Some new pieces for the collection

Look nice. How long until your new tank makes it? Do you have a calc reactor ready to go or are you going to need to keep going with 2 part dosing for a while?
 
Thanks... I just hope they survive... I had an alk swing right before I added them too the tank. It hit before I put them in, but now I need to push the alk back up. Hopefully they will adjust well as I move it back up over the next few days.

I'm still using 2-part... but I hate it... This drop is a result of forgetting to dose one morning. :rolleye1:

I just need the CO2 tank for it, but I'm not going to hook it up to the current tank. I haven't used a Ca reactor yet, and don't really want to experiment with the SPS packed tank.

My tank is supposed to be finished Friday, then I'll be working all weekend to get it plumbed and filled up... speaking of which... I should probably start making RO/DI water. :lol:
 
I'm hoping to fire up my Kalk doser tomorrow that I built ages ago, just finished leak testing today. Until recently I've kept such a low amount of sps and lps in the tank that my calcium needs have been incredibly low, and I could get away with adding water and two part alone to suppliment my tank. Now that my SPS is in a lot higher supply, I need to get a steady and remote stream of calcium into the tank, so I'll be setting it up in the next day or two to take over from my 2 part regiment (which has admittedly not been every morning like yours). I thought a lot about calcium reactor vs. kalk doser and decided that the doser would be the cheaper and easier way to go, although they both have their positives and negatives, and I've seen a lot of people keep very successful tanks without calc reactors. Besides, I've read that kalk actually boosts your skimmer efficiency as well, which couldn't be a bad thing in my tank, although with 6 fish swimming around in 200 gallons of water, nitrate exportation isn't really a huge concern. I didn't test nitrates even after I tore the whole thing down and moved it 2 hours away.
 
I used kalk via a still reservoir on my 90... once you get the hang of it, it's very easy and is pretty much hands off. I used Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime for my Calcium Hydroxide media... much cheaper than the "aquarium marketed" versions.

I built a DIY reactor with the help of a friend, and plan on using that in combination with my Ca Reactor to boost the pH and keep it stable.

ReactorPaint2.jpg


KReact1.jpg


My newest toy is the ACIII, so hopefully controlling everything the way I would like to will be a cinch.
 
btw... if anyone else is interested in making one. I can talk to the guy about making some more "bodies" for us. Then I could provide a parts list or walk people through how to do the rest.

I had the Reactor Body and Lid machined... then added all the fittings and built the pump housing myself. It was actually very simple, and most of the parts are available at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Anyway let me know, or shoot me a PM if you think that's something you would be interested in.
 
Mine was built out of PVC, and looks a lot less pretty than yours, but will serve the purpose. The stupid hoses I tried to attatch to the MJ I'm using as a recirc. pump won't attach quite right, so I'm siliconing them in place as we speak. Once that's done, it'll be ready. I'll try to get pics of mine up here sometime, but its basically 4" PVC with a toilet flange for the base and a threaded top with a threaded cap. I realize a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe in the next few days I'll get pictures up of what I did, and what I learned.
 
I should say in my earlier post that I tried to test nitrates, but there were none there. Makes it seem as though I wasn't doing my due dilligence :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14151157#post14151157 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cloakerpoked
Mine was built out of PVC, and looks a lot less pretty than yours, but will serve the purpose. The stupid hoses I tried to attatch to the MJ I'm using as a recirc. pump won't attach quite right, so I'm siliconing them in place as we speak. Once that's done, it'll be ready. I'll try to get pics of mine up here sometime, but its basically 4" PVC with a toilet flange for the base and a threaded top with a threaded cap. I realize a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe in the next few days I'll get pictures up of what I did, and what I learned.
Click to expand...
I actually know exactly what you're talking about. One of my buddies in the C-Sea club built one just like that.
 
I read about it somewhere on these threads once upon a time, so it probably was the same thing. It will use an aqualifter to dose the kalk. How much should I be adding in the beginning. I want to go slow to make sure I don't shock the system.
 
I can't really answer that... I've never dosed it via a reactor before. When I used the still reservoir I was mixing it at 1 teaspoon per gallon of top off water, and eventually worked up to the max of 2 teaspoons per gallon of top off water. After you hit the 2 teaspoons per gallon, you need to start using vinegar in order to dissolve more into the water. Once again... this is if you are using a still reservoir.

As far as a slurry level in the reactor, I've gotten answers all over the board when I tried asking.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14150883#post14150883 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty8
btw... if anyone else is interested in making one. I can talk to the guy about making some more "bodies" for us. Then I could provide a parts list or walk people through how to do the rest.

I had the Reactor Body and Lid machined... then added all the fittings and built the pump housing myself. It was actually very simple, and most of the parts are available at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Anyway let me know, or shoot me a PM if you think that's something you would be interested in.
Click to expand...

I am interested.

--Ray
 
When you use a reactor, you usually just put a bunch in to create a supersaturated mixture. That's why you need the recirc. pump. My reactor pulls from the top, so it should be all dissolved from where it's being pulled from. I'm more interested in how much of the water from the reactor I should be adding to the tank itself.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14152434#post14152434 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cloakerpoked
When you use a reactor, you usually just put a bunch in to create a supersaturated mixture. That's why you need the recirc. pump. My reactor pulls from the top, so it should be all dissolved from where it's being pulled from. I'm more interested in how much of the water from the reactor I should be adding to the tank itself.
Click to expand...

I also run a calcium reactor along with my DIY kalk reactor. I just kept measuring alk, ph and calcium and adjusted the kalk reactor from there. I want to set it up on a ph controller and only have it come on when my ph is low. I am sure it is different if you are going to be using the kalk reactor as your main source.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14152434#post14152434 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cloakerpoked
When you use a reactor, you usually just put a bunch in to create a supersaturated mixture. That's why you need the recirc. pump. My reactor pulls from the top, so it should be all dissolved from where it's being pulled from. I'm more interested in how much of the water from the reactor I should be adding to the tank itself.
Click to expand...
Well it's debated if you get any extra benefit by running it in the reactor or not. You need to use a recirc pump in a reactor (no air present) to keep it mixed, while in a still reservoir (air present), you don't want to mix or airate the mixture otherwise it will degrade the kalk.

One thing you want to make sure of... make sure you don't dose from the pump right after your mixing pump turns on. Otherwise you could end up with Kalk sediment in your system.

I've seen it recommended to have the pump stir the kalk 3 or 4 times a day. once again, that is for reactor use.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14152891#post14152891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
I also run a calcium reactor along with my DIY kalk reactor. I just kept measuring alk, ph and calcium and adjusted the kalk reactor from there. I want to set it up on a ph controller and only have it come on when my ph is low. I am sure it is different if you are going to be using the kalk reactor as your main source.
Click to expand...
Yeah the main thing to keep an eye on is your pH. I was evaporating 1-2 gallons a day on my 90g (approx 110 total system volume)... and my pH never jumped too high. Plus it was being dosed via my ATO, so it was only added at small increments throughout the day.

However, once I switched to using only kalk, it did jump my Alkalinity from 8 dKH to running stable between 10-11 dKH.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14152422#post14152422 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raynist
I am interested.

--Ray
Click to expand...
I'll give him a call today, and see if I can get a price for the tube if we buy a few of them. I may even build a second one for myself to run on my frag system.
 
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