Looking for Critical Feedback

[reefgeezer]

So, my tank needs a little calcium and alkalinity input. I have a plan...

I have a food grade 5 gallon bucket that I am going to use to make a redneck kalk reactor because I already have the stuff needed laying around. It will be fed from my ATO holding vessel via a Litremeter III. The design is simple. Water will enter the bucket from the Litremeter III via a 1/4" icemaker tubing QD near the bottom of the bucket and overflow to the sump via a 1/2" fitting near the top of the bucket. An MJ1200 on a lamp timer will stir the kalk for a very short period every once in a while. I'll set the timer so that water at the the top of the bucket doesn't have any undissolved kalk in it... I hope. I'm also hoping the water will get to a reasonable saturation level and a high-ish pH. I'm thinking about 1/2 gal per day will be a good place to start.

The ATO is a gravity fed, level switch controlled and solenoid operated system that delivers about 1 to 1.5 gallons per day to the sump depending on humidity in the house. Pumping kalkwasser into the sump will automatically reduce the ATO water delivered by the identical amount added.

The Litremeter III is higher than the top level of the redneck reactor and the ATO holding vessel. The sump water level is well below the top of the sump's water level. I don't think I have to worry about siphoning.

I'm really only using about 3-4 dKH of alk per week so the demand isn't great, but I still need to add a little to reduce the swings. I also think if it were available, the corals & stuff would use a little more. So, what am I missing - will it work - Is there a better option for stirring - etc.?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Ok feedback...
First why push water into your bucket from the bottom? That is a potential for leaking, putting it in from the top, and if you're worried about disturbing the surface of your kalk then simply have a tube that goes below the surface. Look at Avast Marine, they do a very similar design, water comes in from the top and is gravity fed into the tank.

You say 1/2 gallon per day, sounds like a lot, not sure what your actual consumption is, but will you dose this over the period of a day? (smaller increments) or all at once? All at once (even as slow as the Litermeter is) may cause pH swings that are unacceptable. A pH probe in your tank so at the very least you can see what's happening may be beneficial.

The siphons are a tricky thing, the height of the litermeter is irrelevant unless the hoses drain after it turns off (not familiar with that water mover). If the kalkwasser water level is higher than your ATO you should be ok (not sure if the litermeter will allow a back siphon), if the output of the gravity feed from kalkwasser isn't underwater you should be ok.

The the rod holding the maxijet impeller, is it ceramic or metal? If it's metal (even stainless steel) I wouldn't use it, ceramic is ok. Problem with pumps and mixing of kalkwasser is that they create heat, which causes precipitation inside the pump, which means a constant maintenance thing. Finding some other mechanical stirrer could be good, the Avast one I mentioned before using a very slow stirring rod, I've seen some other DIY use magnetic stirring plates. Keeping heat away from the kalkwasser is a key.

That said, is the Redneck Stirrer strictly for cost savings? Or are you trying to dose a lot at once?

 

[laverda]

You don’t need a container anywhere near that big. In fact a smaller container will work better. Ideally you want something sealed with no air at the top. The large surface of a five gallon bucket will have a substantial film/ crust that will not dissolve when you stir it. Since you going to pump the water into the container, a quart soda bottle will work much better. Put 2 holes in the cap run 2 lengths of tubing through the holes. One to the bottom of the bottle the other an inch or two below the top. Fill the bottle with 3-4” of kalk, than the rest of the way with RO/DI water. Feed your water in the line going to the bottom of the bottle. The the othe line goes to your tank. As you pump the water in it stirs the kalk. The water forced out will fairly saturated depending on how much flow you have. You will avoid the crust on the top of the water if the cap is sealed and the bottle is completely filled with water and kalk. Very simple and will work better than your 5 gallon bucket.

 

[reefgeezer]

Thanks everyone. I've rethought the project. I'm soooo dumb. I was really stuck on a "reactor" for some reason. After reading your posts and giving it some thought, I see that simple is better in my case.

I'm just going to use the 5 gallon bucket to hold kalkwasser and pump it in with a Litremeter III that sits on the lid. I'll manually replace the water used with premixed kalkwasser. I used a reef calculator and it looks like I only need about 1200ml/day to maintain alkalinity. Thanks for the feedback.

I'm going to start at 600ml/day and work up to a level that maintains my alk just to be safe. The Litremeter will dose 4ml at a time, 150 times in a 24 hour period. It will dose into the most turbulent part of the sump. I have the set-up running into a 1000 ml beaker now to test the accuracy of the calibration and my settings.

Thanks again.