i just got my new reactor 2day.. it says to use about half a cup of kalk to start off with.. this seems like alot.. i am currently only putting 2tsp in my 5g bucket when i drip kalk.. i am losing about 2-1/2g of water to evaporation a day... should i go ahead and mix the half cup?? this seems wrong..if i were just using it to drip kalk, i think it would be fine, but i am using it as topoff.. any sugestions???
How Much Kalk In New Geo Reactor
- Thread starter ronj
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roscoe
Well-known member
I hooked up my PM kalkreactor about a month ago on my current 340g system. I have a pump hooked up to it that runs 24/7. I evaporate about 4-5g per 24hrs and I am dripping around 3g of kalk water every 24hrs 24/7 and as soon as I get a pump for my ATO it will top off the remaining evap that the Kalkreactor isn't topping off. So far it is working decent but every now and then my plasitc airline valve that I use to regulate the drip gets clogged and slows the drip rate a bit but it is easy to clean the valve though so no biggie. At 1st I was going to hook my ATO to my Kalkreatcor but I thought that would add too much kalk water into the system to quickly and spike the PH. So I felt a slow steady drip 24/7 is the best way to go. Plus too it has been pretty successful on my 40b with that method. I also understand that this is a much bigger beast and I would need more than a kalkreactor to keep all levels stabalized but this will do for now.
i may try having the kalkreactor and the topoff as two separate things..not sure yet.. i would like to have it as one to combine space.. could i just use less kalk in the reactor and just use the reactor for topoff??? it really seems like it is going to be really hard to fine tune it to the amount of kalk that i will need
roscoe
Well-known member
I put about a cup of kalkwasser in my reactor and just let it drip. It last me for a little over a week before I have to put in another cup. Well as far as space goes in my case I would use the same amount of space whether I set the reactor and ATO inline together or seperate. You would just be using to seperate pumps. One for the ATO and one for the reactor and both pumps would be in the same resovoir so there wouldn't be any extra space needed at all. I hope that makes sense to you.
Darthv247
Well-known member
yeah im planning on running them seperatly as well. seems like the easiest way for me to figure out.
well i just hooked everything up and i have it running.. i put 1tsp of kalk in the reactor.. i will add 1tsp every time that i refill my reservoir..it is 1gallon, plus the reactor holds 2gallons.. so i end up with 1tsp per 3gallons.. i am going to start with that and re-test my Calcium in a day or so. i also need a bigger reservoir.. i am going to try to get something that will hold 4-5g of water
Saltyfish
Banned
On my 300 Gallon and the Kalk Reactor Matt made for me (it is pretty big, I think it holds 3 gallons of water). I put two cups of Kalk based on the calculator some one had.
The pump on the reactor runs 5 minutes every 12 hours. I wait 1 hour after the pump turns off the top off the system. I was scared I may overdose so I have been testing before and after every top off. (I am doing it manually until I can get everything set into my aqua controller) This will ensure I get everything set up just right the first time.
If for some reason it is dosing too much I will put a tee before the kalk reactor and split the line. On the Reactor one directly into the sump. I will also add a valve on the output of the kalk reactor so I can slow it down to a drip if I need to.
So far so good though.....
The pump on the reactor runs 5 minutes every 12 hours. I wait 1 hour after the pump turns off the top off the system. I was scared I may overdose so I have been testing before and after every top off. (I am doing it manually until I can get everything set into my aqua controller) This will ensure I get everything set up just right the first time.
If for some reason it is dosing too much I will put a tee before the kalk reactor and split the line. On the Reactor one directly into the sump. I will also add a valve on the output of the kalk reactor so I can slow it down to a drip if I need to.
So far so good though.....
DonW
R.I.P.
You can go ahead and fill the reactor and just dont stir as often. Only using the small amount of lime is defeating the purpose of buying a reactor. The Idea is to saturate the water and keep it that way without having to add lime on a regular basis. If you dont need saturated water then just dont stir as often.
Don
