Nilsen (Kalkwasser) Reactor help

[Nathan4Wvu]

For the last month I have been working on my 40 breeder sps build. I'm planning on running a kalkwasser reactor instead of dosing or ca reactor.

Currently I have it setup between my top off reservoir and sump. The reactor has no kalkwasser in it at the moment.

Couple of questions. How much kalk should I add to the reactor? Also, with the current amount of coral I have in the tank should I just wait? Will the reactor be ok if it is just hooked directly to my ATO? I'm going to set it to mix once ever 6 hours for 5 min. Will it be ok if the ATO kicks on while it is mixing?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[Nathan4Wvu]

Anyone?

 

[tkeracer619]

Generally you don't want to run it while it is mixing. A controller keeps them from happening at the same time.

Put a little bit of kalk in. Say half a cup at first. Its always best to start with less especially when its a new setup. When you are confident it won't overdose the tank you can start adding more each refill.

You should be ok with it hooked directly to the ATO. Run it and test daily to make sure everything is ok.

I would go ahead and start it up if it has been running with just water for a while. I usually recommend 2-4 weeks with just water to make sure there are no basic problems.

 

[reefgeezer]

I ran a kalk reactor for a couple of years. I filled the reactor every 7 days. My tank evaporated about 2 gallons per day and the reactor held a little more than two gallons so I started out adding 1/2 a cup (about 1 tsp. per gallon) and ended up adding a cup and 1/3rd (a little over 2 tsp per gallon) to maintain calcium levels.

The reactor was connected directly to my ATO but it is not the float valve type. If you have a float valve it may clog or worse yet, freeze open.

I wouldn't want the water added to the sump while it is being mixed. I used two timers to run the system. One controlled the circulation pump and the other a $15 solenoid that shut-off flow from the ATO. This way, I could stir the kalk AND make sure it would settle out before the water was allowed to go to the sump. Mine was set up to stir for 15 minutes in the middle of the night and just before the lights came on. There was 2 hour period after each mix period that the ATO was shut off. This seemed to be when evaporation was the least so the sump level didn't change much while the ATO was shut off.