Doubling up on a single chamber CA reactor....

[tzsetzse]

I've been reading some interesting articles regarding single stage CA reactors as not adequately supplementing calcium but rather as a primary boost to dKH?!

So I'm wondering about my Knop C reactor. I'd like to figure out a method whereby I would not have to run a separate kalk drip but add another chamber for kalkwasser.

Would it be practical to run the effluent from the Knop directly into a super-saturated cylinder of kalkwasser, then emptying into the sump?

Anyone with any experience with this, please feel free to comment. I've ran kalk and I've run CA reactors but never both at the same time.

Thx!

Don

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[mcarroll]

Seems like more trouble than it would be worth, assuming there was a theoretical amount of co2 that could stilll prevent calcium carbonate (chalk) formation.

My kalk is tied in with my ATO (automated) via a Tunze 5074 reactor. Have you tried anything like this?

-Matt

 

[tzsetzse]

Well, not having an ATO, I was venturing down another path. However, it deserves merit....

 

[mcarroll]

I'd most certainly add an ATO + kalk reactor (Tunze sells a whole kit to this effect) before trying the combining maneuver. But that's me.

Again, your "dual reactor" could work (IANAChemist) but I can only imagine the co2 balancing act you'd be playing. If you're mostly in it for the DIY and the experimentation, then definitely try it out! Fail = Chalk, which may not be a huge deal in your case. Definitely check out the article I linked in my "favorite links" sticky in the Chemistry section titled "kalkwasser" that goes into the specific kalkwasser/CO2 chemistry you'll be dealing with.

-Matt