Help get steady kalk drip rate please...

[Horace]

I am currently dripping kalk out of a large tub via gravity. I cannot seem to get my drip to be steady at all. I seem to have to adjust the ball valve every damn day and its getting pretty annoying. I basically use RO hose and a ball valve to control it. The tub has a float valve that maintains the proper water level so that doesnt effect drip rate. will it help puting the line under water rather than being exposed to air where it tends to build up calcium at the tip? Im just tired of messing with the thing and was curious how you guys control your drip.

 

[Untamed12]

I have two suggestions for you to consider:

1) If the drip is too fast...you overdose. If the drip is too slow, you underdose. Suggestion #1 is to limit the AMOUNT that is available to drip over a time period, so the drip rate doesn't matter. Say you want to add 4 litres of Kalk each day....set your float switch to 4 litres, and put the float switch on a 24 hour timer. For most of the 24 hours, the float switch will be ignored, but every 24 hours, the float will be active triggering a refill of exactly 4 litres...which will then drip slowly into the system at an uncertain rate.

2) Get a dosing pump. I purchased one of those medical pumps for about $100. Set it to the exact ml/hr that you want.

 

[steve the plumb]

dosing pump or auto top off unit is the way to go.I got fed up of doing the bucket with the valve thing aswell,drove me nuts.Invest in a doser it will help keep your levels at a norm.I would get a doser that can dose at least 3 trace elements that way if you want to dose the alk and calcium you can do so.It depends on what your tank requires.In the end its cheaper than a calcium reactor.

 

[sjm817]

I use auto topoff with a Reefantic dual float switch and an Aqualifter pump. No drip rate. What evaporates is replaced.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

If you want a cheap, simple non-clogging Kalk drip check this out I made works great!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=759852

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I pick to use a slow pump to deliver limewater because of the complications involved in gravity delivery.

 

[Horace]

I do agree using a pump is a heck of a lot safer, I may just say the heck with it though and just hook my drip into my float valve in my sump. Right now, my float valve for top-off is independent of my kalk drip. I have it this way so I can add less kalk than the water I evap. However, I just cant seem to get a steady drip with a ball valve so I think I will just hook it to my sump float and call it a day. I will still use a ball valve though so it delivers the kalk slower than if the valve opened and just dumped in 2-3 cups of water in a couple mins.

BTW box the reason I dont like your plan is, if for some reason your container is not 100% air tight, it will dump the entire contents of that bucket into the sump. I wouldnt trust a homemade system made out of buckets and using silicone to seal it to save my reef from disaster.

 

[daytonians]

Personally I have always used a cheap plastic air hose valve, and have no trouble getting exactly the drip rate I want. It's much easier to adjust than a ball valve.

If you have the money, a dosing pump is great, but overkill in my humble opinion.

OK, flame away. lol

 

[sjm817]

Aqualifter pump is $10. Floatswitch....varies quite a bit.

 

[Untamed12]

I used to use Kalk to replace the evaporated water. If I replaced all my evaporation with saturated Kalk, I would be adding much too much Kalk to the system (Coated pumps, clumping sand...etc.). In that situation, the only way to reduce the Kalk input was to reduce the concentration of the Kalk solution.

Also, I found that my evaporation rate varied widely from day to day which also translated into fluctuating Ca/Alk levels due to fluctuating Kalk input.

So I separated evaporation from Kalk. Evaporation is replaced by float switch system, while Kalk is added in measured amount (in my case, by dosing pump).

This system will work until my Kalk needs grow to the point where the Kalk replaces nearly all of the evaporation. If one is close to that point, I think you have to consider a Ca reactor. (well...you could super-saturate the Kalk, but that won't take you too much further)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I used to use Kalk to replace the evaporated water. If I replaced all my evaporation with saturated Kalk, I would be adding much too much Kalk to the system (Coated pumps, clumping sand...etc.). In that situation, the only way to reduce the Kalk input was to reduce the concentration of the Kalk solution.

Same for me. I use about half saturated limewater. Even less in winter when evaporation is highest.

 

[jefathome]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6655783#post6655783 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
I used to use Kalk to replace the evaporated water. If I replaced all my evaporation with saturated Kalk, I would be adding much too much Kalk to the system (Coated pumps, clumping sand...etc.). In that situation, the only way to reduce the Kalk input was to reduce the concentration of the Kalk solution.

Same for me. I use about half saturated limewater. Even less in winter when evaporation is highest.

Oh man.... It is so funny how evaporation rates and seasons vary from region to region. Here in S. Cal, evaporation in the summer is WAY higher than in the winter. Then again, it was almost 90 the past few days. :smokin:

As for the topic at hand, I agree that the airline hose valves are a lot easier to adjust.

 

[BtheReef]

This is what I've used with pretty good success.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/8330/cid/2369

Make several drippers that you can remove/replace without any hassle. This way you can switch them out if they get kalk buildup.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Then again, it was almost 90 the past few days.

Ahhh, what a shame. We're expecting a foot of snow tomorrow night. I guess that's why we get the cheap MAG flake and Dowflake.

 

[DrBDC]

I bought a Cole Parmer peristaltic pump. They're used in medical situations and I "hope" will last a long time. I bought mine from another local reefer and it looked ancient when I got it. 1 1/2 years later it's still turning! I've seen them on eBay for 50-150 depending on the auction. They have an adjustable speed so it's easy to set a slow drip. I happen to "eye-ball" the evap/replacement but since I have an AC3 I'll add a float switch and still keep it a slow drip but with a secondary by having a float.

I tried the little pump/float switch but that didn't really work with a stock tank sump due to high surface area since a little change in height made a large volume kalk pumped thus extreme pH swings. I tried a homemade dripper and it required constant messing with the drip line etc. Same thing with the Kent Aquadoser(or whatever it was called). And that's when I went with the peristaltic pump.