Is Kalk all it’s cracked up to be?

[btkrausen]

I almost forgot. I took pictures of 3 corals before I started that I can use for comparison. I'll take more pictures tomorrow and see if we can find some noticeable growth in a week.

Good idea. Progression pictures always tell the truth.

so once you put the kalk in the reactor do you turn the reactor on right away or do you have to wait 24 hrs?

After you put the kalk in, you want to mix it for a bit first, and then its best to let sit for a while. I never stick to the 24 hour waiting period, but I'd at least let it sit for 8+ hours before it starts putting lime water into your tank.

 

[VelasCorals]

Here's some more info I left out.

Noticeable benefits so far from using Kalk.

1. My PH used to drop down to 7.8 at night and would never get above 8.1 during the day. After starting the kalk my PH only drops down to 8.2 at night and stays around 8.3 during the day. I’m working on getting the cord for my aquacontroller so I can download the data and graph out the PH over the days to see difference before and after using kalk.
   
   
2. My glass is cleaner! I used to have to clean the glass every day because of that thin green coating. I can now go a good 24 hours without having to do it. I went 36 hours the other day before I noticed the algae growing where it was annoying to look at.

 

[btkrausen]

Thats great man, I'm happy its working out for you. I wrote up a thing about kalkwasser today and posted in the same forum. Let me know if I missed anything.

 

[VelasCorals]

Thats great man, I'm happy its working out for you. I wrote up a thing about kalkwasser today and posted in the same forum. Let me know if I missed anything.

Will do, I added a link to your thread to the first page so people can get the background info regarding Kalk. I wanted to focus on the use of a reactor rather than getting into the background of Kalk. Thanks!

 

[btkrausen]

Yup, I was hoping I didn't step on your toes with doing that thread. Its something I've been wanting to do for a while now.

 

[VelasCorals]

Yup, I was hoping I didn't step on your toes with doing that thread. Its something I've been wanting to do for a while now.

Not at all, I really hope this helps a lot of people out. I didn't know anything about kalk and wish I found out years ago. Now we have a complete build/history thread all-in-one!

 

[btkrausen]

Awesome, should bring lots of help to everyone who wants to learn about kalk.

 

[spscrazy]

your tank is simply stunning lighting, coral & fish all in perfect harmony

 

[kellyjn]

Good write up and nice tank! You got me thinking now.

 

[PR_Reefers]

So... the TLF kalk reactor stirs at the same time it tops off??? i'm not clear as to how do you automate it.... when the ATO is activated the pump stirs the kalk and tops off at the same time??? wouldn't this cause the murky water to go into the tank?? from what I've heard isn't one supposed to let it settle before using the top "clear" water ?I would appreciate it if somebody could please clear this up for me... thanks!

 

[btkrausen]

So... the TLF kalk reactor stirs at the same time it tops off??? i'm not clear as to how do you automate it.... when the ATO is activated the pump stirs the kalk and tops off at the same time??? wouldn't this cause the murky water to go into the tank?? from what I've heard isn't one supposed to let it settle before using the top "clear" water ?I would appreciate it if somebody could please clear this up for me... thanks!

I was wondering the same thing about it. This is the reason that the big reactors have the pump inlet about 2/3 the way up, so even while mixing, the limewater at the top is still clear and good to go in the water.

 

[VelasCorals]

So... the TLF kalk reactor stirs at the same time it tops off??? i'm not clear as to how do you automate it.... when the ATO is activated the pump stirs the kalk and tops off at the same time??? wouldn't this cause the murky water to go into the tank?? from what I've heard isn't one supposed to let it settle before using the top "clear" water ?I would appreciate it if somebody could please clear this up for me... thanks!

I was wondering the same thing about it. This is the reason that the big reactors have the pump inlet about 2/3 the way up, so even while mixing, the limewater at the top is still clear and good to go in the water.

To answer both your questions the outlet is all the way at the top of the reactor. The water from the inlet is forced down the tube to the sprinkler head that stirs at the bottom. The sediment stays at he bottom and the clear mixed kalk water goes out the top of the reactor and into the sump. There no milky mixture that goes into the sump.

 

[btkrausen]

To answer both your questions the outlet is all the way at the top of the reactor. The water from the inlet is forced down the tube to the sprinkler head that stirs at the bottom. The sediment stays at he bottom and the clear mixed kalk water goes out the top of the reactor and into the sump. There no milky mixture that goes into the sump.

Thanks, it looked like the mixture was going up to the very top in your pics, so thats why I was curious. Maybe that was just the fix mix though so it looked worse than a normal mixing.

