Kalk Reactor Talk

[NaTe R]

I set up a Kalk reactor to help raise Ph and my question is for those who use them.

What is your routine with them?

What do you keep ph level at in the chamber?

will fresh water "fully saturate" and stop increasing ph?

so in theory a guy could throw like 6 cups of Kalkwasser in there and know that it is always gonna stop at say 25.00 P.h. for a known variable in an equasion
^^I m not brave enough to try that on my own is why i ask

 

[Myteemouse]

I just put 1 1/2 cups in mine and it stirs twice a say for 15 mins each..
I don't have a PH monitor in mine it's in the sump..
My PH is from 7.8 at night to 8.2 during the day..
I clean it out twice a year. nothing else..
My ATO is my feed for it..

 

[NaTe R]

I just put 1 1/2 cups in mine and it stirs twice a say for 15 mins each..
I don't have a PH monitor in mine it's in the sump..
My PH is from 7.8 at night to 8.2 during the day..
I clean it out twice a year. nothing else..
My ATO is my feed for it..

Can i ask you to do me a favor and test the ph of whats coming out of it?

 

[Myteemouse]

I will do that but my monitor I don;t know how high it will go???
And how bad it will throw it out of calibration?

 

[NaTe R]

i agree do you have a pinpoint monitor?

if you do maybe we can assume that it will throw both of ours off by the same amount

Mine is testing at 12.3ph on my pinpoint re calibrated within the last two weeks.

 

[roscoe]

Kalkwasser at full saturation has a PH of 12-13 I beleive.

 

[Myteemouse]

I'll chck mines wait one minute
ALSO Mine just got done stirring for the evening so it might be higher yet??

 

[NaTe R]

And how bad it will throw it out of calibration?

I just got that. I don't think it does i check mine and put it back in the sump and get the same reading as before.

12-13 ph really...that is some very useful information roscoe

So that means in theory i could put alot of kalkwasser in the reactor and only get that 13ph max reading and adjust drip to a get precisely what i want for ph reading in display? (a constant to the variable)

 

[Myteemouse]

so it was at 12.2-12.3

 

[tamarindthai]

do not let the O2 to get into the Kalk chamber,,so it can maintained drip bt 12 -14ph,,

will fresh water "fully saturate" and stop increasing ph?,,used fresh water (RODI)only

 

[TotalVapor]

I just put 1 1/2 cups in mine and it stirs twice a say for 15 mins each..
I don't have a PH monitor in mine it's in the sump..
My PH is from 7.8 at night to 8.2 during the day..
I clean it out twice a year. nothing else..
My ATO is my feed for it..

How long does that 1 1/2 cups last you?
I think we might have it set up the same way. I feed my Kalk reactor with my ATO and then into my sump.

As I notice it running low I add a few heaping table spoons of kalk to the reactor.

My pH output is 12.3 to 12.6 and I buy my kalk from bulkreefsupply.com.
I used to use Mrs Wages but I had issues with the output being too high one time or too low the next. (10.8 to 14.2)

 

[NaTe R]

cool i learned something today. Thanks Adam, roscoe, dang

So i can always know that if i keep lots of kalk in reactor it will always be 12-14 and i can get correct ph in display by how much i drip. Very nice to know.

Dang i plumbed in kalk reactor how we talked about. I set water pressure input to control my out put drip all fed strait from ro/di. Works Great thanks

 

[NaTe R]

How long does that 1 1/2 cups last you?

that will depend on how much you drip/top off of course. What kind of evap do you get?

 

[TotalVapor]

cool i learned something today. Thanks Adam, roscoe, dang

So i can always know that if i keep lots of kalk in reactor it will always be 12-14 and i can get correct ph in display by how much i drip. Very nice to know.

yes that is correct because Kalk will only break down until you have a 2 teaspoons dissolved in it.

Or

The maximum amount of Kalk that can dissolve in fresh water is 2 teaspoons per gallon of water.

 

[TotalVapor]

that will depend on how much you drip/top off of course. What kind of evap do you get?

I was actually asking myteemouse how much he uses by adding a cup and half to his unit. I believe my kalk reactor is 2 gallons so I add 4 heaping tablesppons. That will last me a week or two. I never stress over my kalk seems like there is always a little bit in the bottom.

I was asking mytee because I might have that guy over at clear fabrication build one for me if he does not have one in stock. I am due for a new one and I would like to double the size I have now since I am traveling more and more.

 

[cali_reef]

More than you ever want to know about kalk.

 

[NaTe R]

I was actually asking myteemouse how much he uses by adding a cup and half to his unit. I believe my kalk reactor is 2 gallons so I add 4 heaping tablesppons. That will last me a week or two. I never stress over my kalk seems like there is always a little bit in the bottom.

I was asking mytee because I might have that guy over at clear fabrication build one for me if he does not have one in stock. I am due for a new one and I would like to double the size I have now since I am traveling more and more.

sorry for answering for Mouse but....

what i have gathered from this convo were having that no matter how much you put in there, freshwater will only saturate so much.

So in you case you should be able to through 4 cups in a kalk reactor and not have to worry about it for a month maybe, thats the way i am seeing it.

thanks cali_reef i knew that was out there somewhere

 

[roscoe]

I have PM kalk reactor and I put 4 cups of kalk in it every month.

 

[Myteemouse]

How long does that 1 1/2 cups last you?
I think we might have it set up the same way. I feed my Kalk reactor with my ATO and then into my sump.

As I notice it running low I add a few heaping table spoons of kalk to the reactor.

My pH output is 12.3 to 12.6 and I buy my kalk from bulkreefsupply.com.
I used to use Mrs Wages but I had issues with the output being too high one time or too low the next. (10.8 to 14.2)

that will depend on how much you drip/top off of course. What kind of evap do you get?

I was actually asking myteemouse how much he uses by adding a cup and half to his unit. I believe my kalk reactor is 2 gallons so I add 4 heaping tablesppons. That will last me a week or two. I never stress over my kalk seems like there is always a little bit in the bottom.

I was asking mytee because I might have that guy over at clear fabrication build one for me if he does not have one in stock. I am due for a new one and I would like to double the size I have now since I am traveling more and more.

I have a 24" tall 6" round body
from CFI
I evep prolly 2+ gallons a day
And 1 1/2 cups last me like 3 weeks

 

[TotalVapor]

sorry for answering for Mouse but....

what i have gathered from this convo were having that no matter how much you put in there, freshwater will only saturate so much.

So in you case you should be able to through 4 cups in a kalk reactor and not have to worry about it for a month maybe, thats the way i am seeing it.

thanks cali_reef i knew that was out there somewhere

You are right I was just trying to compare someone that puts cups in at one time to myself who has always put heaping tablespoons. it was more for my learning. I just talked to someone from cfi and they are going to build me a new kalk reactor. He said he could build me a skimmer too but I am not sure yet if I want to fork out that kind of money right now.