DIY Kalk Reactor for under 20 bucks!

[calvin415]

Here's a link to it...

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...4424#post594424

[mushroom head]

Cool! But i cant find those canisters for sale on ebay. Well i found one for sale but its over $20 Can you show me were to get them if you can?

[calvin415]

This is the one I bought... Well 3 of them actually.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[mushroom head]

Thanks so much man!

[calvin415]

No problem! Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[tylernt]

Gadzooks that's a LOT of kalk in there. Does it really settle enough that the water at the top is clear? Kalk reactors are usually at least 24" tall and don't have quite as much kalk.

 

But hey if it works, cool!

[calvin415]

Works like a charm! My Dad's top off is on a float valve and it runs so slow that it settles until it looks like sand.

[Undertheradar]

Wheres the mixing pump?

[Reef_Mad_Man]

What about over dosing? I dont see a way to measure the amount needed The amount released from the reactor, The amount ran through the reactor ect ect. un mixed residue being syphoned into the tank?

[tylernt]

Originally posted by Undertheradar

Wheres the mixing pump?

The Kalk is mixed by the incoming water. The inlet is at the bottom, outlet at the top. It doesn't get mixed as "thouroughly" as in a Nilsen, but as long as the water on top is saturated, it works.

[calvin415]

There is no mixing pump, the new water comes in through the kalk powder which is settled so the mixing takes place constantly and slowly allowing the powder to stay calm at the bottom.

 

It only replaces top off water so what do you mean overdose? It's added very slowly (evap rate)... Un-mixed powder settles to the bottom just like any other reactor and the only thing that is added to the tank is the clear lime water at the top of the canister.

 

Hope this makes sense... Let me know if it doesn't.

 

 

Imagine your auto top off, but with this in the middle... Your RODI water get's saturated with Ca and Alk before topping off your tank.

[Reef_Mad_Man]

Thats what I mean. How do you know exactly how much saturation you are introducing into your system?

My tank with MH lighting evaps roughly 1 gal. per day. (29g reef)

My 5.5 roughly .5 gal. Given tank size and constant top off with the lime water cant you over dose at some point and get the calcefied snow effect happening?

Or do you have already have those numbers figured specificly for your tank?

(IE calcium consumption in your tank via critters v's that which is being supplied so regularly)

I mean with a classic style o2 calcium reactor you have a bubble counter to help gauge dosage.

What gauges this?

I see and understand how it functions just not how you controll the dosage over all.

[calvin415]

Oh sorry, running 100% Kalk reactor is for people that have such a much demand for calcium that a drip of saturated solution cannot bring enough Ca in. If you don't have this situation, what I would suggest is using T's so you can control how much you need based on testing your water as you are adding kalk. This can be done with flow valves IE 50% kalk 50% RO/DI or maybe only 20% kalk and 80% RO/DI if you have only LPS and no SPS. It all depends on your calcium needs. Hope this helps clarify, if not I can try to do a drawing showing the plumbing.

[Reef_Mad_Man]

That clears it up .

Thanks!

Just didnt want newbies jumping on this and sending full blown lime water into thier tanks with each top off! LOL!

THank you!

[Perpetual98]

What if you have the pressure tank on your RO/DI? Wouldn't that create enough pressure to stir the kalk up?

[calvin415]

Pressure won't stir it, water flow does... If you use pressure to move the water through the canister, sure. What I mean by water flow through the canister is what goes in, must come out. Using it for 100% top off, you still can only add as much as what has evaporated.

[Undertheradar]

I just cant see how enough water flow to stir the kalk wouldnt equal a large flow of kalk into the tank. I cant see how an effective kalk mixer can be used w/o a mixing pump for that matter...the kalk doesnt mix well without a good periodic mechanical stirring.

[tylernt]

Originally posted by Undertheradar

the kalk doesnt mix well without a good periodic mechanical stirring.

It doesn't need to mix well. The clear water at the top just needs to have enough Ca concentrated in it to bring it up to about 12 pH. This will happen all by itself through osmosis, it just takes a long time. The gentle incoming water flow just gives things a little push.

 

This design probably does need a whole lot more Kalk (surface area) comared to a powerhead or stir-bar mixed reactor. But it looks like calvin415 has done this.

