Mixing kalkwasser with tank water not RO, possible?

[Duzzy73]

Hi,

can I use water from a manifold (tank water) to mix and dose kalkwasser and it’s stirer? I don’t like the thought of dosing via RO top off because it means the kalkwasser doses at different rates based on external temp and humidity.

have I got something incorrect here? Happy to be corrected (don’t tell my wife )

regards Duzzy

 

[wvned]

I use a dosing pump controlled by my Hydros controller to push RODI water into my stirrer and it overflows out to the sump.
My ATO is separate.

 

[Misled]

I use a dosing pump to draw water from the tank and drip it back after the stirrer. Makes it a stand alone part that doesn't work off an ATO.

 

[wvned]

The chemistry expert on the other forum says don't do that.

Found this by Randy
It is definitely a total no go to mix limewater and tank water, or to run tank water through a calcium hydroxide reactor.. You'll precipitate magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate.

Also
Kalk is not very soluble and even less will go into tank water.

 

[Misled]

I think that would have a lot to do with the amount going through the stirrer. I run on a consistant drip every 5 seconds. I don't run from a controller that may put a lot through it. The stirrer also runs every 4 hours for one minute to keep the kalk mixed.

 

[wvned]

Mine runs about a gallon per day

added that up wrong the first time

 

[Misled]

I wanted the stabilty of a drip. The pump can be expensive, but I didn't want it to dump a cup or more whenever the ATO refilled the tank.

 

[wvned]

Mine comes out as a fast drip that goes into a vortex made by a large Tunze powerhead in the 150 gallon section of the sump.

 

[Duzzy73]

I use a dosing pump controlled by my Hydros controller to push RODI water into my stirrer and it overflows out to the sump.
My ATO is separate.

That’s a great idea so effectively creating a secondary ato. You’re obviously setting it under your daily evaporation is that correct?

 

[wvned]

That’s a great idea so effectively creating a secondary ato. You’re obviously setting it under your daily evaporation is that correct?

Yes
The amount dosed never comes close to what my ATO adds. I have a lot of surface area for evaporation.

 

[Duzzy73]

Yes
The amount dosed never comes close to what my ATO adds. I have a lot of surface area for evaporation.

That the way I’ll do it I think. Do you continually top up the kalk with RO?

 

[wvned]

That the way I’ll do it I think. Do you continually top up the kalk with RO?

I have a BRS 50 ml/min dosing pump. It is plugged into an AC outlet on a Hydros outlet strip. Hydros has a pH probe.
The doser pumps RODI into the stirrer every 15 minutes based on a dosing schedule in Hydros. How long the doser runs determines how much Kalk comes out and tries to keep the pH in a range I set in the controller.
Hydros also runs the stirring which is done by a Jebao wavemaker inside the vat.
Hydros also has control of my RODI filter and keeps the RODI storage container full.

The vat is a sump pump basin that has a separate lid and seals from Home Depot. Uniseals come with the lid for power and plumbing. 2 big holes and a small one. I drilled a hole in the top and installed a tube for the RODI water in.
I drilled a hole in the side near the top and installed a tube. I bent a piece of tubing with heat and made a drip tube. The height of the end of the tube matches the level of liquid in the vat. When the doser pushes water into the vat it overflows Kalk out the drip tube.
I add about 2 cups of pickling lime into the vat once a month.
The biggest pain was getting the drip tube to not clog.
My system is big enough that if some slurry comes out the tube it doesn't matter.
The controller tries to maintain a pH range. If the kalk in the vat is not fully saturated or has powder in suspension (kalk slurry) the controller just puts more or less in.

You could also mix kalk in a trashcan and just dose it. You then make more every so often. I dont even remember why I chose one method over the other. I suppose I decided it would be easier for me to just add some powder every so often than try and mix a large batch when it was empty. The way I did it takes less of my immediate attention.

The last trick to all of this.
In Hydros
you tell the controller the dosing pump is 5 (!!!five, only five!!) ml a minute. This makes what comes out 10x as much as what the programming says because the pump is 50ml/min.
In the log is says the dose was 7.2ml. it actually was 72ml.

This defeats the limitation in the programming for the maximum volume that can be dosed on a schedule in Hydros. It goes from 500 to 5000ml.

 

[ct_vol]

I use a dosing pump controlled by my Hydros controller to push RODI water into my stirrer and it overflows out to the sump.
My ATO is separate.

I run mine the same. Kalk dosed separate from ATO via dosing pump. Both are fed by RO/DI from a 30g reservoir. I have my dosing pump set to turn on at night to help balance pH. Drip rate is pretty low, so my ATO still kicks on regularly. Once my system demands more, I'll hook up my Calcium Reactor again.

 

[Duzzy73]

Thank you. I’m guessing you always add less kalk solution than the evaporation amount then just top up the difference with straight RO as well. I also thought of using a large diameter tube to prevent blockages and then feeding it into a filter sock to not crud up my vectors.

Do you also dose calcium through a reactor and will that and the kalk balance/level out the ph?

 

[wvned]

Kalk adds balanced calcium and alkalinity. I add extra alk because my sulfur reactors use some. You have to still dose magnesium.

 

[Jposch]

The biggest pain was getting the drip tube to not clog.

Attach silicone tubing at the end where it drips and slit it back about 1/4" perpendicular to the tubing. Looking at it from the end, especially cut an "X" like a pie, but only 1/4" or so. The calcium carbonate buildup won't block the flow, and most of it just falls off as it doesn't adhere to silicone well. I pinch the end with my fingers every month or so, but just becuase. It's never actually clogged.