kalk stirrer/reactor- any preference on brand? - Page 2

King-Kong · 07/06/2007, 07:50 AM

Because it's a closed container -- no preciptation from carbon dioxide, and it mixes the solution with your water maximizing the amount of kalkwasser that dissolves... something you dont get with a simple container.

sjm817 · 07/06/2007, 04:31 PM

Here is why it is better:
1) You want to add settled limewater, and not add the solids. The mixing of a reactor does not allow the use of totally settled limewater.

2) Kalk can only be so saturated. 2 teaspoons/gallon and thats it. The typical Kalk reactor setup is mixing, not mixing, water is being run through it diluting it. It is more difficult to get a constant delivery level, while a mixed container always delivers a constant level.

3) If you do want to make it more potent, you can mix in vinegar. You cant do that with a reactor.

4) The Lime will remove impurities and settle them to the bottom. With a reactor, they are always mixed back in.

BTW, this is what I learned from both my own exp, and mostly from Dr Randy Holmes-Farley of the reef chemistry forum. He prefers and uses the closed container method.

A little later I'll post what the advantages of a reactor are over a mixed container. Use what is best for your needs.

sjm817 · 07/06/2007, 05:55 PM

Here is what is better about using a reactor:

1) If you have a small topoff container, you can just refill it with RO/DI and not have to mix up the Kalk.

2) If you have a high daytime PH issue, you can drip a more concentrated mixture during the evening hrs by having the reactor mix at night, but not or less during the day. You could also use a PH controller to control the mixing if desired.

want2reef · 07/06/2007, 06:44 PM

I have been using the container method for delivering Kalk for about 4 years now.

I drip only at night when lights are off via my Reefkeeper 2, it works great and it saved me about $200 not having to get a reactor.

Oh ya, the best price I have found for Kalk is at www.twopartsolution.com

seagirl · 07/06/2007, 08:15 PM

great thread, i learned so much from it!!

sjm817 · 07/06/2007, 08:19 PM

If you want to learn a lot...spend some time in the reef chemisty forum.

Here is a little light reading...

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser)
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm

The Degradation of Limewater (Kalkwasser) in Air
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-...ature/index.htm

Magnesium and Strontium in Limewater
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

Calcium and Alkalinity Balance Issues
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-...ature/index.htm

The Relationship Between Alkalinity and pH.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/chem.htm

MO Will · 07/07/2007, 05:42 AM

I also use the 44 gal Brute mixed with limewater for my topoff - I use a dosing pump

It does make it very easy!

One question that I have for sjm - what do you do in the winter when the topoff requirements are higher? It would seem that you will be adding alot more Ca++ when there is greater evaporation and this may impact Ca/alk levels

Thanks and great thread

sjm817 · 07/07/2007, 05:50 AM

Its funny you mention that. I'm getting ready to leave for a 2 week vacation soon and have been checking to see that my topoff will be OK for that long. In the Winter, the 44G would barely last two weeks. Now I think I could go about 3 weeks! I just adjust the amount lime that I mix in the topoff. I use a little more this time of year. My tanks ca/alk demands are not that high, so I'm not up to a full 2 teaspoons/gallon mix yet.

Sk8r · 07/07/2007, 07:09 AM

I use a BAS brand kalk reactor with a Hanna stirrer. I have a 54g, which is in the great valley between little tank and big tank...and I have a clam and usually [I just moved] a lot of stony corals. I was dosing 2 tsp buffer a day [via the topoff bucket] and 2 tsp of calcium a day. Though I enjoy my tank immensely, it was a chore, and if I was out of town, it was a worry. Not only that, my cal was a bear to get above 400, even with that level of dosing---yep, my mag was always 1200-1500: I know that.

Got the reactor, run the stirrer constantly at low level, and I test once a week. Dkh is usually 8.9-9.0 and the cal is usually 400-420. I may have to dose a little calcium every couple of weeks, but it sure keeps a floor under the situation.

I'm told kalk does precipitate the following: magnesium, strontium, and phosphate. The phosphate is a Good Thing. The others aren't, and should be compensated for.

