Kalkwasser?
- Thread starter blackcows
- Start date
lvpd186
Reefing in NE
I kind of went the expensive route but I wanted to take care of adding kalk and topping off the tank at the same time. I use a 5 gal water jug that contains ro/di water. The water gets pumped from the jug via a dosing pump that is connected to a float valve. When the float valve starts the pump the water is pushed through a kalk reactor and then dripped in to the tank. I think it works great, I dont have to add water to replace evaporation all at once and my calcium stays up. If your interested in more details let me know.
I am very interested and would like to know more. What brand of reactor do you have? How often do you have to do something to the reactor, is it a weekly thing or more often?
I am having a hard time understanding the water being pushed through the kalk reactor. If the reactor is on a constant drip is the pump for the RO going in many times per day or even many times per hour?
Mike
lvpd186
Reefing in NE
Here is a pic of everything (sorry things might still look a little confusing). The kalk reactor is a My Reef Creations. It works great and doesn't really require any weekly or monthly maintenance. All I had to do is add the kalk mix and set it on a timer. The timer turns the reactor on several times a day to make sure that the water in the reactor stays saturated with the kalk. So far I've only had to add Kalk mix once and as you can see there is still quite a bit in there. The dosing pump (an aqua medic from Marine depot) is mounted on the center brace facing towards the rear of the tank so it is hard to see, and connected to a float switch. The float switch is in the sump and only turns on the pump when the sump level is below the set water level. When the float switch turns on the pump water is drawn out of the water jug and in to the reactor. Since the reactor is sealed water entering the reactor forces water that is already in the reactor out, dripping the water in to the sump. (The reactor has internal baffles to help make sure the water saturates prior to exiting) The only weekly thing I have to do is fill up the 5gal water jug once or twice a week. I hope that clears up some questions. The reactor was somewhere between $200 and $250; the pump was $89 and the float switch was $50 (something). Maybe someday I will host another tank tour.
CH
New member
Mine is very simple.
I use a small plastic container (Sterilite) you know the kind you use to store stuff in. It holds about a gallon.
Then I added a drip line, which either my wife (nurse) or one of our other nurse friends got for me. Basically it is the thing you use to stick into an IV bag. Drilled a hole, stuck it in, sealed it up, all done. It sits on a shelf just above my sump.
So nightly I add a gallon of water, a couple of teaspoons of Mrs. Wages, mix it up, and let it drip. I actually only add the powder every 3rd or 4th night, as there is enough residue left over that I just add water. This way I know I'm not adding too much.
I wish I could post some pics, but my camera got dropped
I use a small plastic container (Sterilite) you know the kind you use to store stuff in. It holds about a gallon.
Then I added a drip line, which either my wife (nurse) or one of our other nurse friends got for me. Basically it is the thing you use to stick into an IV bag. Drilled a hole, stuck it in, sealed it up, all done. It sits on a shelf just above my sump.
So nightly I add a gallon of water, a couple of teaspoons of Mrs. Wages, mix it up, and let it drip. I actually only add the powder every 3rd or 4th night, as there is enough residue left over that I just add water. This way I know I'm not adding too much.
I wish I could post some pics, but my camera got dropped
CH
New member
I will see if I can get one, but I can't make any promises. If I remember right, it took awhile last time. If not I'm sure there is a medical supply store somewhere that would have them.
Yes, I basically use that as my top off everyday, just that I add the kalk to it every few days. I average about a gallon a day needed for top off, so it works well.
Yes, I basically use that as my top off everyday, just that I add the kalk to it every few days. I average about a gallon a day needed for top off, so it works well.
lvpd186
Reefing in NE
In an open container the top will develop a film but since this reactor is water tight that never happens. It is true that you dont want the undissolved kalk entering your tank, but this doesn't seem to happen, at least not in any detectable amount. The water that exits the reactor comes out of the top, maybe thats why I dont get any undissolved kalk. BTW if you are looking for the IV line like what Chris uses you might want to try Walgreens. I use to drip the kalk the same way when I lived in Lincoln and if I remember right I got the IV line at Walgreens.
If I do start out with something like the simple water jug drip how important is it to do this everyday? I travel for work and looking back to this summer there were several weekends we were gone for 2 nights to soccer tournaments. What happens if I get it done about 70% of the time?
Mike
Mike
lvpd186
Reefing in NE
I would guess that you would have to estimate how big of a jug you need depending on how many days you are going to be gone. If your tank evaporates 1gal a day then you would obviously need a larger jug for weekends that you will be gone, that is if you are doing this primarily as a water top off. If you want to do this just for the calcium level in the tank I'm not sure if it would hurt anything if it dropped for short periods of time, but my guess would be that it wouldn't. Although kalk does effect the alk of the tank & I would think that you would want to keep that as stable as possible. I think if you shot for your at least 70% of the time you shouldn't run in to too many problems.
CH
New member
The safe way to add it is to let it settle and only add the clear portion. However, it it fine to add the cloudy, saturated solution, as long as it is a slow drip, like 1 or 2 drips per second. If you add it all at once there will be a major PH spike. Also, by adding the saturated solution, you actually get more into the aquarium. The kalkreactor, from my understanding, keeps the solution stirred and mixed and fully saturated at all times (I could be wrong on this though!)
Randy Holmes-Farley had some good articles about limewater awhile back.
If you are gone and unable to add any for a few days at a time, I don't think it will cause any problems. I have gone days before without adding any top off at all. I just make sure to top of before I leave and it's usually good.
Edit: I just found the article I was talking about. It has a lot of great info.
Limewater
Randy Holmes-Farley had some good articles about limewater awhile back.
If you are gone and unable to add any for a few days at a time, I don't think it will cause any problems. I have gone days before without adding any top off at all. I just make sure to top of before I leave and it's usually good.
Edit: I just found the article I was talking about. It has a lot of great info.
Limewater
