Kalk reactor users?

[Aquaph8]

How much Kalk and how often are you replacing in your reactors?

 

[Aquaph8]

Chirp chirp, hoot hoot!!!!!

 

[o2manyfish]

I built about an 8g Reactor about 10 years ago. I only added Kalk to it when the silt level on the bottom had dissolved.

Then last year when I was setting up my Apex system while configuring a pH probe for my Calc Rx I placed the probe in my Kalk mixer. There was over an inch of sediment on the bottom and the pH was reading in the mid 8's.

So I reached in a stirred up the silt and got a slight bounce in the pH.

So I added some more Kalk and the pH bounced to 12. In a couple of weeks the pH fell again. So I changed the pump in my mixer thinking it wasn't stirring it up enough.

Again I got a brief spike in pH but then it fell.

So I called up Justin at Avast Marine and had him build me a giant Kalk stirrer (10g +)

While working with Justin we had a conversation, and he had the same situation on his commercial coral system. The Kalk only seems to last for about 2 weeks before all that lasts is silt.

So I now keep an Apex pH probe in my Kalk mixer and whenever the pH drops below 11 I add a couple of cups of Kalk. And then every 4 months I siphon all the dead silt out of the bottom and load it up again.

Dave B

 

[Aquaph8]

Thanks for the reply Dave. I noticed the same thing, despite having an inch of kalk in the bottom of the reactor my Alk would start to fall about the two week mark if I didn't add fresh stuff. This think has been setup about 2 years now and I had never really cleaned it out until the other day. Im gonna start cleaning it more often I think. Just wondered if people were adding more to their reactors than me or adding it more often.

 

[sghera64]

That white power is not Kalk

Hi guys,
that white powder is not Ca(OH)2 (kalkwasser). It is Calcium carbonate and some other calcium percipitates. Most likely, your RO/DI water has soem CO2 in it. If any air can get into the reactor, the CO2 in that air will react with the calcium hydroxide to form calcium carbonate.

About every 4-8 weeks, drain about 50% of the liquid from my DYI Nilsen reactor from the bottom with agitation. This removes that sediment.

 

[btkrausen]

Hey Brett. I cleaned out my kalkwasser reactor (Geo & Precision Marine) probably about every month when I was using it on my 40B. Never used it on the bigger 200G because I went FO.

I always took great care of my equipment when I was running my tanks, mostly to keep them working properly and increase longevity.

 

[zemuss]

Hi guys,
that white powder is not Ca(OH)2 (kalkwasser). It is Calcium carbonate and some other calcium percipitates. Most likely, your RO/DI water has soem CO2 in it. If any air can get into the reactor, the CO2 in that air will react with the calcium hydroxide to form calcium carbonate.

About every 4-8 weeks, drain about 50% of the liquid from my DYI Nilsen reactor from the bottom with agitation. This removes that sediment.

So you drain the Reactor and fill it with RODI water to remove the sediment? So the Sediment is mixed back up and added to the display? Wouldn't this spike your Calcium levels? Is there any harm in doing so?

 

[zemuss]

Also to answer the OP's question. I am adding KALK every two weeks and notice a ALK spike for a few days, so I have been using less KALK powder now about half tablespoon. Its all about keeping your ALK / Calc stable so you need to test atleast twice a week in my opinion.

My spike would go from 9.8 to 12 in two days. then slowly go back to normal over 5 days. Didn't seem to affect the corals but am noticing a longer term issue. IE my corals are showing signs of white patches which I can assume are ALK burn.

Also I started a thread on a similar topic, and one poster told me to add some vinegar to the mix. I believe this helps the KALK mix and prevents the sediment at the bottom.
"Z"

 

[zemuss]

Here is the article:kalkwasser

Here is my thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-kalk-reactor-vs-dosing-pump.html#post1498297

 

[sghera64]

When I drain my DYI reactor, I am able to drain directly from the bottom. I have a RO/DI feed line that enters the reactor at the bottom. All I have to do is disconnect it from the RO/DI reservoir (above the reactor) and drop the line into a bucket. The water in the reactor drains out from the bottom sweeping the CaCO3 away and into a bucket. I'm left with very little CaCO3. Then I refill the reactor and add new Kalk.

 

[Aquaph8]

Thanks for all the replies, how much kalk is everybody adding to the reactor at a time?

 

[o2manyfish]

I keep about 2.5" of milky in the bottom. And mine is a 14" wide cylinder.

 

[zemuss]

I am using 1/2 teaspoon now.

 

[sghera64]

I add about 1 tablespoon per day. If I don't, the pH does not get over 8.3 at the peak of the ligth cycle.

However, I'm switching my set-up so that I only dose Kalk after lights out and only use the Calcium reactor during lights on. My kalk consumption may be from excess CO2 in the water from the calcium reactor. A few years back I did an experiment where I stopped all the reactors for 3 days and assayed the water for calcium and alkalinity daily. I was able to use the different in readings each day to compute my systems daily consumption of calcium and carbonate. When I worked out the math, it came to 8.5 grams of Ca(OH)2. I can't recall how many tablespoons that is.

 

[Victor Guyton]

I am using reef octopus kalkreactor. How often should I add kalk wasser? I run it at night to raise ph. I'm not having much luck.

 

[rhostam]

I used an IceCap reactor with DōS. The 1/4” tubing gets clogged too easily. I’m looking to retrofit a second time after the base failed due to leaks caused by the constant clogging. But when it works it works! It kept Alk stable and pH with 0.1 of 8.25. I kept solution saturated and dosed about 2.5 liters a day conditionally. So that number goes up and down significantly depending consumption. Dosing was pegged primarily to Alk and secondarily to pH.

 

[Victor Guyton]

I used an IceCap reactor with DōS. The 1/4” tubing gets clogged too easily. I’m looking to retrofit a second time after the base failed due to leaks caused by the constant clogging. But when it works it works! It kept Alk stable and pH with 0.1 of 8.25. I kept solution saturated and dosed about 2.5 liters a day conditionally. So that number goes up and down significantly depending consumption. Dosing was pegged primarily to Alk and secondarily to pH.

My dose from small Kamoer is 12000ml over night.