The BAS and Hanna lab stirrer are a good combo. You do have to hose out the BAS every couple of months, and using the Hanna is a bit of an artform---first, of the 2 stirrers, you use the long one, and second, in minimal clear water, the stirrer will just vibrate in place if you crank it up to full. If you put it at near 0, it will rotate nicely.
But with the slight viscosity of a half a pound of kalk down there, you have to get it up to halfway to get it to rotate.

A kalk reactor has no power of its own: it's just tubes and a big pipe. It gets its power from the topoff water shooting in, filling it, and the pressure from that pump occasionally shooting water on out of it and into the effluent locline hose, which drips into your tank.

I'm told that putting your drip right over your skimmer intake will assist your skimmer in sucking up precipitated phosphate.

Fishbulb2 · 07/07/2007, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sk8r

I'm told that putting your drip right over your skimmer intake will assist your skimmer in sucking up precipitated phosphate.

Good post sk8r but I would not recommend dosing the kalk, or effluent or a calcium reactor, near a pump intake. Euroreef highly recommends against this on their website as they say the high concentration of ca and minerals can damage the pump over time. Whether or not you believe this is up to the user I guess. To be safe, I just run my kalk reactor effluent into the OUTPUT of my skimmer to have it dillute.

Fishbulb2 · 07/07/2007, 08:43 AM

This is my favorite way to set up a reactor. Just run kalk passively through it. It keeps kalk out of my pump as well and makes use of those cheesy DI canisters I have lying around.

[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...0725ditube.jpg[/IMG]

and the final product

FB

hahnmeister · 07/07/2007, 03:12 PM

Passive kalk reactors dotn work as well. They tend to let the kalk sit and rot, simply forming into calcium carbonate which is useless. The mixing serves a purpose because calcium will precipitate out on its own if not stirred. Bottom line... it might help a little, but its not effective.

Depending on the water throughput of the reactor, it is possible to have a passive design. They are popular in Asia. They dont work so well with dosing pumps or direct RO connections, but if you have an ATO with a pump that does 100-200gph bursts, you can use tall and narrow body... And I mean TALL and NARROW. Really, what you are doing is trying to match the cross sectional flow of a 6" kalk reactor with a 200-300gph mixing pump with that of a system that is only mixed by the feed pump.... that means 1-2" diameter at most...

seagirl · 07/11/2007, 06:27 PM

ok sjm817, im back lol! my 1lb of two little fishes kalk mix came today. I was thinking about starting with 1 teaspoon per gallon to see how it does, is that a good idea? So i fill my resivoir up, add my kalk, then how do i mix it? by hand or with a powerhead? How long do i mix it for? I planned to let it sit for 2-3 hours before using, is this ok? And one more question, if you don't mind, i will be using a maxi jet to pump this into the tank, how often should i clean the pump and with what(vinegar?) to prevent clogging?Thanks for all help!

detroit_fan · 07/11/2007, 09:42 PM

good thread

sjm817 · 07/11/2007, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by seagirl
ok sjm817, im back lol! my 1lb of two little fishes kalk mix came today. I was thinking about starting with 1 teaspoon per gallon to see how it does, is that a good idea? So i fill my resivoir up, add my kalk, then how do i mix it? by hand or with a powerhead? How long do i mix it for? I planned to let it sit for 2-3 hours before using, is this ok? And one more question, if you don't mind, i will be using a maxi jet to pump this into the tank, how often should i clean the pump and with what(vinegar?) to prevent clogging?Thanks for all help!

I dont do anything too fancy for mixing. Yes, start with 1 teaspoon/gallon and see how it goes. Check your ca/alk levels and PH if you have a probe. I just dump in the Kalk and stir it up with a piece of PVC pipe. The Kalk is pretty soluble. You dont need to mix it long. Let it settle overnight before you use it. I manually topoff with extra RO/DI while its settling (about a gallon in my case. By the time the level drops and the ATO kicks in, the Kalk is settled. I dont know about the MJ cleaning. Be sure it is far enough off the bottom so it doesn't suck in any of the settled Kalk.

