Kalk Reactor Question

[maroun.c]

When manually mixing and dosing Kalk, you get this white settling particles that are supposably contaminants and might even contain some copper...
So one usually avoids dosing those.
How does it go with kalk reactor will all the media and impurities go in the tank due to the mixing or is the mixing time somehow separated from dosing time...?
Should you stop the reacto at some time and clean any settling media in it?
Thanks for any info.

 

[psteeleb]

it's good to avoid stirring and dosing at the same time. That said a good kalc reactor should provide sufficient space above the mix zone so if a dose demand happens when mixing you should not get solids, only saturated kalkwasser. If I could access pictures I'd post one but it will have to wait till tonight when I get home.

 

[despot101]

white settling particles that are supposably contaminants and might even contain some copper....

I may be completely off base here but I don't believe thats correct. It was my understanding that the settling particles is just extra kalk powder as the water has reached a level of saturation that prevents any more kalk powder from dissolving.

 

[thegrun]

I may be completely off base here but I don't believe thats correct. It was my understanding that the settling particles is just extra kalk powder as the water has reached a level of saturation that prevents any more kalk powder from dissolving.

+1, I muck out the bottom of my Kalk top off container about once a year. It will not cause a problem. Adding a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar per gallon to the Kalk mix will help dissolve more lime per gallon, but you reach a saturation point (about 1.5 to 2 teaspoons per gallon) where any additional lime will just settle out of the solution. The vinegar will slightly decrease your Ph, so if you already have low Ph, skip the vinegar.

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks for the replies.
Would be great if those contain nothing but kalk but I remember hearing to avoid dosing them...

 

[despot101]

This is actually a great article about kalk
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php
Which does recommend letting the solution settle before dosing, so as a psteeleb mentioned would mean not dosing while stirring.