How to setup kalk reactor?

[PegasisR]

Having trouble figuring out how to setup a kalk reactor... i was wondering how it could be done with a doser, how long the stirrer should go, etc... Thank you!

 

[dwest]

Mine is an avast k2. I run the stirrer continuously. I dose an amount just less than evaporation rate through the stirrer. My ATO controls the sump level with RODI independent of the stirrer. I also add 2 part to maintain alkalinity and calcium.

 

[PegasisR]

Mine is an avast k2. I run the stirrer continuously. I dose an amount just less than evaporation rate through the stirrer. My ATO controls the sump level with RODI independent of the stirrer. I also add 2 part to maintain alkalinity and calcium.

Ah okay i would like to dose it off a dosing pump instead of an ato for redundancy, would you know how I could do that?

 

[dwest]

I would dose a small amount of saturated kalkwasser slowly throughout the day. Then measure your alkalinity the same time every day until you determine how much kalk to dose.

 

[Breadman03]

Ah okay i would like to dose it off a dosing pump instead of an ato for redundancy, would you know how I could do that?

I use a Neptune DOS to feed RODI water into my Avast K2 stirrer. Basically, you set it up to dose an amount less than your minimum daily evaporation rate and your ATO just runs less.

 

[PegasisR]

I use a Neptune DOS to feed RODI water into my Avast K2 stirrer. Basically, you set it up to dose an amount less than your minimum daily evaporation rate and your ATO just runs less.

Ah okay and I'm not sure how to judge daily evap as I know it's not the same day to day. And when does your dos add rodi in? When the chamber is low?

 

[Breadman03]

Ah okay and I'm not sure how to judge daily evap as I know it's not the same day to day. And when does your dos add rodi in? When the chamber is low?

Since I use my DOS as my ATO, I can see my daily evap on my Fusion dashboard. You'll want to test your alkalinity and dose however much you need to keep it stable.

 

[BlennyTime]

I would dose a small amount of saturated kalkwasser slowly throughout the day. Then measure your alkalinity the same time every day until you determine how much kalk to dose.

This is what I did as well. Then have an ATO set up to fill the remainder of the water lost via evaporation.

 

[PegasisR]

So if i didnt go off of evaporation loss how would i do it?

 

[BlennyTime]

So if i didnt go off of evaporation loss how would i do it?

So the cool thing about dosing with a pump, is you can get a consistent amount every day. The easiest way to do this is by creating a saturated solution of kalk. This means that no more can dissolve in it, about 2 tablespoons per gallon. This means that every time you dose say 100ml, you are getting a consistent dosage of kalk. The purpose of the stirrer is to have excess kalk at the bottom, which can be stirred in as water gets replaced.

Evaporation can change every day depending on numerous factors, so if you rely on just that you have to either deal with swings of parameters or constantly adjust the concentration.

Most people start dosing a set amount of saturated solution, then test every day for a week and increase/decrease the daily dosage until you reach consistency. Then the remainder of the evaporated water is replaced with RODI water. You can then test every few days and adjust your dosage or supplement with 2 part as needed.

 

[PegasisR]

So the cool thing about dosing with a pump, is you can get a consistent amount every day. The easiest way to do this is by creating a saturated solution of kalk. This means that no more can dissolve in it, about 2 tablespoons per gallon. This means that every time you dose say 100ml, you are getting a consistent dosage of kalk. The purpose of the stirrer is to have excess kalk at the bottom, which can be stirred in as water gets replaced.

Evaporation can change every day depending on numerous factors, so if you rely on just that you have to either deal with swings of parameters or constantly adjust the concentration.

Most people start dosing a set amount of saturated solution, then test every day for a week and increase/decrease the daily dosage until you reach consistency. Then the remainder of the evaporated water is replaced with RODI water. You can then test every few days and adjust your dosage or supplement with 2 part as needed.

Ah okay i see what you mean! So if i understand correctly... the dosing pump will dose rodi into the stirrer according to alk consumption as opposed to evap rate. Meaning that if your tank runs at 8.6 and theres a .3 swing and you would need to add in 50ml to keep up thats how much the doser will add rodi into the stirrer?

 

[BlennyTime]

Ah okay i see what you mean! So if i understand correctly... the dosing pump will dose rodi into the stirrer according to alk consumption as opposed to evap rate. Meaning that if your tank runs at 8.6 and theres a .3 swing and you would need to add in 50ml to keep up thats how much the doser will add rodi into the stirrer?

You got it

Then you dose the remainder of what you need to adjust for evaporation, just with plain RODI.

 

[PegasisR]

You got it

Then you dose the remainder of what you need to adjust for evaporation, just with plain RODI.

Perfect! Thank you and everyone so much!

 

[PegasisR]

You got it

Then you dose the remainder of what you need to adjust for evaporation, just with plain RODI.

And are you running the stirrer 24/7?

 

[BlennyTime]

And are you running the stirrer 24/7?

I run the stirrer all the time. I split up the daily dose into 24 hourly doses, to stabilize the parameters further. That’s the other cool thing about a dosing pump.

 

[PegasisR]

I run the stirrer all the time. I split up the daily dose into 24 hourly doses, to stabilize the parameters further. That’s the other cool thing about a dosing pump.

perfect, thank you for the help and regimen!

 

[ScottB]

Reviving an old thread VS making a new one for my situation.

Goal: maintain pH overnight as my CaRx tends to drag down pH to the 7.75 to 7.85 range seasonally.

Proposal: schedule APEX DOS to draw water from RODI barrel into Avast Kalk Stirrer and gravity feed to sump from there. Start time lights out; End time around 09:00. I have a spare head.

Concerns? Suggestions?

 

[philshel]

All good advice and pretty much what I do (dosing pump for kalk, ato for additional top off). The one thing I would add it that I have found that the dosage was much higher than I expected to maintain alk levels. I also have a PH probe in my reactor to judge when the kalk is becoming exhausted.

 

[ReefBeta]

Reviving an old thread VS making a new one for my situation.

Goal: maintain pH overnight as my CaRx tends to drag down pH to the 7.75 to 7.85 range seasonally.

Proposal: schedule APEX DOS to draw water from RODI barrel into Avast Kalk Stirrer and gravity feed to sump from there. Start time lights out; End time around 09:00. I have a spare head.

Concerns? Suggestions?

The plan sounds good. I will even go further to stop CaRx at night. So during light on, run CaRx, during light off, run Kalk.

 

[dwest]

Reviving an old thread VS making a new one for my situation.

Goal: maintain pH overnight as my CaRx tends to drag down pH to the 7.75 to 7.85 range seasonally.

Proposal: schedule APEX DOS to draw water from RODI barrel into Avast Kalk Stirrer and gravity feed to sump from there. Start time lights out; End time around 09:00. I have a spare head.

Concerns? Suggestions?

It will work fine. The main pro is that it will increase pH at night as you desire. The main con is that it will also increase alkalinity when the consumption in your tank will decrease. So you might get more of a daily alkalinity swing. I personally don’t think that is a big deal.