 

[VelasCorals]

TIME FOR SOME COMPARISON PICS
All pictures are from 02.01.11 to 02.08.11
(1 week)

This is a mini acro colony. Before and After

Digi Colony. Before and After

Tyree BGM. Before and After

Keep in mind that this only after a week, I should probably do monthy pics for comparison.


I'm about to take the first reading of Calc and Alk without any dosing to see if the kalk kept the numbers as 02/07/11.

 

[Curtie44]

I'm currently using a calcium reactor to maintain my tanks' calcium and alk levels but have been recently considering switching to Kalk. I have a couple of questions. First let me describe my setup.... My system consists of a 120 display, 40 breeder and a 100G sump. I use a 42G brute to hold my top off water. A full Brute will usually last between 7-14 days, depending on the season. I use a MJ1200 to pump from the Brute into a 5G Kent Aquadoser (there is a level probe in the Kent that turns the MJ1200 on when the level in the Kent drops to about 4"). The Kent sits on a shelf above the sump and gets gravity dripped into it. I adjust the pinch valve on the Kent to match my evap rate in the sump (this obviously changes with the seasons). So my question is this: Is there any reason why I couldn't mix up a trash can full of Kalk and use it as my top off? I can put a second MJ1200 in the Brute and have it turn on 4 or 5 times a day for 10 minutes to keep everything mixed up.

When the water is all used up, do I need to dump the Kalk that has settled on the bottom or can I just fill back up with fresh RO and mix again?

 

[btkrausen]

Definitely some noticeable growth in the acro colony; there are several new spots of growth on it. Can't really tell on the others though.

 

[btkrausen]

I'm currently using a calcium reactor to maintain my tanks' calcium and alk levels but have been recently considering switching to Kalk. I have a couple of questions. First let me describe my setup.... My system consists of a 120 display, 40 breeder and a 100G sump. I use a 42G brute to hold my top off water. A full Brute will usually last between 7-14 days, depending on the season. I use a MJ1200 to pump from the Brute into a 5G Kent Aquadoser (there is a level probe in the Kent that turns the MJ1200 on when the level in the Kent drops to about 4"). The Kent sits on a shelf above the sump and gets gravity dripped into it. I adjust the pinch valve on the Kent to match my evap rate in the sump (this obviously changes with the seasons). So my question is this: Is there any reason why I couldn't mix up a trash can full of Kalk and use it as my top off? I can put a second MJ1200 in the Brute and have it turn on 4 or 5 times a day for 10 minutes to keep everything mixed up.

When the water is all used up, do I need to dump the Kalk that has settled on the bottom or can I just fill back up with fresh RO and mix again?

Good question. Many people use a trashcan/large container to mix kalk into their top off, so you should be fine to do so. If you are using a powerhead to periodically mix it, I would try to keep the maxijet as high as possible to reduce the chances to getting kalk powder into the tank.

You don't have to dump the old kalk if you don't want too, just add a little to it. Keep some notes on how much you add each time and the results of such. That will quickly show you how much extra to add each time.

 

[VelasCorals]

I'm currently using a calcium reactor to maintain my tanks' calcium and alk levels but have been recently considering switching to Kalk. I have a couple of questions. First let me describe my setup.... My system consists of a 120 display, 40 breeder and a 100G sump. I use a 42G brute to hold my top off water. A full Brute will usually last between 7-14 days, depending on the season. I use a MJ1200 to pump from the Brute into a 5G Kent Aquadoser (there is a level probe in the Kent that turns the MJ1200 on when the level in the Kent drops to about 4"). The Kent sits on a shelf above the sump and gets gravity dripped into it. I adjust the pinch valve on the Kent to match my evap rate in the sump (this obviously changes with the seasons). So my question is this: Is there any reason why I couldn't mix up a trash can full of Kalk and use it as my top off? I can put a second MJ1200 in the Brute and have it turn on 4 or 5 times a day for 10 minutes to keep everything mixed up.

When the water is all used up, do I need to dump the Kalk that has settled on the bottom or can I just fill back up with fresh RO and mix again?

Yes you can just mix the kalk in the bucket and just drip/dose that. Many people do that. However the problem with that is the lime water loses it's potency the longer it sits there after it has been mixed. The beauty of the kalk reactor is it mixed on demand and makes the kalk last longer and is more automated.

 

[Curtie44]

What is the calcium reading one should get with properly mixed Kalk? Alk?

 

[Curtie44]

Yes you can just mix the kalk in the bucket and just drip/dose that. Many people do that. However the problem with that is the lime water loses it's potency the longer it sits there after it has been mixed. The beauty of the kalk reactor is it mixed on demand and makes the kalk last longer and is more automated.

Isn't what I described just like a Kalk reactor, just on a larger scale?