2 gallon kalk stirrer for 1000 gallon volume

[nycreef]

I just purchased a 2 gallon kalk stirrer for a 1000 gallon reef and it just doesn't make sense that in that stirrer I should only add 2 teaspoons per gallon since as the water tops off it get diluted. Chemistry says that you can only have a ph of 12 no matter how much kalk you put in but putting less will dilute what your adding so for a 2 gallon stirrer should I put just 4 teaspoons or should I put 4x the amount knowing the concentration can only be as high as 12dkh and when it tops off it will be dosing full amounts for at least a month before I have to replenish, clean and start a new batch. I evaporate about 6 gallons a day and my parameters are as follows:
Calcium: 500 if not over
Alkalinty: 9 give or take
Magnesium: 1500
Phosphate: .39
Salinity: 1.026
Water temp: 79
Nitrates who can read a damn color chart but I'll say 20ish
Just took my GFO and my carbon offline to see what effect I will see with just kalk. Should I see a problem the either GFO or Carbon will be back online.
Again my question is, can or should I fill that 2 gallon stirrer with more than the suggest 2 teaspoons per gallon in that 2 gallon container so I will always be be getting full strength when it tops off and what would be the amount I would need to put in there in teaspoons per gallon. If I was to answer my own question I would say dose 4x the amount so your good for the month.

[Sinekal]

You can absolutely add more Kalk. The water in the stirrer will stay saturated until the Kalk is exhausted. I add two cups in my stirrer. I use a dosing pump to keep a more consistent rate of Kalk added per day. As a result I can calculate how long it will take to pump enough water through the stirrer to exhaust the kalk.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

2 teaspoons per which gallons? The 2 gallons? Or the 1000 gallons?

Regardless, the amount of solid calcium hydroxide to add is dependent on the reactor (stirrer) design, not the tank size. Probably a few cups, but the manufacturer should be able to advise how much it can stir without sending solids into the tank (which is undesirable, IMO).

In a limewater reactor, you add a lot more than saturation, and then wait for it to be used before replacing it. In that system, 2 gallons will probably be dosed in less than a day.

[nycreef]

Originally Posted by Randy Holmes-Farley

2 teaspoons per which gallons? The 2 gallons? Or the 1000 gallons?

Regardless, the amount of solid calcium hydroxide to add is dependent on the reactor (stirrer) design, not the tank size. Probably a few cups, but the manufacturer should be able to advise how much it can stir without sending solids into the tank (which is undesirable, IMO).

In a limewater reactor, you add a lot more than saturation, and then wait for it to be used before replacing it. In that system, 2 gallons will probably be dosed in less than a day.

It was 2 teaspoons per 1 gallon gives you the value of 12dkh, so in a two gallon kalk stirrer it would 4 teaspoons but I stand corrected. I am now adding as much as I can until I can see only clear liquid in the upper body as I can without sending any media in to the tank. Btw the stirrer is an Avast Marine K2 Kalk Stirrer and so far it's built very well, stirs 24/7.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It was 2 teaspoons per 1 gallon gives you the value of 12dkh

I'm totally confused. The 12 dKH is measured where? In the aquarium?

The alkalinity of saturated limewater (2 tsp per gallon) is way above 12 dKH. It is over 100 dKH.

Do you mean pH?

[nycreef]

Yes PH was what meant to say.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

pH is a poor measure of limewater potency. Half potent limewater still has a pH above 12.

[SeedlessOne]

Avast gives you instructions on how muck kalk to add.

For that large of a system I would imagine you would need two cups +

[nycreef]

More like 4 cups and let the stirrer do the stirring. If anyone is going this route, The Avast is the way to go. Its built like a tank and still damn good lookin as she turns

[nycreef]

Randy,
I'm going off topic here for a bit and wonder if you lead me in the right direction.
Granulated ferric oxide which basically what I'm using and go through quickly and my brand I'm using is the BRS HC which side by side works better than the regular but gets exhausted faster. My question is, I'm going through a bucket in less than a year which adds up to easily over a grand a year ( 35lbs = $720 ). I was looking in to a company called alpha chemicals.
This company makes what we call GFO and they label it red iron oxide. At $85 for 100lbs I'm definitely very interested. I'm not sure if this is reef safe and is it truly the same exact product. I was also looking at another company called Severn Trent but not sure they would sell me privately but I would seriously peruse another lower priced option to what I'm using now, regenerating it isn't an option for me either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated randy.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Severn Trent does supply the right stuff, but you may need to buy from a distributor.

