thoughts on nilsen kalk reactor

[tinctorus]

Hey guys im getting ready to make myself a nilsen kalk reactor in order to keep up with the calcium demands of my system and also as a simple way of adding ro water to my tank lost due to evaporation

 

Just curious as to anyone else using a system like this

ill make the reactor myself and i will be using an aqualifter pump on a timer in order to pump the water through the reactor and into the tank without adding any air to the system rendering my kalk useless due to co2 addition causeing my kalk to turn in to calcium carbonate

[tinctorus]

nobody has any thoughts about a kalk reactor?

jeez i figured someone uses one or at least has used one since dripping kalk is basically innefective to a point

[tinctorus]

Jeez someones gotta use one of these things

Or maybe nobody likes responding to my threads lol

[tinctorus]

wow i really thought people on here would be using one of these

[jspot]

Don't use one but been debating on it for awhile. Sorry not any help but at least someone is listening.

[tinctorus]

Don't use one but been debating on it for awhile. Sorry not any help but at least someone is listening.

lol

I am stoked to set mine up and hook it between my new 10 gallon refugium and 2.5 gallon auto top off system i am installing and making for my RSM

[jspot]

Post some pics when you get it done please.

[tinctorus]

Oh I will man without a doubt

As well as my 10 gallon refugium I'm putting in the stand of my RSM

[wombat]

Nilsen reactors are typically pressurized containers (like CO2/Calcium reactors) that, to me, are a maintenance hassle to unscrew and fiddle with. You can just as easily use a 5 gallon bucket with a loose fitting lid and accomplish the same effect.

 

RHF has done some tests on atmospheric CO2 exchange with saturated kalkwasser. (I've done the same with similar equipment.) Kalk losing its effectiveness over time is not really as big a concern as was generally believed. As long as you have an overabundance of CaOH powder at the bottom of the container and the container is covered, the kalkwasser should be just as effective as if you take painstaking steps to seal and eliminate CO2 from the device.

[tinctorus]

Nilsen reactors are typically pressurized containers (like CO2/Calcium reactors) that, to me, are a maintenance hassle to unscrew and fiddle with. You can just as easily use a 5 gallon bucket with a loose fitting lid and accomplish the same effect.

 

RHF has done some tests on atmospheric CO2 exchange with saturated kalkwasser. (I've done the same with similar equipment.) Kalk losing its effectiveness over time is not really as big a concern as was generally believed. As long as you have an overabundance of CaOH powder at the bottom of the container and the container is covered, the kalkwasser should be just as effective as if you take painstaking steps to seal and eliminate CO2 from the device.

yeah my whole logic in taking on building the nilsen reactor was to eliminate co2 from the system and figured it i pressurized it with water coming in from an auto top off i would add the least amount of co2 to the system as possible

[wombat]

yeah my whole logic in taking on building the nilsen reactor was to eliminate co2 from the system and figured it i pressurized it with water coming in from an auto top off i would add the least amount of co2 to the system as possible

 

 

My point was that the CO2 is not all that big of a concern. The skin that forms on the top of the kalkwasser restricts gas exchange. A tight fitting lid will help even more. Also, if there is excess CaOH powder at the bottom of the container it will continually enter solution and keep the kalkwasser saturated.

 

Bottom line is that you do not need a pressurized reactor to dose full strength/effective kalkwasser to your tank.

[kgross]

I love my kalk reactors. You fill them up and forget about them for quite a while until you have to fill it up again. Once it is made, there is very very maintenance that needs to be done.

 

Here is a write up of some that I made.

 

http://www.jensalt.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4

 

I still have not finished the write up, but here are the pictures.

 

http://www.jensalt.com/gallery2/v/diykalk/

 

Kim

[d0ughb0y]

I assume you have read about how kalk reactor works and what is needed to build one.

The most common design includes something that will stir up the water, either continuously using a magnetic stirrer, or for a minute or so, a few times a day using a maxijet pump.

 

There is also the design that does not require stirring at all, just a simple air tight container.

sort of like this

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~cat...y~FIDPETAC.html

 

The idea is basically an air tight container, where you dump some amount of kalk powder into, then hook it up to your ATO. Where the ATO water gets pushed in to the bottom of the container, then comes out the top. The fresh water that enters the bottom will dissolve the kalk settled at the bottom to replace the kalk mixture that comes out the top.

 

One variation of this is to use rigid tubing on the lid of the container, one that extends all the way down to the bottom (and connected to input water), and a shorter one that is essentially flush with the lid of the container (on the inside) and connected to the output hose going to your tank, so no air bubbles will get trapped at the top of the container.

 

There is also the setup as suggested above to just dump all your kalk powder into your rodi top off water reservoir. This works, but to me, is a messy setup. I like my ATO reservoir to be just pure rodi water. So I have setup something similar to the tunze ato setup with the kalk container with no stirrer. that seems to work fine.

[tinctorus]

yeah i wanted to use the reactor to keep the kalk out of my r/o topoff system and to make my use of it as effective as possible

right now and for the past 3 years ive always just dripped it but this seems like an easier maintenance free solution