 

Calvin415, have you measured the pH of your reactor effluent? If it's over 11 pH, I think you're good to go.

[andykee]

Does the 3/4" PVC pipe run all the way to the bottom of the canister so that water is only allowed to escape from the drilled hole? If so, why didn't you puta cap or plug on the end of the pipe?

 

Also, what is the dosing schedule for your tank? (i.e. how often and how much?)

 

BTW, I love the simplicity and compactness of this reactor... I will be building my own soon!

[onthefly]

Calvin - try to find a handheld conductivity meter.....if the effluent is 10.2 mS than your saturated (~800ppm Ca). pH isn't a good indicator because KW is unbuffered, so it only takes a bit to get to pH 12, but that won't cut it for determining the strength of the KW.

[newreefguy]

Hey Calvin I really like your design.. I can fit that one in my stand. Looking at your pictures I have some questions..

 

1. It looks like you split the return on the reactor. What purpose does this serve? Does one line go to the sump and other to somewhere else?

 

2. Where did you get your small white connectors and shut off valves?

 

3. Did you just use regular airline tubing or something more substantial?

 

Thanks!

[calvin415]

Does the 3/4" PVC pipe run all the way to the bottom of the canister so that water is only allowed to escape from the drilled hole? If so, why didn't you puta cap or plug on the end of the pipe?

 

Also, what is the dosing schedule for your tank? (i.e. how often and how much?)

 

BTW, I love the simplicity and compactness of this reactor... I will be building my own soon!

 

The 3/4" pipe goes to the bottom where there is a matching piece sticking up that caps the pipe off. The water can only escape out the two drilled holes... Hopefully this picture will help. As for dosing schedule, it is dosed via my ATO, so it's always running and different depending on my evap rate.

 

Kalk.bmp

 

Calvin - try to find a handheld conductivity meter.....if the effluent is 10.2 mS than your saturated (~800ppm Ca). pH isn't a good indicator because KW is unbuffered, so it only takes a bit to get to pH 12, but that won't cut it for determining the strength of the KW.

 

I don't have a meter but I already know it works fine. The proof is in the pudding or water... I've got the same setup on my Dad's 75 and it's maintaining his Ca level at 400 and Alk at 12 DKH with about 20 SPS colonies 2 Clams, and numerous LPS corals sucking up the Ca.

 

 

 

FYI:

If someone is looking for a professional kalk reactor with a pump Scott (the guy who built my tank) has a Nano Kalk reactor, professionally built out of Acrylic, with a pump for $100.00.

 

 

 

Hey Calvin I really like your design.. I can fit that one in my stand. Looking at your pictures I have some questions..

 

1. It looks like you split the return on the reactor. What purpose does this serve? Does one line go to the sump and other to somewhere else?

 

2. Where did you get your small white connectors and shut off valves?

 

3. Did you just use regular airline tubing or something more substantial?

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks! Hopefully this will answer your question, if not just let me know.

 

1. The purpose of the split on the reactor is to control the about of lime water is used for top off. Should my Ca levels get too high I can cut back or even cut off the Kalk reactor without impacting my ATO. It basically diverts the water around the reactor if I open the valve.

 

2. I got all my JG fittings at Lowes in the plumbing department.

 

3. Yes airline tubing will work just as well, I just used 1/4" tubing that I bought at Lowes as well just to save the extra trip.

[newreefguy]

Thanks! How do you control the flow of your gravity ATO? Are you just using a valve to control it?

[calvin415]

Thanks! How do you control the flow of your gravity ATO? Are you just using a valve to control it?

 

The float valve contols the ATO. As the water evaps, the water level in the sump lowers allowing the valve to open slightly. The water drips in and raises the water level back up, thus shutting off the valve. I never see the water going in because it's tiny amounts at a time and it's always happening. What I do see is my bucket of RO water get lower and lower over the day(s) and my kalk powder in the reactor getting used up by the water getting mixed with it.

 

For those that want to see pics take a look on my 40G Custom link in my sig.

[bigfalcon36]

Sorry if I missed this, but how big of a hole did you make in the PVC to allow the Kalk water to go through??