AVAST MARINE K1 KALK STIRRER

[saltwater newby]

Hello and happy holidays. I just recently ordered on cyber Monday an apex and an avast marine kalk stirrer. I ordered the Neptune pmup pump to run with the stirrer as I don’t trust using an ato specially considering the rate that my 240 gallon cubes water evaporation seems to always fluctuate. I plan to control the pump and dose of the kalk through my apex. I figured I was certain to go this route but after watching Mr. Saltwater tanks video on kalk he says he uses a dose which is what I was originally considering to do but I was advised by marine depot to go a cheaper route and use the pmup pump instead which I am also thankful because the dos from Neptune’s isn’t cheap. What are the kalk stirrers out there using as their methods? Thanks in advance!

 

[Water Dog]

If you‘re running your Kalk strirrer independent from your ATO, I would suggest a peristaltic pump. That way, you can dose a known colume through a timed outlet on your Apex controller. I have a Spectrapure basic peristaltic pump that pumps 155 ml/min (measured with a stopwatch and beaker). I use that flow rate and plug it into this Apex Dosing Program Generator. All I have to do is make sure I dose a set volume that is lower than my evaporation rate.

I wouldn’t use a PMUP as you wont be able to get an accurate volume on a timed outlet. I wouldn’t use one of those cheap dosers either, as they weren’t built to handle larger volumes for kalk dosing.

 

[saltwater newby]

Yeah. Like I said I was gonna use the Dos from Neptune’s but I was told that was an expensive way to go about it but I agree with your recommendation.

 

[saltwater newby]

If you‘re running your Kalk strirrer independent from your ATO, I would suggest a peristaltic pump. That way, you can dose a known colume through a timed outlet on your Apex controller. I have a Spectrapure basic peristaltic pump that pumps 155 ml/min (measured with a stopwatch and beaker). I use that flow rate and plug it into this Apex Dosing Program Generator. All I have to do is make sure I dose a set volume that is lower than my evaporation rate.

I wouldn’t use a PMUP as you wont be able to get an accurate volume on a timed outlet. I wouldn’t use one of those cheap dosers either, as they weren’t built to handle larger volumes for kalk dosing.

Would you recommend a Dos pump for that? I wouldn’t mind spending the extra $$$ considering I’ll have an apex to go with it.

 

[Water Dog]

No need for a DOS... use one of these on an Apex outlet...

Litermeter Basic Peristaltic Pump
Avast 25 ml/min
BRS 50 ml/min

 

[Water Dog]

Though, if you have the coin, the DOS will most certainly work. Shameless plug... I do have a spare Spectrapure Basic pump laying around. PM me if you’re interested.

 

[saltwater newby]

Though, if you have the coin, the DOS will most certainly work. Shameless plug... I do have a spare Spectrapure Basic pump laying around. PM me if you’re interested.

Nice! Thanks for the advise man. Let me see which route I go, I’ll pm you if I decide to go that route as well.

 

[dwest]

I use a liter meter 3 system with its own spectrapure controller plus the basic pump described above. I have an apex, but don’t use it for my top off and kalkwasser system.

 

[Water Dog]

I love Spectrapure gear! I have a full Litermeter III system w/ remote pump that I plan on setting up for AWC, their 90 GPD MaxCap RODI system, a stand alone Basic for my GEO Kalk Reactor to be programmed through my Apex, a UPLC-ATO and the above mentioned spare Basic pump. Top quality gear for sure!

 

[ksed]

Any recommendations if you don’t have an Apex controller but want to dose Kalk reliably.

 

[Forshurley]

I just got a kalk stirrer on cyber monday and plan on using the BRS doser to feed the Avast stirrer. I think if I had it on 24 hours in a day the max it will dose is 1584 mls (.41 gallons), keep in mind I evaporate almost 1 gallon a day on my tank . I imagine I couldn't over dose with this pump based on 1.1 ml per minute but might be very loud combined with the stirrer.

Using this pump combined with apex if PH gets to 8.3 you can shut off feed pump to have good control.

I wanna follow this thread and see others input on this approach.

Below is the feed pump I plan on using with stirrer.

BRS 2 Part Doser - 1.1 mL per minute

Why does BRS recommend this? The BRS 1.1 mL dosing pump is a very cost-effective yet long lasting stand-alone dosing pump perfect for trace elements and 2 part. By hooking the pump up to a simple timer or aquarium controller they can be one of the most inexpensive ways to get into an automated...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Water Dog]

Be careful with that approach. Those BRS 1.1 ml/min dosing pumps are not designed to run 24/7. They are designed for intermittent running. Running it 24/7 will most likely strip the plastic gears in short order. That’s why running a higher flow dosing pump as suggested above, programmed to run intermittently, would be more suitable for this application.

