Thinking of buying a Kalk reactor. Talk me in or out of it!

[dwest]

I use a 20 gallon still reservoir and dose via a dosing pump not ATO. This way I can up the dosage by adjusting the pump and not having to adjust evaporation rate. There is no stirring involved after initially mixing the kAlk into RODI water.

Jizu we have a similar setup. Since my evaporation rate is pretty constant, I can just use ato.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I like the idea of mixing a separate container with kalk and rodi and dosing it with a dosing pump. Seems safer. I never dosed kalk although am considering as well.

So you guys who use it, just monitor the dosage with a Ph probe? Add kalk when ph drops? How much do you allow the ph to swing per dose? What total amount would I dose in a 150 gal sps tank daliy?

 

[fishbox]

Just put the Kalk reactor downstream of your topoff pump. Then you don't need to worry about it burning out pumps and you get kalk water for all you topoff.

What about backflow? I ask because my ATO revoir is also the same as my rodi storage. So I wouldn't want the kalk backflowing into the storage.

 

[TonyNguyen]

I have to disagree with some of the other pointers. I ran both ways in the ATO tank and the reactor. The ATO tank will clog on you in the long run and your pump will also take a hit. On top of that you will get residual from the left over kalk it is not idea. I ran Kalkwasser reactor for many years and it kept my sps growing. The safe way of doing it is run the reactor along with your ATO when your tank needs water it will feed to your tank and keep it consistent. The ATO tank method is good for short term but long term you will need a reactor. When the pump spins it keeps the strength at top notch at any given time your tank demand water. You will need to refill the kalkwasser as your tank demand and run your pump in vinegar. But that's a lot better than having to constantly cleaning the ATO tank and line and pump and adding daily the pickling lime....just my 2 cent from my experience.

 

[FirstContact]

I have a MRC kalkreactor. Used it for years with great results. I'll be putting it back on line when I put corals in my DT again after my reboot to my 120g.

 

[derek.gray.988]

I run two 5 gallon reservoirs and two aqua lifters. One reservoir has Kalk and one has rodi. When pH is less than 8.3 and the tank needs water, my apex turns on the lifter for the Kalk. When it's greater than 8.3, the tank is topped off by the regular rodi. It helps regulate pH in the aquarium as well as maintain alkalinity. I clean the end of the kalk output hose every couple weeks because you do get a buildup of deposits from the lime water. Pretty simple to throw a couple tablespoons of kalk powder in the reservoir each time I fill it!

 

[leepink23]

I like the idea of mixing a separate container with kalk and rodi and dosing it with a dosing pump. Seems safer. I never dosed kalk although am considering as well.

So you guys who use it, just monitor the dosage with a Ph probe? Add kalk when ph drops? How much do you allow the ph to swing per dose? What total amount would I dose in a 150 gal sps tank daliy?

I do monitor ph but I dosed the kalkwasser by slowly increasing the hourly run time and checking alk every few days until my Alk stayed stable. I did add programming to cut off if ph is over 8.35.

 

[Smarkow]

This really depends on your reefing philosophy, IMO. I believe in minimizing maintenance and I am trying for rapid SPS growth. To do this, I run high alk (11 dkh) and high pH. To minimize maintenance, I use a calcium reactor (Geos!) with 3x daily dosage of concentrated kalk through an octo ks-150 using an apex PMUP from my ATO. I time it to be dosed overnight when my pH is at its lowest. I like that the kalk combines with any leftover CO2 from the calcium reactor to form bicarb and also binds up some trace phosphate.

The effect appears to be about a +0.05-0.1 pH difference between when I use the kalk reactor and when I do not. FYI, I have a 1.5 year old 210 gallon display sps tank, my nitrates with red sea kit are consistently 0, my phosphates with hanna ULR are also consistently 0. I have 4 years of reefing experience, and I would rate my current satisfaction with reefing as higher than ever.

I attached my apex graphs. The left side is when the ATO ran dry for a day (busy with work) and no kalk was dosed. The next day the ATO reservoir had been refilled. Green bars are PMUP activity, though obv for the day on the left no talk was actually dosed and the pumps ran dry... oops!

 

[BigJohnny]

I prefer to mix a 5g reservoir and dose with a brs dosing pump through my controller (i dose the equivalent of .5 dKH per day on my 105g total volume system, enough to maintain a high ph). That way I ensure 100% the concentration is accurate and consistent, and I don't need to worry about an extra piece of equipment failing. I've heard most of the motors on them don't last long as well.

I have two reservoirs and have to switch them out about every 2 weeks. Takes me 5 minutes to mix em up. I realize if you have a much larger system or need to dose a larger portion of your daily dKH consumption than I do, that you may need too big of a reservoir than is reasonable to avoid having to switch them out too frequently.

If you decide to use a stirrer on your tank, I recommend you at least use a dosing pump instead of your ato to feed it. That way you have more control and in my opinion safety. As you know evaporation varies and therefore so will your dKH. Couple that with saturation consistency issues some people experience and you could get some unwanted instability.

Oh and if I wasn't clear I don't use kalk as my primary dosing method, although I start all my tanks that way because it's easy to dial in and keeps pH up. I dose balling and adjust that when needed but keep the kalk adding .5 dKH per day regardless which keeps my pH high.