bureau13 · 07/11/2007, 11:10 PM

One thing about adding kalk straight to your topoff reservoir...if you have a submersible pump in there, its going to have problems long-term with the kalk water. I'd consider getting a dosing pump for that type of setup. With my reactor (I use the Aqua Medic stirrer too) I just use the standard little Tunze Osmolator pump to pump RO/DI top-off water through the reactor.

jds

sjm817 · 07/12/2007, 06:34 AM

I use an Aqualifter pump, which doesn't seem to mind pumping Kalk at all. Never a problem in 3 years.

thorsky · 07/12/2007, 07:19 AM

I've done Kalk both ways, mixed in topoff and with a reactor. That being said, I will never go back to topoff mixing simply because it is more work. My GEO Kalk reactor is completely set-it-and-forget-it. Add a cup or two of kalk and don't look at it for at least a month. I'm far too lazy (read far too busy with a family etc.) to worry about mixing kalk into my topoff. As it is I have trouble getting around to water changes.

On the other hand, this is one of those rare moments in reefing where you won't spend $50 dollars now trying to save a buck only to drop $250 later to do it right. Give the topoff mixing a shot. Heck, it's free! If you find you don't feel like messing with the mixing and such, get a reactor later.

sjm817 · 07/12/2007, 07:52 AM

I actually found the reactor to be more work. It takes a couple of extra seconds to toss in the Kalk and give it a quick stir when I fill the topoff container. It took more time to open up and add the Kalk to the reactor. As I said previously, if you have a small topoff reservoir, the reactor can be a convenience, but if you have a larger reservoir, it is not IME. I would definitely not call using a reactor "doing it right" over a mixed container. I would say it might be more convenient in certain applications. Doing it right is dosing clear settled limewater.

detroit_fan · 07/12/2007, 07:53 AM

good points

seagirl · 07/12/2007, 10:16 AM

thanks sjm817, ill take your advice. your help has been wonderful throughout this thread and i really appreciate it. I figured i would have to get a dosing pump eventually, but hopefully the maxi will do for now. I'll check into the Aqualifter, sounds like money well spent.

thorsky- you hit the nail right on the head. it's free and i got nothing to lose. i too have learned the hard way that buying the good equipment from the start is the way to go, that's why i started this thread actually, to find the best kalk reactor so i didn't waste my money on a cheap one. But this method seems perfect for my set up, so i figure what the heck, it's worth a try.

8BALL_99 · 07/12/2007, 10:32 AM

I know you made up your mind.. But FWIW I have two Aquamedic KWS 1000s I love them.. I don't see how anything could be easier.. I dump a couple of cups of lime in them every few weeks.. Thats it.. My top off runs through them to my tanks. Super easy and works perfect.. Since they stir constantly you get a saturated kalk mix every time you dose. I don't see how you could do that with a storage tank you only mix every other week... In anycase my reactors take up no room and they are hands off for several weeks. Since I have two systems that go through around 5 gallons a day I would need a huge amount of storage space for top off to do the same thing as my two reactors that are not much bigger then a Phosban reactor..

Wryknow · 07/12/2007, 10:37 AM

Ditto to bureau's concerns with adding kalk to the resevoir - it is quite abrasive on an internal pump. I tried this with my Tunze osmolator pump initially but had alot of problems with the pump jamming up so I switched to using a kalk reactor with a simple check valve to prevent back-siphoning. Now I run the PM 660 kalk reactor and am very happy with it I just put the kalk reactor pump on a timer (about 4 x 2 minute intervals a day) add 2 cups of kalk, and I'm good for about 6 weeks.

sjm817 · 07/12/2007, 10:42 AM

I dump a scoop of Kalk in the topoff water, mix for 10 seconds. I dont see what is hard about that. This lasts me 2 - 3 weeks depending on evaporation.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the need to mix limewater. In a container, once you add it, the water is saturated, and its done. It stays saturated with no additional mixing required.

The reason a reactor needs to be mixed periodically (or the better method of a constant slow stir) is there is fresh RO/DI being pumped though it. It needs the mixing to resaturate the water.

seagirl · 07/12/2007, 12:00 PM

heres one thing i don't understand. if i mix my container full, i know exactly how much water i have and can add whatever ratio of kalk powder i want to it. but if i have a reactor, won't all the water passing thru be fully saturated? If a gallon of water can hold 2 tsp of kalk, but my tank only needs one per gallon, how do you accomplish that with a reactor?

