Is a Kalk Reactor Worth it?

[Johnic]

I've been dosing 2 part for 10 years with no issue but my PH is terrible and the price of 2 part went up big time.

My Ph hovers between 7.98 and 8.1 ish and I'd like to get it up to 8.2 -8.3
I'm dosing 60-70 ml of 2 part a day now and using about 1 gal a day of RO.

Should I go the way of the Kalk reactor ?

 

[kharmaguru]

I wouldn't do it to chase PH but that's just me. I think if you dose kalk for ph you normally use a weak mixture so your ALK doesn't go sky high. Can you do weak mix in a reactor? I thought the purpose was to be as saturated as possible.

PH is driven by CO2 production in the system combined with what's in the air. Increasing surface agitation, running outside air into your skimmer line, having open windows all mitigate CO2 to varying extents and you'll see the PH start to change within an hour of adding any or all of them. A Co2 scrubber is also effective but expensive to operate IMO because of constantly needing to replace media.

All in all trying to mitigate CO2 is a better approach IMO. I just have my skimmer line run outside and my PH stays pretty high. I do also dose kalk but only to maintain 9 dkh alk.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Years back Greg Schiemer told me "all your make up water should be Kalk water".
I ran that way for years using a drum with the intake up off the bottom.
When low I would add what I needed, water & kalk, mix with a piece of pipe & wait until it cleared up before dosing again.
Cold water is better for dilution of kalk.
Pumps for mixing don't last in this solution.

 

[kharmaguru]

Years back Greg Schiemer told me "all your make up water should be Kalk water".
I ran that way for years using a drum with the intake up off the bottom.
When low I would add what I needed, water & kalk, mix with a piece of pipe & wait until it cleared up before dosing again.
Cold water is better for dilution of kalk.

I used to do that for years too and every heater and pump became an encrusted glob of calcium. I use a doser for kalk now and target a specific alkalinity and no more precipitation issues.

 

[JohnL]

Where do calcium reactors fit in these days? I used to run one with good results.

 

[kharmaguru]

Where do calcium reactors fit in these days? I used to run one with good results.

Big systems with high calcium demands that can't be met with kalk and become too tedious and expensive to meet with two-part.

 

[Johnic]

I wouldn't do it to chase PH but that's just me. I think if you dose kalk for ph you normally use a weak mixture so your ALK doesn't go sky high. Can you do weak mix in a reactor? I thought the purpose was to be as saturated as possible.

PH is driven by CO2 production in the system combined with what's in the air. Increasing surface agitation, running outside air into your skimmer line, having open windows all mitigate CO2 to varying extents and you'll see the PH start to change within an hour of adding any or all of them. A Co2 scrubber is also effective but expensive to operate IMO because of constantly needing to replace media.

All in all trying to mitigate CO2 is a better approach IMO. I just have my skimmer line run outside and my PH stays pretty high. I do also dose kalk but only to maintain 9 dkh alk.

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Gotcha. The thought behind going to Kalk is, one the price of two part from esv has gone up a lot and I spend over $200 a year on it and the offshoot benefit is that I get higher PH.

I live in SoCal and the windows and doors are open all day and I also leave my cabinet doors open and my ph still sits at 7.98 - 8

 

[kharmaguru]

Now I get it. If kalk can do what two part was for you then definitely go for it. What are you measuring PH with?

 

[Johnic]

I’m measuring it with the apex prob.
‘Ya think I can put a container in the garage about 30 foot horizontal run and pull it with a good dosing pump with a 1/4 line or will line clog ?

 

[kharmaguru]

I’m measuring it with the apex prob.
‘Ya think I can put a container in the garage about 30 foot horizontal run and pull it with a good dosing pump with a 1/4 line or will line clog ?

The line won't clog but the output part will crust up over time. I usually have to cut the end off the dosing tube ( just RO tubing) every couple months to get clean flow again. The ESV two part is pretty potent stuff and you're using 60mil a day so you might need a lot of kalk. You got a tank full of acros or something? You might want to check this calculator to see if kalk can even do it for you.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

You confirm your PH with any other test? Apex ph probes can need calibration from time to time.