 

[ca1ore]

If you are going to use Kalk, a stir-bar reactor on the ATO line is the only way to go. I tried a multitude of DIY monstrosities before buying the avast unit. One of the best things I ever got for my tank. Kalk alone doesn't come anywhere close to meeting the mineral needs of my tank, but it helps to keep PH up. My return chamber is very small in relation to my tank, so the PH affect is quite modest. I run dual ATO pumps so should the ph rise too much, the ATO running through the kalk reactor is disabled. In practice, this never happens though.

 

[SteadyC]

Back in the day I used kalk and had good results. I haven't used kalk in many years and I am considering buying a kalk reactor for my tank. There isn't much demand on my current reef but that will be changing post haste due to the algae butt kicking I just handed out!

So do you use a kalk reactor and if so what is your experience?

If you don't do you have a good reason?

Reef blog boss man, I’ve run kalk for many years and have dosed it many different ways. For 2 years, I dosed via a separate (from my 60 gallon main ATO reservoir) 10 gallon reservoir via BRS 50 ml/min pump, this required weekly cleanings of the reservoir, and replenish with fresh water and mixing in kalk. In the last month I moved to an Avast kalk reactor, and I love it. I went from weekly cleanings of the separate kalk reservior, to monthly cleanings of the reactor. I already had and used the peristaltic pump and schedule set on the Apex, so I just moved the pump to the reactor. And cut my maintenance on kalk from weekly to monthly. Mid month, I do add a little kalk to the reactor, but that takes minutes every two weeks. With the Apex, I run the mixing motor 30 minutes every hour, starting at 15 minute mark. Really happy with reactor thus far, picture attached. I loved the second reservoir for years, but in the end it required more manual maintenance versus the reactor.

 

[Jlentz]

I just put an avast kalk stirrer in my system. Mostly to keep the ph up. My calcium reactor does a great job on everything but the ph.

 

[Sharvey103]

I used to use one but was not happy with the results and transitioned to the Aqua Forrest balling method which have seen a dramatic increase in growth, coloration an PE in my 300DD.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Jizu we have a similar setup. Since my evaporation rate is pretty constant, I can just use ato.

As your consumption rate of kh and ca changes you'll just have to figure out how to dose more than what is evaporated

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I like the idea of mixing a separate container with kalk and rodi and dosing it with a dosing pump. Seems safer. I never dosed kalk although am considering as well.

So you guys who use it, just monitor the dosage with a Ph probe? Add kalk when ph drops? How much do you allow the ph to swing per dose? What total amount would I dose in a 150 gal sps tank daliy?

Monitoring kalk with a ph probe and having it shut off if the ph rises too much is a good failsafe for if the dosing pump fails. The amount dosed is adjusted by your KH reading not ph though. On my 300 gallon system I started the dose at a gallon a day split into 24 doses since that was my evaporation rate. I just measured kh every few days and adjusted the amount dosed as needed. Right now I dose 184ml per hour for 24 hours and my kh stays at 8.5.

 

[revhtree]

Great info everyone! I think I will go with a reactor with stirrer to get me started.

 

[gcrawford]

Using an older geo model and have for years with Mrs. Wages pickling lime. Works great in conjunction with my cal reactor. ATO pushes water through it.....

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I know this a very old thread but yes, I am currently running one @revhtree. Instead of going with a Reef Octo i decided to go with a Avast Kalk Stirrer, the ( K1 model) and a Avast Peristaltic pump that draws off my saltwater mixing station and transfers it into my sump.
Which is about a 25ft distance from my station to my display.. My Kalk stirrer runs the peri pump off a timer and runs it for 15 minutes at a time every 4 hours ones my main Hydra HD turn off at 11pm.. Anyways, its kind of hard to see my I have my Avast Kalk reator behind my tank whihc you can see I hard plumbed in to run off into the return section.
Avast Kalk Stirrer

Hard Plumbed

50 gallon mixing station

 

[MJC]

The way I have mine set up and the safest method for me is.
I use two 10 gal. Brut containers and a BRS dosing pump, hooked up to my APEX with a interval dosing program setup.
I have this dose throughout the night helping keep pH elevated.
I use mrs wages pickling lime and to have it fully saturated at 12 pH it is a mixture of
2 teaspoons per gallon of RODI.
I mix both containers up and let the impurities settle out which usually happens in a few hours then place a rigid tubing line 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket (so it don't suck up the impurities that settles) and swap containers when one is empty(usualy every 3-4 days)
This way your only mixing one container every few days.

I would never put it in my auto top off, for one.... evaporation is not consistent throughout the year and I don't trust ato malfunctions.
With the APEX you can have it shut off the dosing pump at a certain pH if necessary while not affecting your ato.

Hope this helps

 

[Joe Grubbs]

Similar in form to the GEO posted by @gcrawford I'm running the PM Kalk Rx, using the BRS 50 ml/min dos pump run via the Apex. Couple months back, converted from 'any cheep kalk' which was available to BRS Pharma Kalk. There is a clear difference in the amount of settlement platting out on the container after the switch. This was last re-charged 3 weeks ago.