07/06/2007, 04:31 PM	#27
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	Here is why it is better: 1) You want to add settled limewater, and not add the solids. The mixing of a reactor does not allow the use of totally settled limewater. 2) Kalk can only be so saturated. 2 teaspoons/gallon and thats it. The typical Kalk reactor setup is mixing, not mixing, water is being run through it diluting it. It is more difficult to get a constant delivery level, while a mixed container always delivers a constant level. 3) If you do want to make it more potent, you can mix in vinegar. You cant do that with a reactor. 4) The Lime will remove impurities and settle them to the bottom. With a reactor, they are always mixed back in. BTW, this is what I learned from both my own exp, and mostly from Dr Randy Holmes-Farley of the reef chemistry forum. He prefers and uses the closed container method. A little later I'll post what the advantages of a reactor are over a mixed container. Use what is best for your needs. __________________ - Scott

07/06/2007, 05:55 PM	#28
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	Here is what is better about using a reactor: 1) If you have a small topoff container, you can just refill it with RO/DI and not have to mix up the Kalk. 2) If you have a high daytime PH issue, you can drip a more concentrated mixture during the evening hrs by having the reactor mix at night, but not or less during the day. You could also use a PH controller to control the mixing if desired. __________________ - Scott

07/06/2007, 06:44 PM	#29
want2reef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Tracy CA. Posts: 1,353	I have been using the container method for delivering Kalk for about 4 years now. I drip only at night when lights are off via my Reefkeeper 2, it works great and it saved me about $200 not having to get a reactor. Oh ya, the best price I have found for Kalk is at www.twopartsolution.com __________________ Kevin The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Current Tank Info: CADlights Artison II 165g, 50g sump,Aquamaxx Q-3 Skimmer, AI Hydra 26 HD.

07/06/2007, 08:19 PM	#31
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	If you want to learn a lot...spend some time in the reef chemisty forum. Here is a little light reading... What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser) http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm The Degradation of Limewater (Kalkwasser) in Air http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-...ature/index.htm Magnesium and Strontium in Limewater http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm Calcium and Alkalinity Balance Issues http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-...ature/index.htm The Relationship Between Alkalinity and pH. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/chem.htm __________________ - Scott

07/07/2007, 05:50 AM	#33
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	Its funny you mention that. I'm getting ready to leave for a 2 week vacation soon and have been checking to see that my topoff will be OK for that long. In the Winter, the 44G would barely last two weeks. Now I think I could go about 3 weeks! I just adjust the amount lime that I mix in the topoff. I use a little more this time of year. My tanks ca/alk demands are not that high, so I'm not up to a full 2 teaspoons/gallon mix yet. __________________ - Scott

07/06/2007, 07:50 AM	#26
King-Kong Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 2,346	Because it's a closed container -- no preciptation from carbon dioxide, and it mixes the solution with your water maximizing the amount of kalkwasser that dissolves... something you dont get with a simple container.

07/06/2007, 08:15 PM	#30
seagirl Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,130	great thread, i learned so much from it!!

07/07/2007, 05:42 AM	#32
MO Will Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Saint Louis Posts: 444	I also use the 44 gal Brute mixed with limewater for my topoff - I use a dosing pump It does make it very easy! One question that I have for sjm - what do you do in the winter when the topoff requirements are higher? It would seem that you will be adding alot more Ca++ when there is greater evaporation and this may impact Ca/alk levels Thanks and great thread

