kalk reactor

[Icefire]

How much can it supply in alk maximum?

I currently need 0.5dkH daily but I'm doubling my water soon (110G upgrade, 150g total).

I was to put a CA reactor but I guess a kalk reactor would be best as far as I know.

If I make one, it would be made with a dual floatswitch and a PLC running a MJ1200 pump as auto-top off.

I can restrict the output in case it drop too much water at once if needed.

your thought?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I personally prefer dosing limewater from a settled reservoir, not a reactor, because it is easier to ensure saturation, and for a few other reasons. Is there any way you can fit that?

This article has more:


What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

 

[Icefire]

I could possibly put a 5G container next to tank put it would have to be run with a mj1200 pump.

Wouldn't the pump jam from the satured lime?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

They need to be cleaned out periodically, but I use a powerhead to mix my lime (not to dose it). But that pump may dose too rapidly.

 

[sjm817]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11844799#post11844799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
it would have to be run with a mj1200 pump.

Why is that?

 

[bdare]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11844812#post11844812 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
They need to be cleaned out periodically, but I use a powerhead to mix my lime (not to dose it). But that pump may dose too rapidly.

Hey Randy,

How long do you typically mix the limewater for with the pump? Typically, I put the lime in a 5g bucket and give it a good stir for about 30 seconds with a wooden spoon. Am I not mixing it long enough?

Ben

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It only takes a few minutes to mix in most situations, and 30 seconds may be fine since it will continue to dissolve after you stop stirring. I show how fast it dissolves here:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rhf/feature/index.php

Figure 1. The conductivity of limewater as a function of the time after the addition of
calcium oxide at 21 °C.

I have a complex setup with two 44 gallon barrels connected with a bulkhead. The water and lime are added to one, and the take out is from the other. I have a powerhead that mixes by drawing water from one and then pushing it into the other through tubing running through the bulkhead. To make a long story short, mine takes longer to mix than most containers, and I usually run mine for at least an hour if I want it to be homogeneous.

 

[spazthecat]

Icefire - I just started doing what you are describing minus the MJ. I have a 5gallon bucket on a shelf above the tank plumbed to my RO unit. The bucket is then plumbed to my sump. Once a week I add 5 tsp of kalk and give it a good stir. So far it's been great.

Andy

 

[jdieck]

Assuming you can achieve saturation in your limewater the amount of alkalinity addition will depend on the amount of evaporation in your system.
To determine the evaporation as a % divide the daily evaporation volume by the total system volume and multiply by 100 use the table below to determine the maximum alkalinity you can add to your system with your evaporation amount.

Say... If your evaporation is 1.5% you can add a maximum of 1.7 dKh to your system. If your daily evaporation is higher than that you may need to add additional supplements unless you can increase your evaporation.
If your tank alkalinity consumption is lower then you may need to make a more dilute solution of lime water.

 

[Icefire]

jdieck that is perfect!

I can't really put a 5g over the sump as it would be an eye sore...

The 110G I'm doing will be controlled with a PLC, so I can pulse the dosing pump if needed (10sec on, 500sec off) or restrict the flow with a valve..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Nice graph!

 

[jdieck]

Thanks!

 

[Icefire]

So looking at your graph, If I have 100G of water, and I replace 1G with satured limewater, I'll add 1.5dKh in 100G or 150dKh per gallon of limewater?

Looking at your reef calculator, it's said that 1.3 Gallons should do that, so which one is good? the graph or the calculator?

With the same calculator, it say that each 1gallon of satured lime will:

Raise 99g of water with 9ppm Ca and 1.14dKh alk or:

*************Error found***** Edit:

I was to do all the maths but found an error with the calculator.

The US Gallons VS Liters are wrong as in the calcium part it say 1 US gallons is 4.1 Liters and in the Alk it say 1 US Gallons is 3.81 Liters...

Does it affect something?

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11871427#post11871427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
So looking at your graph, If I have 100G of water, and I replace 1G with satured limewater, I'll add 1.5dKh in 100G or 150dKh per gallon of limewater?
Not 1.5 dKh. For 1% evaporation (You add 1 gal of lime to 99 gal for a final 100 gal) you end up with an alkalinity slightly above the 1.1 dKh mark (Actually is 1.139 dKh)

Looking at your reef calculator, it's said that 1.3 Gallons should do that, so which one is good? the graph or the calculator?

With the same calculator, it say that each 1gallon of satured lime will:

Raise 99g of water with 9ppm Ca and 1.14dKh alk or:

*************Error found***** Edit:
If you use a volume of 100 gal (Final after the addition) and an alkalinity increase of 1.14 (say 9 to 10.14) dKh you will get that 1 gallon of saturated lime water is required.

I was to do all the maths but found an error with the calculator.

The US Gallons VS Liters are wrong as in the calcium part it say 1 US gallons is 4.1 Liters and in the Alk it say 1 US Gallons is 3.81 Liters...
The conversion is OK what is miserable is the accuracy achieved using Scripting language and the way the decimals are shown without having to go into lots of manipulations of the data as the regular instruction basically cut the decimals in the calculations.
For alkalinity I added some of those manipulations as alkalinity regularly uses smaller numbers and is more critical to achieve a more precise dose. For calcium and magnesium you will have a bit less accuracy but still valid for our aquarium purposes.

For the above example the equivalent increase in calcium will be 8.14 ppm. If you enter 100 gal and an increase of 8.14 ppm you will get that 0.9 gal are required. If you enter 1000 gallons and divide the result by 10 to increase accuracy you will get the equivalent to 9.8 gallons. To further increase accuracy if you do the increase by 10 and the volume by 10 and divide result by 100(Vol of 1000 gal and increase of 81.4) you will get the equivalent of 0.995 gallons.

This effect is more noticeable when using very small volumes like calculating additions for small aquariums (10 gals or so)

Does it affect something?
Not from the supplementation point of view as it is still more accurate than the test kits we use in the hobby or the way we estimate our actual water volume.

 

[Icefire]

Well it's a bit missleading for folk using once or liters as 3.81 and 4.1 isn't 1 gallons....

Couldn't all calculation be done with higher accuracy? I'm sure it's a matter of adding 1-2 line of code to have 0.98 instead of 1 gallon..

Using the graph in this thread, 1% will get you between 1.4 and 1.5 dkh, not 1.139 as you said.

Simply put, I'm trying to get the real number of what 1g of saturated limewater will give me in calcium and alk. (ie: 150dkh and 90ppm CA)

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11874791#post11874791 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
Well it's a bit missleading for folk using once or liters as 3.81 and 4.1 isn't 1 gallons....

Couldn't all calculation be done with higher accuracy?

Can you measure calcium at +/- 8 ppm or 0.98 of a gallon?
I'll put the change on my to do list.

Using the graph in this thread, 1% will get you between 1.4 and 1.5 dkh, not 1.139 as you said.
Are you adding vinegar to your Kalk? If so yes there is 1.5 if not it is 1.139 dKh same as the calculator.

Simply put, I'm trying to get the real number of what 1g of saturated limewater will give me in calcium and alk. (ie: 150dkh and 90ppm CA)
I included the answer in my previous post; one gallon of saturated lime water (without vinegar to increase dissolution) will add 1.139 dKh of alkalinity and 8.14 ppm of calcium to 100 gals of aquarium water.

 

[Icefire]

I was reading with vinegarm oups..

So 1Gallon contain 114dkh and 814ppm of Ca. Currently my 50g (65g water total) use 0.5dKh/day so I would need 1/4 of a Gallon/day.. not much

 

[jdieck]

Sounds about right.

 

[jdieck]

Icefire:

Try the calculator, I think it is a bit better now.