Kalk stirrer operation

[TWYOUNG]

Thats exactly how you do it right there

So you don't run your stirrer 24/7?

 

[TWYOUNG]

Yeah those dos are noisy! Only took them eight years to finally come out with a quiet version. Avast recommends 24/7 stirring. Saves an outlet. Replacement motor is cheap if needed. It doesn’t use much power at all. It also keeps the sludge in motion as not to bog the motor at startup. Some run them 24/7, some don’t. No wrong way

Would love a quieter DOS but can't justify buying new ones for that reason alone, frustrating!

 

[piranhaman00]

What’s the point of the stirring?

 

[Wayofthereef]

So you don't run your stirrer 24/7?

Mine runs for 15 minutes every 2 hours

 

[Wayofthereef]

So you don't run your stirrer 24/7?

But if you run it does the milky solution stay low and its clear up top where it dumps out? Or does the whole thing look milky

 

[JNalley]

What’s the point of the stirring?

It's 2 or three fold depending on how you look at it. With a Kalk stirrer you're adding more kalk than can conceivably dissolve into the water, so the stirrer prevents the Calcium Hydroxide from caking together in a clump at the bottom, it keeps it suspended so it has more contact time, and that contact time helps insure potency

 

[TWYOUNG]

It's 2 or three fold depending on how you look at it. With a Kalk stirrer you're adding more kalk than can conceivably dissolve into the water, so the stirrer prevents the Calcium Hydroxide from caking together in a clump at the bottom, it keeps it suspended so it has more contact time, and that contact time helps insure potency

I would also imagine the closed environment prevents precipitation of calcium carbonate which inevitably occurs with exposure to air.

 

[Sweet Reef Corals]

I came across this thread as I am going thru the same troubles with Kalk concentration as well. I have a 3g sealed container that holds the kalk. No reactor or stirrer. I am currently dosing about 500mL settled Kalk water a day to maintain an alkalinity of 8.0. For the amount of SPS I have in the system, that’s about 5X more dosing than if I was using 2 part Soda Ash/Calcium.

I am using the recommended mix on the back of the BRS Kalkwasser bag which is 3 TSP per gallon of water. Is this the highest concentration ratio we can go??

I really don’t want to go back to 2 part but I need a better way to get the mixture “super saturated”. I just don’t want to drop $200+ on a reactor/stirrer.

I also wanted to show what @Randy Holmes-Farley posted to my question about stirred kalk water vs settled kalk water

 

[Wayofthereef]

I came across this thread as I am going thru the same troubles with Kalk concentration as well. I have a 3g sealed container that holds the kalk. No reactor or stirrer. I am currently dosing about 500mL settled Kalk water a day to maintain an alkalinity of 8.0. For the amount of SPS I have in the system, that’s about 5X more dosing than if I was using 2 part Soda Ash/Calcium.

I am using the recommended mix on the back of the BRS Kalkwasser bag which is 3 TSP per gallon of water. Is this the highest concentration ratio we can go??

I really don’t want to go back to 2 part but I need a better way to get the mixture “super saturated”. I just don’t want to drop $200+ on a reactor/stirrer.

I also wanted to show what @Randy Holmes-Farley posted to my question about stirred kalk water vs settled kalk water

So if your using a kalk stirrer, the recommended dosing about is irrelevant. The stirrer will mix the solution to its maximum solubility. At that point its measured at PH and anything over 12.2 is ideal. For example this morning I woke up to 11.9 and I know the stirrer is low on kalk. In a kalk stirrer the RODI comes in from the bottom of the container through the concentrated solution and goes into the system from the top where the solution is clear.

If you are concerned about 500ml listen to this, one of my systems is 100 gallons total. Mixed reef predominantly sps and I am at 7500mL a day tomaintain my levels.

I run
DKH 10-11
CAL 400-450
MAG 1400-1450
N03 15-25
P04 .2 TO .3

OF COURSE THIS IS NOT TO SAY THOSE NUMBERS ARE FOR EVERYONE.

Just my 2 pennies

 

[BrighamSarratt]

So you don't run your stirrer 24/7?

Nox Vidmate VLC​

 

[Wayofthereef]

Nox Vidmate VLC​

My stirrer comes on every 2 hours for 15 minutes.

 

[TWYOUNG]

So if your using a kalk stirrer, the recommended dosing about is irrelevant. The stirrer will mix the solution to its maximum solubility. At that point its measured at PH and anything over 12.2 is ideal. For example this morning I woke up to 11.9 and I know the stirrer is low on kalk. In a kalk stirrer the RODI comes in from the bottom of the container through the concentrated solution and goes into the system from the top where the solution is clear.

If you are concerned about 500ml listen to this, one of my systems is 100 gallons total. Mixed reef predominantly sps and I am at 7500mL a day tomaintain my levels.

