diy kalk reactor

[Briney Dave]

Who has had one of the stiring style reactors?

I think I would almost have to get a controller or at the very least the timers
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My tank is in my classroom and so I am not there over the weekends. Although I stop by at least once over the weekend there is often one full day I am not there. Very bad weather and it goes to two days. Never gone longer than that but I have gone two days more than once

I need a system that I can trust to not likely fail

How often are you (all) using your pump mixers a day.

How many of you run 24/7 verses only at night

 

[Esquare]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14505787#post14505787 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Eggs
If you use a timer, do you assume that your water system will not change over time? If something happens, how do you know the timer will not add too much.
I use the ATO method, but I'm always interested to see if something else is better. It seems to me that if your using a timer for dosing, you assume that the water parameters will not change from day to day, and you may not be aware of a problem until the next time you test the parameters. If the ATO malfunctions, you can tell as soon as you look at the resevoir.

The kalk is added with the ato water. The timer/controller is to turn the mixing mechanism on/off and the ato on/off.

I just realized that you might not be talking about the ato method.


Briney, my kalk runs through the ato 24/7. I have heard of folks that use a solenoid to switch the ato water between the reactor and straight to the sump depending on the ph of the tank.

My power head comes on for 5 minutes every 4 hours. The ato turns off when the mixer comes on and stays off for 45 minutes.

What type of stirrer are you looking at? To my knowledge there are 2 types, one with the motor on top with a stirring bar connected that goes to the bottom of the reactor. The other one uses a magnet stirrer from underneath. I’ve heard that the magnet type may wear out the bottom plate of the reactor over time.

 

[Eggs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14505884#post14505884 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MMOORE0324
I only dose kalk at night. I have a one gallon resevoir. The inlet of my aqualifter pump is hooked up to the resevoir, and the outlet goes into the reactor. A John Guest ball valve is on the effluent tube of the reactor. At 10pm the aqualifter pump turns on, and drips kalk at a rate of 1 dop/sec. It shuts off at 7am and there is only a tiny bit of water left in the resevoir. By adding one gallon of top off water/day... it keeps things steady. I don't need to dump two-three gallons of water in my sump at a time this way. All my water params. keep stable. I test PH, CA, and KH weekly. But even if all params aren't 100% exactly the same everyday.. that's ok. Being stable doesn't mean they never change. Small changes are usually ok, not just the large swings. All my corals are happy and healthy so that's all that matters to me.

Ok, I can picture the set-up now. Does the John Guest ball valve control kalk drip rate of 1 drop/sec.?
My original thought/concern was that by setting the aqualifter to run a set time every night, there would be a good chance of too much being added by the time the next water tests are done. After I thought about it, it's not much diffenent than running a Ca reactor and not having a pH controller to automically make the CO2 adjustments.
So basically, you just need to determine the ideal kalk drip rate for the amount of time your aqualifter will run?

 

[MMOORE0324]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14509431#post14509431 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Eggs
Ok, I can picture the set-up now. Does the John Guest ball valve control kalk drip rate of 1 drop/sec.?
My original thought/concern was that by setting the aqualifter to run a set time every night, there would be a good chance of too much being added by the time the next water tests are done. After I thought about it, it's not much diffenent than running a Ca reactor and not having a pH controller to automically make the CO2 adjustments.
So basically, you just need to determine the ideal kalk drip rate for the amount of time your aqualifter will run?

Correct. The micro ball valve controls the drip rate. Kalk reactors don't need to be as precise as CA reactors because there is no danger of Co2 entering the tank. I could easily dose three gallons of kalk water a day but just doing 1 gallon at night is working for me.

 

[Briney Dave]

It is fair to say that the stiring systems are prone to wearing out either the mechanical stiring rod or wearing the bottom out
Does anyone want to comment on how often/soon to expect this

verses the pump style that have to rely of flow being shut off 3-5 times per day. How much damage is done to those maxi jets or what every power head you use being turned on and off several times a day
How do those pumps hold up for this application

 

[MMOORE0324]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14511466#post14511466 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Briney Dave
It is fair to say that the stiring systems are prone to wearing out either the mechanical stiring rod or wearing the bottom out
Does anyone want to comment on how often/soon to expect this

verses the pump style that have to rely of flow being shut off 3-5 times per day. How much damage is done to those maxi jets or what every power head you use being turned on and off several times a day
How do those pumps hold up for this application

I can't provide any useful info on stir style reactors as I have never had one, but I have heard from alot of people that they break alot and are just a pain.

As far as pumps go... Maxi Jets are the way to go. They will last for years. I believe they were one of the first powerheads (excluding Tunze) that were recommended for wave makers as they can tolerate the constant on/off. I haven't had any issues at all with my pump on my reactor since I have had it going. I use the Maxi 900.

 

[Briney Dave]

Thank you Matt (and everyone else who added a post here) for your time and knowledge. I am in your debt.

Now, do you think its better to buy or build? I am not a master builder but fairly handy. I have a chop saw, table saw, router, and drill press. Plus a wife who is an artist who can see how things go together like no other. Her mechanical IQ is amazing to me.

But when you start looking at the cost of buying this that and the other when it comes to building this it may not be worth the time and hassel
thoughts please:

 

[MMOORE0324]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14512108#post14512108 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Briney Dave
Thank you Matt (and everyone else who added a post here) for your time and knowledge. I am in your debt.

Now, do you think its better to buy or build? I am not a master builder but fairly handy. I have a chop saw, table saw, router, and drill press. Plus a wife who is an artist who can see how things go together like no other. Her mechanical IQ is amazing to me.

But when you start looking at the cost of buying this that and the other when it comes to building this it may not be worth the time and hassel
thoughts please:

No problem! Glad to help!

These reactors are very very simple in design. I guess it comes down to how good you are at working with acrylic. I pretty much copied the GEO Kalk reactor, see link below. Very easy reactor to work. They sell for $314 at Salty Critter but you can make one for less than that if you have the time.

http://www.geosreef.com/kalk_01.html

 

[Jeff Trout]

I run mine on a ATO that turns on my aqualifter pump that pushes to my reactor from my res.
I build my reactor out of 6 in pvc with a maxi jet to stir it that on a timer
I had the pump so it was around $20 to build! I can put a whole pound in with no problem.

 

[Esquare]

Jeff's reactor is a beast and for $20.00 can't be beat. Mine cost more like $70.00 to build but I have 4 foot of clear acrylic tube left over for future projects.