07/07/2007, 07:09 AM	#34
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	I use a BAS brand kalk reactor with a Hanna stirrer. I have a 54g, which is in the great valley between little tank and big tank...and I have a clam and usually [I just moved] a lot of stony corals. I was dosing 2 tsp buffer a day [via the topoff bucket] and 2 tsp of calcium a day. Though I enjoy my tank immensely, it was a chore, and if I was out of town, it was a worry. Not only that, my cal was a bear to get above 400, even with that level of dosing---yep, my mag was always 1200-1500: I know that. Got the reactor, run the stirrer constantly at low level, and I test once a week. Dkh is usually 8.9-9.0 and the cal is usually 400-420. I may have to dose a little calcium every couple of weeks, but it sure keeps a floor under the situation. I'm told kalk does precipitate the following: magnesium, strontium, and phosphate. The phosphate is a Good Thing. The others aren't, and should be compensated for. The BAS and Hanna lab stirrer are a good combo. You do have to hose out the BAS every couple of months, and using the Hanna is a bit of an artform---first, of the 2 stirrers, you use the long one, and second, in minimal clear water, the stirrer will just vibrate in place if you crank it up to full. If you put it at near 0, it will rotate nicely. But with the slight viscosity of a half a pound of kalk down there, you have to get it up to halfway to get it to rotate. A kalk reactor has no power of its own: it's just tubes and a big pipe. It gets its power from the topoff water shooting in, filling it, and the pressure from that pump occasionally shooting water on out of it and into the effluent locline hose, which drips into your tank. I'm told that putting your drip right over your skimmer intake will assist your skimmer in sucking up precipitated phosphate. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/07/2007, 08:43 AM	#36
Fishbulb2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 1,807	This is my favorite way to set up a reactor. Just run kalk passively through it. It keeps kalk out of my pump as well and makes use of those cheesy DI canisters I have lying around. [IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...0725ditube.jpg[/IMG] and the final product FB __________________ Just getting back in, but trying to do it right! Current Tank Info: 40 gallon tank. SPS, LPS, few softies

07/07/2007, 03:12 PM	#37
hahnmeister Moved On Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Brew City, WI Posts: 10,156	Passive kalk reactors dotn work as well. They tend to let the kalk sit and rot, simply forming into calcium carbonate which is useless. The mixing serves a purpose because calcium will precipitate out on its own if not stirred. Bottom line... it might help a little, but its not effective. Depending on the water throughput of the reactor, it is possible to have a passive design. They are popular in Asia. They dont work so well with dosing pumps or direct RO connections, but if you have an ATO with a pump that does 100-200gph bursts, you can use tall and narrow body... And I mean TALL and NARROW. Really, what you are doing is trying to match the cross sectional flow of a 6" kalk reactor with a 200-300gph mixing pump with that of a system that is only mixed by the feed pump.... that means 1-2" diameter at most...

07/11/2007, 06:27 PM	#38
seagirl Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,130	ok sjm817, im back lol! my 1lb of two little fishes kalk mix came today. I was thinking about starting with 1 teaspoon per gallon to see how it does, is that a good idea? So i fill my resivoir up, add my kalk, then how do i mix it? by hand or with a powerhead? How long do i mix it for? I planned to let it sit for 2-3 hours before using, is this ok? And one more question, if you don't mind, i will be using a maxi jet to pump this into the tank, how often should i clean the pump and with what(vinegar?) to prevent clogging?Thanks for all help!

07/11/2007, 09:42 PM	#39
detroit_fan Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 843	good thread __________________ Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. B.Franklin We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home-T.Jefferson Current Tank Info: 125g & 29g

07/11/2007, 11:10 PM	#41
bureau13 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: South Florida Posts: 1,936	One thing about adding kalk straight to your topoff reservoir...if you have a submersible pump in there, its going to have problems long-term with the kalk water. I'd consider getting a dosing pump for that type of setup. With my reactor (I use the Aqua Medic stirrer too) I just use the standard little Tunze Osmolator pump to pump RO/DI top-off water through the reactor. jds

07/12/2007, 06:34 AM	#42
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	I use an Aqualifter pump, which doesn't seem to mind pumping Kalk at all. Never a problem in 3 years. __________________ - Scott

07/12/2007, 07:19 AM	#43
thorsky Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 407	I've done Kalk both ways, mixed in topoff and with a reactor. That being said, I will never go back to topoff mixing simply because it is more work. My GEO Kalk reactor is completely set-it-and-forget-it. Add a cup or two of kalk and don't look at it for at least a month. I'm far too lazy (read far too busy with a family etc.) to worry about mixing kalk into my topoff. As it is I have trouble getting around to water changes. On the other hand, this is one of those rare moments in reefing where you won't spend $50 dollars now trying to save a buck only to drop $250 later to do it right. Give the topoff mixing a shot. Heck, it's free! If you find you don't feel like messing with the mixing and such, get a reactor later.

