Kalk reactor questions

[VaderWS6]

I'm thinking about purchasing a kalk reactor, and was wondering which model you guys would recommend? I've heard the stirrer type is the best way to go. Can you list everything I will need (top off system, pH monitor etc)? Will a kalk reactor keep my aquarium pretty stable? I was looking at the Aquamedic and Nilson reactors. Thanks

 

[HDAlien]

I have a Geo being fed by a Litermeter3, great set up!

 

[manderx]

i second the Geo/PM and LM3. i used a deltec stirrer for a year and no longer believe *any* of the claims of the stir-type being better. sounds good on paper but doesn't perform in the real world (not being sealed hurts it). since most people use them in conjunction with a calcium reactor, they don't notice that it isn't doing much. when i sold mine and replaced it with a trash can my tank looked night & day better, even though numbers were the same before and after.

 

[VaderWS6]

Will I get about the same results from a good kalkreactor that I would from a calcium reactor? My reef isn't overstocked with SPS, nothing major. So the freshwater flows from the reservoir into the kalkreactor and then up into the main tank? What would be the best way to have the kalkreactor replace the evaporated water without having it dump into the sump? I would rather it go into the main tank.

 

[Wryknow]

I use the PM 620 kalk reactor and am pretty happy with it. It uses a maxi-jet 400 to mix the kalk water up and I just run it for a couple of minutes 3 times a day with a timer. (The maxi-jet stirs the kalk up really well and when it wears out in a year or so all you have to do is twist it off and pop in a new impeller.) I use a Tunze osmolator for water level control and it pumps the toip-off water from thew resevoir through the kalk reactor and into the main tank just as you described.

 

[VaderWS6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10839843#post10839843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wryknow
I use the PM 620 kalk reactor and am pretty happy with it. It uses a maxi-jet 400 to mix the kalk water up and I just run it for a couple of minutes 3 times a day with a timer. (The maxi-jet stirs the kalk up really well and when it wears out in a year or so all you have to do is twist it off and pop in a new impeller.) I use a Tunze osmolator for water level control and it pumps the toip-off water from thew resevoir through the kalk reactor and into the main tank just as you described.

Outstanding! So how much did you pay for the Tunze osmolator? I would like to get the Litermeter 3, but that thing is almost $400!!! I'm trying to spend $400 for everything (minus shipping). Are there any othe dosing systems out there with the quality and reliability of the Litermeter 3? I wanna make sure that I don't purchase everything, and then think "man, I should have gone with the other system.."

Do you get awesome results with using the kalkreactor alone? Or do you have to get a calcium reactor as well?

 

[HDAlien]

Watch the used forums here on RC for a Litermeter3, that's where I got mine. There was one there last week for like $250 shipped. The LM3 really is awesome with its precision and the ability to add more pumps to it as your needs grow.

 

[burris]

LM3 is only $300 from online retailers, don't buy it directly from Spectrapure.

The amount of Ca/KH you can deliver with a limewater dispensers, aka Nilsen reactor, is limited by the evaporation rate of your tank. You can't just buy a bigger Nilsen reactor. If you're stocking lots of stony corals you're going to hit that wall, maybe even sooner than you think. OTOH, with a Knop reactor you can just keep cranking it up or buy a bigger one. So if you can only have one, a Knop reactor is the one. You can always setup a cheap gravity dripper for limewater if you have problems with low PH.

The minimum you need to run a Knop reactor is the reactor, a CO2 tank, CO2 regulator/valve, a bubble counter or some other way to know how much CO2 is going in, and some plumbing to split your return (or a separate pump.) You don't really need a pH controller.

manderx: you're the only person I found that didn't ilke the Deltec Nilsen. I've been using a trashcan filled with limewater and after switching to a Deltec KM500 my alkalinity shot up. It delivers saturated limewater, no question.

 

[Wryknow]

The Tunze osmolator is a fantastic auto-top system. It has a triple safety fieature to keep it from pumping too much water and harming your tank so it's the best of the best in my book. the osmolator set-up is $175 and the PM 620 is another $260 so that's not too far from what you have budgeted (marinedepot.com)

The kalk reactor is very nice but, like burris pointed out, it is limited in how much calcium and alkalinity it can add to your system by the amount of top-of water that you use daily. If your system is low/medium demand then it should work well for you all by itself. You will notice a big difference in stability and water quality very quickly.

As the system matures and the demand for calcium and alkalinity grows it may no longer be enough to support your system by itself though. On my tank, for example, I supplement the kalk saturated top-odd water with about 1 cup of 2 Randy's part solution daily. BTW - for good, cheap kalk check out twopartsolution.com.