]

NEWB ALERT!

I really want to get a Kalk reactor but have some questions.

If I'm thinking right, the reactor will be fed by RO water, lime/kalk mixed in the reactor, kalk water then dripped into the tank. My setup is currently like this. My RO/DI rubbermaid is sitting in a utility closet with my water heater and furnace, the tank is about 10 feet away. How on earth do I get this setup to work?

 

Here is where the RO water is

 

Any lines will have to cross this hallway

 

And go to the tank here

Edited February 24, 2007 by vatbrew

[dhoch]

A good quality dosing pump should handle that...

 

Dave

[Guest vatbrew]

ok, can you briefly explain how that will work? How do I keep RO water in the Kalk reactor? Do I have to add it, or is it gravity fed, or what? Do I hook a float valve up to the dosing pump?

Edited February 24, 2007 by vatbrew

[dhoch]

Well a kalk reactor is nothing more than a tube that holds water, at the bottom is some type of stirring device (pump or rod), at the top are a inlet and an outlet...

 

The inlet is typically plumbed so that the water when it comes in enters the chamber near the bottom. The outlet is plumbed so it is drawing water from the top.

 

Basically water forced through the inlet forces water out the outlet.... A dosing pump is a good way to do that... the only problem is across the hallway (the length of the run is not that big a deal).

 

How to control the flow in? Well a timer or a float switch are the best ways...

 

Dave

[Caribbean Jake]

http://www.algone.com/kalkwasser.php

 

Check this web site for a basic understanding

[dandy7200]

vatbrew, a decent peristaltic pump can pull water pretty far. Stick tubing in bucket, run your tubing to the back of your tank, hook up the tube to the inlet of the pump, hook the outlet of the pump to the inlet of kalk reactor hook the outlet of your kalk reactor to your tank in a highflow area. You can put that pump on a timer to fine tune you additions. Alternate: Put the pump in the closet and push the water to the kalk reactor that sits by the tank. You basically just want to avoid puttting the kalk reactor in the closet and pushing kalkwasser the distance or you risk a likely flood when the tubing is clogged.

 

 

Jake, I am woking on the online product manual for my reactors that will be a much more complete referance than your link so you can delete that bookmark soon

 

Dan

[Guest vatbrew]

Does anyone use this method of dosing kalk?

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

I just made one with a 1 gallon gatoraid bottle. I'm letting the pickling lime settle right now. I'll dose tonight.

[Rascal]

I used to use the DIY bottle drip method and it worked fine. The only real difference is that you have to do that everyday vs a Kalk reactor where you are just changing out Kalk every so often. For me, that made a big difference.

 

Running tubing to your tank is really the same sort of problem as running wire. You can either go through the ceiling, the walls, under the floor (not an option for you), or try to hide it under the carpet. The first two involve a lot of drywalling. One option might be to use some kind of a cable or conduit raceway, but I don't know how well that would work/look.

 

A compromise would be to put a smaller resevoir under the the tank that you could manually refil with RO/DI water however often you needed to and then use that to feed the kalk reactor. Even a simple 5G bucket might work well for this purpose if had room for it.

Edited February 25, 2007 by Rascal

[stevil]

Does anyone use this method of dosing kalk?

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

I just made one with a 1 gallon gatoraid bottle. I'm letting the pickling lime settle right now. I'll dose tonight.

I do. It's a bit of a pain and hard to keep up on, but nice and cheap, and effective.

 

Isn't your set-up pretty new? Why are you dosing?

[Guest vatbrew]

It's a month old now. I just dosed last night as a test run. I've got about 5 softies in there, so I'm sure they'll enjoy it.

[stevil]

It's a month old now. I just dosed last night as a test run. I've got about 5 softies in there, so I'm sure they'll enjoy it.

But what chemical compound(s) are you trying to supplement, for what purpose? I'm not saying don't do kalk, but there are other effective ways to supplement your tank and it depends on what you need to supplement.

 

For example, 2 part might be a better solution for you, or a Calcium reactor instead of a Kalk reactor (or drip), adding baking soda or washing soda, etc. Water changes could seriously just be enough for where you are at today.

 

What are you trying to supplement - Calcium, Alkalinity, Ph, Magnesium, ???, ? Are you testing for what you are adding?

 

I didn't need to start supplementing anything until about a year in.

[Guest vatbrew]

i was supplementing calcium. without even testing for it! didn't even think about it.

[stevil]

i was supplementing calcium. without even testing for it! didn't even think about it.

Patience grasshopper! If your tank is only about a month old, I doubt its even had time to mature enough. Personally, I'd wait several months and then revisit supplementing, unless you really get into some high-demand creatures.

 

Kalk will also drive up alkalinity and pH at the same time.

 

Soft corals will probably not need a great deal of calcium, at least not more than water changes will provide.

 

I'd get a good test kit (calcium and alkalinity at least, maybe magnesium - Salifert is a great brand) and start monitoring - see what your levels are over a period of at least several weeks, and then revisit what parameters are not where you'd like them to be.

[Guest vatbrew]

thanks! I plan on getting some sps when the T5's get here this week.