07/12/2007, 07:52 AM	#44
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	I actually found the reactor to be more work. It takes a couple of extra seconds to toss in the Kalk and give it a quick stir when I fill the topoff container. It took more time to open up and add the Kalk to the reactor. As I said previously, if you have a small topoff reservoir, the reactor can be a convenience, but if you have a larger reservoir, it is not IME. I would definitely not call using a reactor "doing it right" over a mixed container. I would say it might be more convenient in certain applications. Doing it right is dosing clear settled limewater. __________________ - Scott

07/12/2007, 07:53 AM	#45
detroit_fan Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 843	good points __________________ Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. B.Franklin We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home-T.Jefferson Current Tank Info: 125g & 29g

07/12/2007, 10:16 AM	#46
seagirl Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,130	thanks sjm817, ill take your advice. your help has been wonderful throughout this thread and i really appreciate it. I figured i would have to get a dosing pump eventually, but hopefully the maxi will do for now. I'll check into the Aqualifter, sounds like money well spent. thorsky- you hit the nail right on the head. it's free and i got nothing to lose. i too have learned the hard way that buying the good equipment from the start is the way to go, that's why i started this thread actually, to find the best kalk reactor so i didn't waste my money on a cheap one. But this method seems perfect for my set up, so i figure what the heck, it's worth a try.

07/12/2007, 10:32 AM	#47
8BALL_99 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Toney, AL Posts: 3,724	I know you made up your mind.. But FWIW I have two Aquamedic KWS 1000s I love them.. I don't see how anything could be easier.. I dump a couple of cups of lime in them every few weeks.. Thats it.. My top off runs through them to my tanks. Super easy and works perfect.. Since they stir constantly you get a saturated kalk mix every time you dose. I don't see how you could do that with a storage tank you only mix every other week... In anycase my reactors take up no room and they are hands off for several weeks. Since I have two systems that go through around 5 gallons a day I would need a huge amount of storage space for top off to do the same thing as my two reactors that are not much bigger then a Phosban reactor.. __________________ The problem with political jokes is they get elected. OK, so what's the speed of dark? Why do we drive on the parkway and park in the driveway? Isn't is it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"? Current Tank Info: Custom Starfire 300,92Gallon,35 Gallon Hex,Two 40Gallons,125Gallon,

07/12/2007, 10:37 AM	#48
Wryknow Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 1,203	Ditto to bureau's concerns with adding kalk to the resevoir - it is quite abrasive on an internal pump. I tried this with my Tunze osmolator pump initially but had alot of problems with the pump jamming up so I switched to using a kalk reactor with a simple check valve to prevent back-siphoning. Now I run the PM 660 kalk reactor and am very happy with it I just put the kalk reactor pump on a timer (about 4 x 2 minute intervals a day) add 2 cups of kalk, and I'm good for about 6 weeks. __________________ You cannot use reason to change the opinion of a person that did not use reason to form their opinion in the first place. Current Tank Info: 65 G RR, w/ 50 G sump/refugium, DIY LED lighting, AquaMaxx CO-1 skimmer, Tunze 1073.050 return

07/12/2007, 10:42 AM	#49
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	I dump a scoop of Kalk in the topoff water, mix for 10 seconds. I dont see what is hard about that. This lasts me 2 - 3 weeks depending on evaporation. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the need to mix limewater. In a container, once you add it, the water is saturated, and its done. It stays saturated with no additional mixing required. The reason a reactor needs to be mixed periodically (or the better method of a constant slow stir) is there is fresh RO/DI being pumped though it. It needs the mixing to resaturate the water. __________________ - Scott

07/12/2007, 12:00 PM	#50
seagirl Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,130	heres one thing i don't understand. if i mix my container full, i know exactly how much water i have and can add whatever ratio of kalk powder i want to it. but if i have a reactor, won't all the water passing thru be fully saturated? If a gallon of water can hold 2 tsp of kalk, but my tank only needs one per gallon, how do you accomplish that with a reactor?