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Unread 07/15/2018, 05:26 AM   #1
cham
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Unstirred Kalk Reactor

Hello, I have a quick idea/question for the chemistry folks.


My tank is a well matured SPS tank that's been set up for years now, I took it down and restarted is about 3 years ago and have been using the aquaforest three part balling method to supplement my reef since.

Lately I am finding my reef using almost 100ml daily of three part solution which is A LOT and fairly expensive. I also like the benefits of Kalk and thought I could dose some kalk daily, not as a main supply but maybe to cut down on the amount demand for the three part and keep up with tank demands better.

I've used Kalkwasser in the past and I've been a huge fan other than one problem. The reactors that I've had are closed loop power heads and they get caked with kalk regularly. I still have one that has an old school closed loop style that I'd like to use but wanted to see what you guys thought about my approach.

Sorry for the long intro, I just want you to understand my needs and what I'm expecting from the kalk.

I don't like using Kalk in the ATO as my ATO demands swing through the seasons and I don't prefer a method that has different dosing levels dependent on temp.

I want to plug up the closed loop in my reactor and just use it as a stand alone non motorized reactor. The reactor I have is an old school version that has two quick fit RO lines at the top, one goes down the side in a hard acrylic line to the bottom of the reactor and the second is the outlet at the top for kalk dosing.

If I were to make a deep bed of Kalk, say 4 or 5" and had the RO/DI feed line going to the bottom of the container, would the RO water pick up enough saturation making it through the bed of kalk to make it somewhat effective? Or would my kalk bed turn into a brick and the water just channel?

I know RO water is aggressive in picking up elements so I thought that would give me some level of kalk saturation. I don't need perfect FULLY saturated kalk as this again will just be a supplemental method to my two part.

Thoughts? Concerns?


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Current Tank Info: -SPS-120g Rimless Starfire, Garage sump/equip room with rimless frag tank, reefkeeper & Apex Jr, Reeflo Super Dart Gold return, ATI Powermodule, four Vortech MP40's, SRO XP3000 cone w/self cleaning head, two reefbrite LED, AF three part balling
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Unread 07/15/2018, 06:48 AM   #2
salty joe
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I goofed around with a bed of kalk with a slow steady flow and yes, the water ended up channeling through cracks in a solid piece of kalk. I doubt it'd be anywhere near saturated.
there are a few nice diy stirrers on this forum.

like you, my topoff changes with the seasons. for consistency, I set my kalk stirrer to dose the min seasonal topoff amount.


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Unread 07/15/2018, 07:46 AM   #3
Alfrareef
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Sorry for the side question, but you might have the answer I and can’t get from Aquaforest.
Im also dosing the 3parts from AF (1:Ca+Mg, 2:Reef mineral salt and 3:KH)
How much do you dose daily from Reef Mineral Salt? (Same as Ca+Mg, same as Kh, any other value?)


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Unread 07/15/2018, 08:46 AM   #4
cham
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfrareef View Post
Sorry for the side question, but you might have the answer I and can’t get from Aquaforest.
Im also dosing the 3parts from AF (1:Ca+Mg, 2:Reef mineral salt and 3:KH)
How much do you dose daily from Reef Mineral Salt? (Same as Ca+Mg, same as Kh, any other value?)
Yes, all 3 are dosed in equal amounts. I make my own rather than the premade jugs which is cheaper. But at over 100ml per day I'd like to use less.


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Current Tank Info: -SPS-120g Rimless Starfire, Garage sump/equip room with rimless frag tank, reefkeeper & Apex Jr, Reeflo Super Dart Gold return, ATI Powermodule, four Vortech MP40's, SRO XP3000 cone w/self cleaning head, two reefbrite LED, AF three part balling
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Unread 07/15/2018, 08:57 AM   #5
Alfrareef
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cham View Post
Yes, all 3 are dosed in equal amounts. I make my own rather than the premade jugs which is cheaper. But at over 100ml per day I'd like to use less.


Yes, that’s what AF says, and I started that way, but as I tuned KH dosing Ca has gone sky high a lot above 500!
So I start do adjust dosing individually.
I’m currently dosing (daily)
Ca+Mg 90 ml; Reef M Salt 180 ml; KH 360 ml.
with the following parameters:
KH 7-8; Ca 400=420; Mg 1400-1500.
Tank has roughly 100G.
Everything his going well with the corals but I don’t know how much Reef mineral salt to dose, since I can’t measure it and AF can’t give me a straight answer.


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Unread 07/15/2018, 08:59 AM   #6
cham
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfrareef View Post
Yes, that’s what AF says, and I started that way, but as I tuned KH dosing Ca has gone sky high a lot above 500!
So I start do adjust dosing individually.
I’m currently dosing (daily)
Ca+Mg 90 ml; Reef M Salt 180 ml; KH 360 ml.
with the following parameters:
KH 7-8; Ca 400=420; Mg 1400-1500.
Tank has roughly 100G.
Everything his going well with the corals but I don’t know how much Reef mineral salt to dose, since I can’t measure it and AF can’t give me a straight answer.
By weight, it's about half of the calcium (i.e. to make a bucket of calcium I use 250g of Ca solution, and 125g of mineral salt to make the same size bucket)


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The more I learn about reefing the less I know.

Current Tank Info: -SPS-120g Rimless Starfire, Garage sump/equip room with rimless frag tank, reefkeeper & Apex Jr, Reeflo Super Dart Gold return, ATI Powermodule, four Vortech MP40's, SRO XP3000 cone w/self cleaning head, two reefbrite LED, AF three part balling
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Unread 07/15/2018, 09:21 AM   #7
Alfrareef
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Unstirred Kalk Reactor

Quote:
Originally Posted by cham View Post
By weight, it's about half of the calcium (i.e. to make a bucket of calcium I use 250g of Ca solution, and 125g of mineral salt to make the same size bucket)


Yes, 25g/liter. Half of the Ca and KH which is 50g/liter. That’s why I don’t know which one to follow, the Ca daily dose or the KH!

About your question I would go with a Kalk stirrer with a separated peristaltic pump and a separated RODI water. In the past I had a Kalk accident due to a broken pump that flushed all my ATO water 20G) thru the Kalk reservoir and into the sump....



Last edited by Alfrareef; 07/15/2018 at 09:44 AM.
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Unread 07/15/2018, 03:43 PM   #8
bertoni
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I agree that the still Kalk reservoir probably won't add much calcium or alkalinity. You could consider a separate pump for a stirred Kalk reactor or container, and using RO/DI for ATO, if you don't mind the complexity. Some people like to run that way.


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Unread 07/22/2018, 11:20 AM   #9
rjjr1963
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Beware: Powering the kalk reactor with your ATO pump can end in disaster. If the ATO goes crazy for whatever reason it will saturate the tank with heavy amounts of kalk.


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