 

[Johnic]

The line won't clog but the output part will crust up over time. I usually have to cut the end off the dosing tube ( just RO tubing) every couple months to get clean flow again. The ESV two part is pretty potent stuff and you're using 60mil a day so you might need a lot of kalk. You got a tank full of acros or something? You might want to check this calculator to see if kalk can even do it for you.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

You confirm your PH with any other test? Apex ph probes can need calibration from time to time.

I should chk my ph with my other ph reader I have.

Not a lot of acros, but alot of coraline and 10 year old rock that might be absorbing it.

I think I’ll put the kalk reactor in the garage and use a perstatic pump to pull the kalk water into the tank. My sump is tapped out of space.

 

[cal_stir]

I have a 300 gal system and my CaRx was getting maxed out so I did a DIY kalk reactor and started dosing clear saturated kalk, I was able to dial back my CaRx about 25% however I saw no real increase in my pH, so I switched gears and started dosing kalk slurry with a few mods to the reactor and after a few hours my pH went from 8.05 to 8.31
I use a peristaltic pump to push RODI water through my reactor at my evaporation rate (3ml/min) and the effluent goes through a 3 ft pipe with a stream of aquarium water to aid in dissolving the kalk before it enters my sump at the outlet of my skimmer which is a very high flow area so I don't think there is any chance of precipitation. I have my apex set to shut off the pump over 8.4 pH
I have dialed my CaRx back another 25%

 

[Johnic]

I have a 300 gal system and my CaRx was getting maxed out so I did a DIY kalk reactor and started dosing clear saturated kalk, I was able to dial back my CaRx about 25% however I saw no real increase in my pH, so I switched gears and started dosing kalk slurry with a few mods to the reactor and after a few hours my pH went from 8.05 to 8.31
I use a peristaltic pump to push RODI water through my reactor at my evaporation rate (3ml/min) and the effluent goes through a 3 ft pipe with a stream of aquarium water to aid in dissolving the kalk before it enters my sump at the outlet of my skimmer which is a very high flow area so I don't think there is any chance of precipitation. I have my apex set to shut off the pump over 8.4 pH
I have dialed my CaRx back another 25%
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Interesting that the slurry made the improvement and not the clear kalk water.

 

[cal_stir]

The slurry is undissolved kalk so much more potent but extreme care must be taken to avoid overdosing, the kalk must get dissolved before it enters the display

 

[kharmaguru]

The slurry is undissolved kalk so much more potent but extreme care must be taken to avoid overdosing, the kalk must get dissolved before it enters the display

Anthony Calfo was a big fan of dosing kalk slurry. I'm curious what is happening with your alkalinity doing that?

 

[cal_stir]

My evaporation rate is 3ml/min
I was dosing 47ml/min through my CaRx to maintain 8.0dkh
I now dose 3ml/min RODI through the kalk reactor for my make up water and 15ml/min through my CaRx to maintain 8.0dkh
I haven't checked my Ca yet

 

[kharmaguru]

My evaporation rate is 3ml/min
I was dosing 47ml/min through my CaRx to maintain 8.0dkh
I now dose 3ml/min RODI through the kalk reactor for my make up water and 15ml/min through my CaRx to maintain 8.0dkh
I haven't checked my Ca yet

Cool and detailed lol. These conversations always make me wonder if people are just dosing to target a PH ( which I think is crazy) rather than an alkalinity so that's why I asked. You've obviously worked out a balance that gives you both which is great. I don't have enough alk demand to pull something like that off.

 

[cal_stir]

Not chasing pH but my CaRx was having trouble keeping up to demand so kalk was to ease that, so I thought if I'm going to dose kalk why not get the pH boost as well.

 

[smatter]

I prefer a simple still reservoir with a dosing pump over a Nilsen reactor. I wasn't able to maintain a saturated solution with the couple of reactors I've had, whereas the old Brute holds it's potency between monthly refills. Reactors are great if you're tight on space.