Theoretical Calcium Reactor

[davelin315]

This is copied from another thread that concerns building reactors but I thought I'd copy it from there and post it here so as to not totally hi-jack the other thread. Anyway, I was wondering about calcium reactors and trying to figure out an easier way to do them.

 

Here's my thought. If a vinegar drip was set up over a long chamber of aragonite, wouldn't that accomplish the same thing as a calcium reactor? Vinegar is mildly acidic and will break down aragonite (hence the vinegar test), and as it passes through a larger volume of aragonite, it theoretically should become completely neutralized. I know that many people, myself included, sometimes mix kalkwasser with vinegar in order to create more calcium carbonate in solution before mixing it with fresh water, so in theory, this would be the same thing. The vinegar would dissolve the aragonite and trace elements as it passed through, while at the same time neutralizing the acidity of the vinegar (or at least bringing it fairly close to neutral, and since calcium reactors tend to have effluent that is at around 6-7 pH, it shouldn't make a big differnece). By the time the vinegar makes it all the way through, it should be a calcium carbonate/trace element rich solution of neutral liquid, adding all of the desireable things to the water.

 

I have thought of this for a long time and wondered if it was feasible. It is also something that is very inexpensive (for instance, you could do it with a 2 liter bottle by dripping vinegar into one end and drilling a small hole at the other end to drip into the tank) as bulk vinegar doesn't cost so much and aragonite is aragonite.

 

Anyone have any thoughts? I am going to definitely try this out at school to see if it works, but if anyone has had a similar idea or tried it out, let me know what results you had. If it does work, what an incredibly cheap version of a calcium reactor. The cost would be bottles of vinegar, aragonite, and something plastic that doesn't have to be pressure rated at all. No pumps involved, no anything, simply a vinegar source dripped over a chamber of aragonite.

[rioreef]

Try asking this question to Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley on ReefCentral.com in the Chemical Forum, seems to be the resident authority to the reef hobbiest. If anybody can give a credible answer, it is Randy.

[ErikS]

Hmmmm....a few thoughts -

 

- flow rate? would the flow have to be so low that it would end up with an anaerobic chamber?

 

- Ph of acetic acid? most media turns to much @ below 6.5, would vinegar mush the media? (at least in the 1st part of the unit)

 

- Impact of addition? acetic acid contains PO4, adding even more to the tank? algae blooms? (media has some, but this would be more)

 

and last but not least.......

 

- seems simple? Why hasn't it been done before? (of course I said the same thing the instant I saw the Vortex pump @ MACNA.........DUH!! that's so simple )

 

I also concur - good question for Dr. Randy

[davelin315]

I'll post there.

[Jarosh]

The fist side effect I can see is the bacterial sludge that blooms from the over use of vinager. When i used to drip Kalk, I too used some vinager to make it more soluable. But after a while I was just pouring in more and more vinager, until one day I noticed that the top of my tank had a thick snot like film on the top. this ended up clogging my overflow and filter media. Needless to say tha pushed me to set-up my kalk reactor so I no longer needed to use vinager.

[Larry Grenier]

davelin315,

 

After you ask Farley, post a link to the thred over here. Interesting

[davelin315]

He replied and I asked another question.

 

Randy's Response

 

Feel free to add questions to this one that you have, or commentary.