Any other source needs to be specifically selling into the water treatment industry. It is not only the chemical nature that is important, but the surface area, and random chunks of iron oxide/hydroxide won't have the right surface area.

[nycreef]

I've read all the threads that you and boomer went in to on this topic and your right that they won't sell me directly with the exception of alpha chemicals that will if I buy 100lbs which I can easily buy but the bottom line is if their red iron oxide is the same as what we are using even if it's not as efficient but the cost is a fraction of what I'm paying now. If you see their website the product is to the eye exactly the same as GFO but is red iron oxide really GFO or is this something I should be putting in my tank?
Is there any way to experiment on this product before putting it in the tank. I'd be willing to spend the $85 for 100lbs if you want to test this red iron oxide.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It might have 100 times less surface area, I just don't know what they do to the material used for water treatment to increase the surface area.

The way to test it would be to start with something like 0.1 ppm phosphate in seawater, and add a tiny bit of this and a real GFO, and see how much the phosphate dropped in a day or two.

[nycreef]

I think it's worth the experiment the only question is if this material is reef safe and doesn't contain anything harmful to the corals fish or invertebrate

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I didn't see anything problematic on the spec. sheet.

[nycreef]

Great I guess I'll start my experiment. I'll keep you posted

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You'll want to be sure the GFO doesn't bottom out the phosphate level, or you won't know how effective it might have been.

[AcroporAddict]

The Alpha Chemicals red iron oxide you are looking at is a powder, not granular, and is what is sold as a pigment. It is not what you want in your reef tank. You'd never be able to keep it in a reactor, let alone the red powder it would spew all over your rockwork and corals.

Unless you are looking at a product different than this one:

http://alphachemicals.com/red_iron_oxide

[AcroporAddict]

On your original topic, OP:

I owned the Avast K2 stirrer, and the main thing is to not overload the skimmer with a bunch of klak powder at the bottom, and monitor the stuff at the bottom for sludge formation, which can break and/or strip the stir bar and literally make the top turn instead of the stir bar if it gets stuck. The stirrer operates 24/7 with a very low RPM stir bar.

You can use the K2 with a 1000 gallon system, but you will be refilling the stirrer weekly. And keep the amount of Kalk in the reactor to 3 cups or under, which I believe is the maximum recommended by Avast.

This reactor design does not lend itself well to just pouring in more kalk time after time and leaving previous residue in, and I would personally pull the reactor and get the excess out when you need to refill. As I said, sludging will kill this reactor's stir bar operation. You may not have that experience, but I saw it in my K2 operation on my 450 net gallon SPS system.

I ended up having a custom GEO Kalk Reactor made that had a much higher volume.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Originally Posted by AcroporAddict

The Alpha Chemicals red iron oxide you are looking at is a powder, not granular, and is what is sold as a pigment. It is not what you want in your reef tank. You'd never be able to keep it in a reactor, let alone the red powder it would spew all over your rockwork and corals.

I agree that containment might be a concern with this particle size. I didn't think of that.

[nycreef]

Thank you AA, your right it is powder form. I thought it was granular. Any idea on a less expensive way of dealing with gfo besides brs hc gfo which is what I use now? Also I only fill the stirrer around 3-4 cups so the kalk is just under the stirrer.

[AcroporAddict]

Originally Posted by nycreef

Thank you AA, your right it is powder form. I thought it was granular. Any idea on a less expensive way of dealing with gfo besides brs hc gfo which is what I use now? Also I only fill the stirrer around 3-4 cups so the kalk is just under the stirrer.

This is the best online price I have seen in the below thread, but it is not the high capacity. It is the regular granular GFO. I use the regular stuff in a very low nutrient BB SPS tank with great results. You might save some money if you are will going to try the standard stuff. I am ordering my next GFO from here. I bet if you contacted the ebay seller he would work you out a 50+ pound deal at an even better price. Skim this thread, link for the GFO is in it:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2438423

[nycreef]

That is a great price, I'll buy it from eBay once I run out of what I have. I use it very sparingly as I've noticed my corals don't respond well to heavy amounts of GFO or carbon.