Aquacontroller for Dosing Kalk

[Palancar]

How can the Aquacontroller be used to dose Kalk? I already have an auto top-off system in place that I want to keep separate from Kalk dosing. So I was thinking since I already have the Aquacontroller perhaps it can be used some way to dose Kalk in a controlled manner.

For example, I can have the controller activate the dosing to be done only at night to keep pH swing small. Have the controller stop dosing if pH goes above 8.4. and start dosing if under 8.2. Things like that. My problem I believe lies in the dosing amount. If I activate a small pump, it will dose too much at once. I would only want to drip dose. So perhaps my issue lies not with the Aquacontroller itself, but in what the Aquacontroller controls so that dosing can be done by drip.

Maybe the pump that is controlled could have one of those medical type drip regulators on the tubing? I have heard that these drip regulators are not stable and change drip rate over time and constantly have to be adjusted to keep in check. But usually they are used in simple gravity feed type setups and the amount of Kalk in the container has an effect on drip rate. But if this were to be pump driven, perhaps it would make the drip regulator more consistent.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[kattner]

You can program the AC in many different ways to do what you want. I have mine set up in conjunction with a litermeter by spectrapure (which is a dosing pump controller that can control up to three different dosing pumps). I have the litermeter set up to dose my estimated evaporation weekly with kalkwasser. On a separate pump it provides a daily dose of supplements like Kent Marine Essential Elements.

The AC then monitors the Litermeter by checking a float switch to make sure the Litermeter isn't dosing too much kalkwasser if evaporation is less than my estimate. My evaporation rate changes depending on the weather and humidity, so the AC makes sure I have not overestimated the evaporation by turning off the dosing meter if the float switch is triggered.

You can also have the AC check to make sure the pH isn't too high as well. If so, the AC can turn off the dosing pump even if the float switch isn't triggered.

So you could set up the AC to (i) only activate the dosing meter at nite, (ii) turn off the dosing meter if a float switch is triggered which indicates a too high water level, and (iii) turn off the dosing pump if the pH gets too high.

All this to say that the AC can do whatever you want to meet your specific situation. I use kalkwasser entirely for my evaporation water in order to supply enough calcium, alkalinity and to keep the pH in line. My dosing pump is set in very small doses all day long so I keep it on all the time. My pH doesn't fluctuate too much doing this, but only dosing at nite may keep it even more constant on the day/nite cycle. I haven't tried that yet.

I have mine set up this way, so I can check aquanotes and be able to tell if the dosing pump is activated and I can see if the float switch is triggered which tells me how my water level is doing with looking at the tank.

Best of luck to you.

 

[clp]

Thanks for excellent answer kattner; it makes my job easy.

Curt

 

[reefkeeps]

Love the float switch idea, do use an X10 hooked up to a float switch?

 

[kattner]

Nope, the float switch is plugged directly into one of the ACPro's digital inputs. The ACPro monitors whether the float switch is triggered or not and then the programming takes over to implement whatever action I've designated.

Here's another idea I have been thinking about. The float switch can be mounted either hanging downward - like you would do over your tank or sump to detect when the water level gets low. Most float switches that use the magnetic reed switches can also be mounted pointing upward like at the bottom of a reservoir to create a signal if the water in the reservoir drops below an inch or so - I'm thinking I will mount one up through the bottom of my kalkwasser reservoir so that when my evaporation/kalkwasser jug gets near empty, it will send a signal to the ACPro which will then send an alarm to me that my kalkwasser jug is nearing empty.

So the ACPro will keep track of the water level in the tank and monitor my evaporation water jug as well.

 

[reefkeeps]

Very high on the geek meter! Love it...

 

[reefkeeps]

kattner thank you for all the good information! Did you use a particular float switch, I assume you cut the wires and pinned it out yourself?

The manual also shows the possibility of using it with a flow meter, that would be a nice feature as well. You could be in the office and if a pump fails get an email about it...

 

[Member No. 1]

Nope, the float switch is plugged directly into one of the ACPro's digital inputs. The ACPro monitors whether the float switch is triggered or not and then the programming takes over to implement whatever action I've designated.

Here's another idea I have been thinking about. The float switch can be mounted either hanging downward - like you would do over your tank or sump to detect when the water level gets low. Most float switches that use the magnetic reed switches can also be mounted pointing upward like at the bottom of a reservoir to create a signal if the water in the reservoir drops below an inch or so - I'm thinking I will mount one up through the bottom of my kalkwasser reservoir so that when my evaporation/kalkwasser jug gets near empty, it will send a signal to the ACPro which will then send an alarm to me that my kalkwasser jug is nearing empty.

So the ACPro will keep track of the water level in the tank and monitor my evaporation water jug as well.

Just for giggles... most float switches are reversible, ie: Normally open/Normally Closed. If it has a "C-clip" on the bottom holding the float from falling off, then remove the clip, flip the float, reinstall the clip. Now you went from NC to NO. This way you can still mount the switch in an upright position. And with this set up, up you can use 2 float switches in your sump. One for low level, one for a "to full" level alarm.

 

[kattner]

I bought my float switch from Omega.com. They have all sorts of weird stuff. Somewhat expensive maybe. They even have utrasonic float switches! But Member 1 is correct, the magnetic reed type float switch is reversible. so it can also be used as a high and low indicator. I'm just thinking about using it a s a "real low" indicator in my kalk reservoir. Here's the link:
http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=LVK130_140_150_190&Nav=grek13

The LVK150 even has a splash guard around it so that locating it in turbulent water won't give false triggers. It is also nice since it will prevent a curious snail from hanging on it. I'm using the LVK-130 on a small tank since it is a very small float switch and fits better. I think some others have found float switches at Grainger too.

The float switch has two wires coming out of it. If the switch is triggered the switch closes and "shorts" the two wires so the ACIII can tell if the switch is closed and triggered. You wire the switch into the ACIII by connecting the wires to a mini din 8 plug. The back of the user manual has a pin out diagram to follow.

And yes you could use another one of the ACIII inputs to monitor a flow meter, or water on the floor sensor etc.