how does a kalk stirrer work with ATO

[Deranged-Jester]

howdy all,
i was wondering how a kalk stirrer works with an ato system.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=14716&N=2004+113458

does the top off water come from the stirrer? if so wouldnt you be refilling the kalk stirrer very regularly?

 

[schneijt]

The water goes from your ATO system into the reactor. As water is pumped into the reactor from the ATO, it forces water already in the reactor (saturated with kalk) to go from the output of the reactor and into your sump, thus dosing kalk into your tank at the same time as keeping your water level constant. You wouldn't be refilling the kalk stirrer all that much, it would be more of a slow dose into the tank. It is best to dose kalk as a constant drip than via a system that uses a float switch and then dumps a bunch of water into the tank in a short period. So, if you want to use ATO running through a kalk reactor, a peristaltic pump dialed in to match tank evaporation is your best option. You could use something like the Niveaumat for ATO with a kalk reactor, but you'd be dosing larger amounts of kalk less frequently, and slow and steady wins the race when it comes to kalk.

-Joe

 

[Deranged-Jester]

if you were to set up an ato with kalk exactly how would you recommend doin it? im new to this as i always just added water back myself and does ca.

 

[Paulairduck]

works great

works great

Originally I used the top off to the kalk reactor, now that it is getting hotter, more evaporation, so I have changed, I run a litremeter to the kalk reactor, and the top off is for back up, if the litremeter does not keep up with the evaporation rate.

 

[Deranged-Jester]

repost sorry

 

[schneijt]

Well, whether you have a pump with adjustable flow dialed in to match evaporation or a pump rigged up to a float switch/pressure sensor, you simply run the output from the pump into the "in" line on the kalk reactor. Then the "out" line from the reactor goes into a high-flow area of your sump. It's that simple.

My kalk reactor has a pump on it to mix the kalk/water into solution. Most are like that, but I don't think the one you linked to is. If you can choose when it stirs, then you can better control how much kalk is dosed into the tank. If you need little kalk, having the kalk reactor stir the kalk at the bottom only once a day for a few minutes will probably do it. If you need more kalk, you simply adjust how many times each day the kalk reactor stirs. You could also set it to stir right before the lights go off, so kalk-laden water would help keep the pH up at night. There are lots of things you can tinker with once you have the reactor up and running.

If you're using the kalk reactor/stirrer you linked to from DFS, then I'm not sure you'll have as much control over how much kalk gets dosed when water runs through it. But, kalk reactors are very simple and can usually be adjusted to perform as much or as little as the hobbiest needs them to.

-Joe

 

[schneijt]

So, basically, there's no right way to do it. The way I would do it probably isn't the best way for you to do it. So, without knowing pretty much every aspect of your tank there's no way any of us could accurately tell you what will work the best for you. You should do what you're comfortable with, and then make small adjustments/changes from there.

-Joe

 

[hahnmeister]

I run a ATO/kalk setup. FWIW, even with replacing all of my ATO water with Kalk, I still cant keep up with the calcium demands of the tank.

The problem is that there are some tricky parts with gravity when you start linking ATOs to kalk reactors. You can end up with a siphon and all your ATO water gets sucked into the sump and on the floor. OR, the ATO shuts off and the kalk backs up into the ATI res. You can buy a dosing pump, but here was my way around it...

The ATO pump runs water to a small container at just the same waterlevel as the tank's. Then, this container has a bukhead in the bottom which feeds the kalk reactor, and in turn, spills back into the tank. This way, when the water gets too low, the ATO pump fills the container (there is an overflow as well that leads to the tank should it need more drastic top-off). Then gravity does the rest of the work to equalize the water levels inside the container and the tank. This way, a single top-off can provide a slow drip of kalk water over the course of an hour or so... depends on how you adjust the outlet valve.

The open contaier prevents the kalk from siphoning more into the tank, and from backing up back into the RO water.