I run
DKH 10-11
CAL 400-450
MAG 1400-1450
N03 15-25
P04 .2 TO .3

OF COURSE THIS IS NOT TO SAY THOSE NUMBERS ARE FOR EVERYONE.

Just my 2 pennies

I'm surprised you have enough evaporation to allow that much replacement. Just to give me an idea, how much kalk powder do you think you use. For instance, would a cup of kalk last a week, (7500 x 7 mls) or 52,500 mls?

 

[Wayofthereef]

I'm surprised you have enough evaporation to allow that much replacement. Just to give me an idea, how much kalk powder do you think you use. For instance, would a cup of kalk last a week, (7500 x 7 mls) or 52,500 mls?

So my stirrer is a DIY project that I made and I dont count the number of scoops I put in it simply because the waters ability to dissolve the solution has its limits. It will never just continue to dissolve, it will dissolve over time as you add fresh rodi. Now there have come times that my evaporation rate doesn't keep up with what is added daily. So I have a fluid level in the sump that lets me know when I reach a certain threshold and I remove a gallon or 2 of water and test my salinity and adjust as necessary... but that is pretty rare

So when I started this process I started at 2000ML, and I have a trident so I tracked the numbers the slowly increased by 250mL's every other day till I was stable at what I wanted to see and that landed me at 5500mL. Fast-forward a year later and as demand grew its now 7500mL. Its actually insane how raising the levels in my system including No3 and Po4 that the growth rate has literally exploded...

I thought one day crap my acro's are dying. They were all puffed up and had this slime off the ends.. like crazy puffed up. Nope its literally growing at a crazy rate now.

But again my 2 pennies

 

[Wayofthereef]

Also in my opinion, someone who says a kalk stirrer is an over priced gadget hasn't had one... I made mine for less than 50$ I think.. might be a bit more.. if you want to know I can show you the parts.. but to set up you dos based on your levels, fill the stirrer and literally forget about it for a month or 2 and watch your levels stay perfect for months straight is pretty awesome in my book. Nevermind the growth rate that comes with that stability.

Right where I like them although, I would never recomend leaving your orp probe out of the water for more than 2 hours because that is the results you'll get.. off more than an easy hundred because I did that.

 

[Wayofthereef]

Thanks, that was very helpful. I have an Apex but no Trident so I could spot check the pH of the kalk soln but can't fully control things. Is pH monitoring the only way to know when to add more kalk powder or will it visually disappear? I know my current kalk vessel always has tons of left over kalk, or calcium carbonate precipitate, (it's impossible to know "what" it is), so I just pitch it and make all new.

I also want to address this, it will have a thin layer at the top that is the precipitation and dont mind that its harmless. Let me say this with my stirrer being a diy it uses a magnetic pill at the bottom to stir and VERY rarely I'll notice a ph drop and walk ouside and see clearly it still has at least an inch and a half of kalk at the bottom and that means the pill spun itself off center and is no longer spinning. So i dump everything into a container grab the pill and recenter it and pour everything back. A few minutes go by and everything seattled back out again. Never not once in over a year have I cleaned out that stirrer.. I have had to clear the lines though because over time that kalk will pug things up so i use a pipe cleaner.

 

[TWYOUNG]

I also want to address this, it will have a thin layer at the top that is the precipitation and dont mind that its harmless. Let me say this with my stirrer being a diy it uses a magnetic pill at the bottom to stir and VERY rarely I'll notice a ph drop and walk ouside and see clearly it still has at least an inch and a half of kalk at the bottom and that means the pill spun itself off center and is no longer spinning. So i dump everything into a container grab the pill and recenter it and pour everything back. A few minutes go by and everything seattled back out again. Never not once in over a year have I cleaned out that stirrer.. I have had to clear the lines though because over time that kalk will pug things up so i use a pipe cleaner.

Mine is a Reef Octopus and quite different. A motor periodically turns fins at the bottom to stir the kalk. 100 grams of kalk creates a 1 1/4" deep slurry at the bottom. A 90 degree upward angled pipe skims the surface and this drains into the sump. I won't have any surface scum but I will need to figure out when the addition of more kalk powder is necessary as I assume some slurry will always be present on the bottom.

 

[Wayofthereef]

Mine is a Reef Octopus and quite different. A motor periodically turns fins at the bottom to stir the kalk. 100 grams of kalk creates a 1 1/4" deep slurry at the bottom. A 90 degree upward angled pipe skims the surface and this drains into the sump. I won't have any surface scum but I will need to figure out when the addition of more kalk powder is necessary as I assume some slurry will always be present on the bottom.

Is it clear?

 

[TWYOUNG]

Is it clear?

Yes

 

[TWYOUNG]

Yes