Kalkwasser reactors?

[fishhawk123]

I have been reading which in this hobby reading = more spending right?
Living in a small town and doing some reading, I realize I am going to want a kalkwassrr reactor. 1. Because I plan on a mixed reef and 2. Because I read they are simpler to learn, and are less expensive to run. My questions are these: 1. Why do I see some for $65. And others for like $300 to 400? And 2. Why such a huge diff in price? And 3. Which budget reactor would y'all recomend and why?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

If you're going to dose Kalk just add it to your top off water. Easy peasy! It only takes 2 tablespoons I believe to saturate the fresh RODI water but you can add more than that and it won't overdose it. You can use Kalkwasser or pickling lime either works.

 

[RocketEngineer]

1) The price difference is based on design as well as build quality.

2) The lower cost ones use the incoming flow to stir up the kalk while the more expensive models tend to use a motorized stir bar. It also depends on the volume of the reactor.

3) I'm into DIY as it reduces costs while getting me exactly what I want. To that effect I picked up an Avast Marine K1 Kit as it's relatively inexpensive for such a large reactor. You can buy the one's they've built but where's the fun in that?

Good Luck,

 

[dendrite]

If you're going to dose Kalk just add it to your top off water. Easy peasy! It only takes 2 tablespoons I believe to saturate the fresh RODI water but you can add more than that and it won't overdose it. You can use Kalkwasser or pickling lime either works.

+1 above. Putting kalk in the top off bucket however can be deadly to your top off pumps. I've been using the TLF kalk stirrer, the 65.00 brand on a 30 gallon frag tank with no problems to the equipment or the tank.

 

[g_langley]

I use 1/2 teaspoon Kalk per litre of RODI top off, would not do without it. Keeps the PH in the 8.1 - 8.2 range as my tank gets down to 7.9 otherwise, plus the added benefit of Alk/Calc stability. It is essential to clean the ATO pump and float valve once a month otherwise it can go south.

 

[ca1ore]

After a number of DIY options and cheaper purchases, I also bought the Avast kit. No troubles since as it works flawlessly.

 

[Jone]

any pictures of your Kalk set up?? I have been wanting to do this but hesitant.

 

[fishhawk123]

I like the Avast kits, thanks for the point there. Now as I have a 110 gal DT and currently my sump/ refugium is 22 gallon if to the brim, I am guessing the smaller kit rated at 400 gallons should be sufficient? If the rating is accurate, I could add a larger sump and or refugium or even a 2nd tank of similar size and still be good correct? Also do some people put the kalkwasser on a timer? Thanx in advance for the awesum help here.

 

[RocketEngineer]

I like the Avast kits, thanks for the point there. Now as I have a 110 gal DT and currently my sump/ refugium is 22 gallon if to the brim, I am guessing the smaller kit rated at 400 gallons should be sufficient? If the rating is accurate, I could add a larger sump and or refugium or even a 2nd tank of similar size and still be good correct? Also do some people put the kalkwasser on a timer? Thanx in advance for the awesum help here.

Yeah, the smaller one should be plenty. The size you need is based on the amount of top off per day. If you are only doing 1g+/- then you should be fine with the small one.

I personally run my ATO on a timer to prevent bounce. I run it for 15 minutes every hour using a mechanical timer. I would rather the pump pulled air over the ATO dumping my entire bucket worth of water into the sump. I use an avast peristaltic pump so even if the timer got stuck, the ATO can't add too much kalk at once, at least not to my 125g system.

 

[fishhawk123]

Good info thnx mucho. This is the first time in my life I actually have a mancave lol. I want to set things up right the 2nd time around..or as much so as my poor wallet can afford. I have about 250.00 to 300. To invest each month, so I have to make every penny count, as well as get it up and running asap. I plan building wall to both picture frame it in and have a small room behind for all the equipment. I will have it so I can see it while watching my new 4k 50" TV...or is it the other way around?

 

[sixpackgarage]

+1 above. Putting kalk in the top off bucket however can be deadly to your top off pumps. I've been using the TLF kalk stirrer, the 65.00 brand on a 30 gallon frag tank with no problems to the equipment or the tank.

TLF here also, have had it almost a year. No issues, works perfectly.

 

[Sk8r]

If you just drop 2 tsp per gallon of ro/di into your topoff reservoir, stir it once, and lid it---(use a tougher ATO pump, such as Eheim, or it will wear your impellers off) that's all you need do, and the cost for that is zero. I have a 32 gallon reservoir for topoff, and just dump a good load of Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime (aka kalk) into the tub, lid it, and I'm good until I need to add more water. The residue on the bottom kicks up and dissolves, and I'm good for another 2 weeks. ONLY 2 tsp even CAN dissolve in pure ro/di, so you don't even need to sweat the measuring---just make sure your ATO pump is not down in the white stuff---set it on an old glass upside down bowl, eg, to keep it out of the white slurry. And let it settle before using it: keep your ATO off for 12 hours after a refill to let it all settle down.

 

[mvallee_ma]

I use a kalk stirrer as well and have been happy with the low maintenance and stability of my parameters with it, no worries about the pump either

 

[DiscusHeckel]

any pictures of your Kalk set up?? I have been wanting to do this but hesitant.

Here is my Deltec set up:

In this set up, the DC motor situated at the top runs 24/7 stirring my calcium hydroxide. The stirring action is very gentle, so that undissolved media and/or impurities cannot be dosed accidentally (UNLESS air is present in the feeding tube, which can happen if you run out of fresh RODI). The effluent is dosed via the thick green tubing. The small blue silicone tube feeds the reactor with RODI, which is essentially my top-up water. Top-up water is pumped into the reactor by a peristaltic pump, which is connected to an analog timer. The effluent rate is 4 ml/minute. Because it is so gentle, there is no way that calcium hydroxide will be disturbed and become milky like in the first picture. It is not good to dose limewater if the supernatant liquid is not fairly clear (I don't think it needs to be crystal clear).

Note that I replace about 90% of my evaporated water with limewater and the rest is replaced by my auto-top up unit, which also runs on a timer. I only run it for about 30 minutes per day to ensure that water level in my sump remains constant.

I hope this helps.