Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
Does anyone here run a Kalk Stirrer? I just picked one up used and am not sure exactly how to hook it up and tie it into my ATO setup. Thanks in advance.
Eric
Eric
Kalk Stirrer's
- Thread starter Fishcrazy06
- Start date
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what brand did you buy,.
pretty easy to hook up to an ato. Just have the feed pump to the stirrer on your ato so when the top off kicks on it goes thru the kalk stirrer. The stirrer should always be running. or stirring.
pretty easy to hook up to an ato. Just have the feed pump to the stirrer on your ato so when the top off kicks on it goes thru the kalk stirrer. The stirrer should always be running. or stirring.
Viva'sReef
Valuable Member
Depending on how large your stirrer is, and how much is topped off per day, I have my stirrer mix/stir for 10 minutes 2x per day, anymore than that and your just wasting energy. Unless you have some crazy amount of evaporation. This way lets the Kalk slurry settle a bit so you don't end up topping off with a cloudy Kalk Mix.
Hook the end of your ATO to the infeed of your Kalk mixer. Normally its the one that has the tube going down into the Unit. Then just place the outfeed into your topoff sump chamber.
Hook the end of your ATO to the infeed of your Kalk mixer. Normally its the one that has the tube going down into the Unit. Then just place the outfeed into your topoff sump chamber.
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
Thanks for all the replies. Its nothing fancy its a fishbowl innovations stirrer and I see they no longer have them on their website anymore so I was curious as to how one is set up. There are two lines going into the stirrer. I am assuming one is for the return to the sump and the other is too fill it with fresh RO?
Eric
Eric
first off i would like to say you have to be very, very careful dosing with a kalk unit. kalk's PH is 12 and do some damage to your system id not monitored right.
there are two lines on a kalk unit one for feeding the tank and one that comes from a pump that is feeding in reserve water from a reserve tank holding fresh water/tap off water. the pump should be pluged into sometime type of ATO that can turn the pump off and on when you sump needs water.
yet that is only half of what you need to do, your ATO should be pluged into sometime of PH controler. it should turn off your ATO when the PH get too high, lets say 8.35 or lower. normaly your PH will be low at night when the lights are off and thats when all this happens. my setup is a 20gal rubber made container with a aqualifter pluged into a aqua hub DIY ATO pluged in to my RK lite which monitors my ph.
here is a couple other thread you can review
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f130/top-off-water-19985.html
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f130/kalk-reactor-21791.html
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f30/anyone-use-ph-controller-doser-18421.html
there are two lines on a kalk unit one for feeding the tank and one that comes from a pump that is feeding in reserve water from a reserve tank holding fresh water/tap off water. the pump should be pluged into sometime type of ATO that can turn the pump off and on when you sump needs water.
yet that is only half of what you need to do, your ATO should be pluged into sometime of PH controler. it should turn off your ATO when the PH get too high, lets say 8.35 or lower. normaly your PH will be low at night when the lights are off and thats when all this happens. my setup is a 20gal rubber made container with a aqualifter pluged into a aqua hub DIY ATO pluged in to my RK lite which monitors my ph.
here is a couple other thread you can review
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f130/top-off-water-19985.html
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f130/kalk-reactor-21791.html
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f30/anyone-use-ph-controller-doser-18421.html
gilmour01
Well-Known Member
the ato feed line usually runs to the bottom of the stirrer as opposed to the sump line which just comes off the top of the stirrer. you do have to be careful when running these units. i just took mine offline recently b/c my pH was staying too high. best of luck and start out by adding only small amts of kalk to the unit, then adjust upwards from there.
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
Hmmm okay. I will have to take a look at it and figure it out. Like I said I have never seen one hooked up so I'm not too sure. I dose Kalk now through my ATO and a float Valve but would rather do it this way.
Eric
Eric
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
This is a stirrer and not a reactor with a pump. Has a rod that spins on the bottom.
Eric
Eric
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
Okay.....do you happen to have a pic of yours setup or no? there are two openings on the top of the Kalk stirrer. One on each side. Now one is for the ATO Pump to pump in or out? Not sure exactly how the mechanics of these work that is what I am trying to find out. Hope not to be asking the infamous "dumb" questions.
Eric
Eric
yes, one of those should be in and the other should be out , normaly the for the inlet will go all the way down to the bottom with tubing or acylic rod. to help premix the water with kalk. and the out line would be on top so you can drain the air out of it and it will draw premixed kalk fom the top.
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
So I think I got it now!!!! The pump pumps in fresh RO water and the pressure builds up on the top and allows the Kalk mixture to flow through the other tube and into the sump? Do I have this correct now?
Eric
Eric
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
Thank you all for your comments and help! Now I will just start with a small amount of Kalk powder and go from there. Thanks again for all the help!
Eric
Eric