 

[Forshurley]

Be careful with that approach. Those BRS 1.1 ml/min dosing pumps are not designed to run 24/7. They are designed for intermittent running. Running it 24/7 will most likely strip the plastic gears in short order. That’s why running a higher flow dosing pump as suggested above, programmed to run intermittently, would be more suitable for this application.

I noticed you mentioned you wouldn't use the PMUP from apex either, what if it was a second unit stand alone from ATO pump? Trying to use gear I already own

 

[Water Dog]

I think you may have misunderstood me... If using the PMUP integrated with an ATO system to push water through a Kalk reactor/stirrer, then I think its fine as your dosing of Kalk is determined by your evaporation rate. It’s when it is used stand alone that I wouldn’t recommend it. To run a Kalk reactor/stirrer stand alone (separate from and ATO), you want a peristaltic pump as you can precisely determine the volume it pushes per interval of time. That accuracy of determining a precise volume over a known interval of time is not possible with a PMUP.

 

[Forshurley]

I think you may have misunderstood me... If using the PMUP integrated with an ATO system to push water through a Kalk reactor/stirrer, then I think its fine as your dosing of Kalk is determined by your evaporation rate. It’s when it is used stand alone that I wouldn’t recommend it. To run a Kalk reactor/stirrer stand alone (separate from and ATO), you want a peristaltic pump as you can precisely determine the volume it pushes per interval of time. That accuracy of determining a precise volume over a known interval of time is not possible with a PMUP.

I see your point regarding if stand alone you need to program dose rate and best way is with a parasitic pump.
My concern running through ATK is the kalk ruining optical sensors on the ATK. Do you think it would work to program apex to turn on a 2nd pump when ATO is on and that pump feeds the stirrer?

 

[Water Dog]

I don’t have an ATK so I don’t have any first hand experience to lend, though I know the Neptune optical sensors aren’t the best (I have failed sensors in my DDR dosing reservoir). That said, that’s why I replaced my Tunze 3155 with a Spectrapure UPLC-ATO as it uses a pressure tube that can’t be fouled by Kalk like optical sensors can.

If you want to run your Kalk reactor stand alone, can you route the Kalk dispensing line to your overflow or another turbulent part of your sump?

 

[Forshurley]

I don’t have an ATK so I don’t have any first hand experience to lend, though I know the Neptune optical sensors aren’t the best (I have failed sensors in my DDR dosing reservoir). That said, that’s why I replaced my Tunze 3155 with a Spectrapure UPLC-ATO as it uses a pressure tube that can’t be fouled by Kalk like optical sensors can.

If you want to run your Kalk reactor stand alone, can you route the Kalk dispensing line to your overflow or another turbulent part of your sump?

Yes, I will have room in the sump in the new build.
This thread is hitting a topic I was having hard time mapping out based on not wanting to run my ATK through Kalk stirrer and ruining sensors. Been racking my brain whats best method and second feeding pump is best IMO. I think I will definitely be scratching out the 1.1ml doser idea based on it having to run 24/7 ( thanks for pointing that out). I have time to decide before tank is wet but thinking of some programming for the apex to run second pump is best idea. Maybe put a 5 min delay on ATK when when low level sensor triggers and when low level sensors trips it turns on kalk feed and then have high level sensor turn off both....could work. or just but another fancy pump, which i probably do, lol

Started a new build on 11/3 and goal is to be wet by my birthday in February. If anyone interested check out build so far.

Large Build - 187g, My take on a modern reef

On 11/3/2019 my cousin's agreed to come help me move some tanks around in exchange for a thanksgiving meal and abundance of alcohol beverages. My current tank is set up in my living room for 5+ years and feels very DIY and ready for upgrade. I found a great used tank online and purchased a 187g...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Water Dog]

I wouldn‘t over complicate things with extra programming, delays, etc... For stand alone Kalk dosing, just dose a known volume that’s less than your evap rate.

 

[Pete Luna]

Just noticed this Thread. Although I am new to using a Stirrer I have an Avast 2 I use a DOS and replace most of my evaporation water with it. My ATO is a backup if water gets low. I monitored my evap for a week than started the dose at 1/2 volume with a gradual increase. Now I dose 6733mL a day so the DOS is on every 10 min. I use a BRS 1.1mL pump as a backup if Alk drops below 8.5 it kicks in. I level sensors so the DOS kicks off if water is to high.

 

[saltwater newby]

Just noticed this Thread. Although I am new to using a Stirrer I have an Avast 2 I use a DOS and replace most of my evaporation water with it. My ATO is a backup if water gets low. I monitored my evap for a week than started the dose at 1/2 volume with a gradual increase. Now I dose 6733mL a day so the DOS is on every 10 min. I use a BRS 1.1mL pump as a backup if Alk drops below 8.5 it kicks in. I level sensors so the DOS kicks off if water is to high.

Hello! I just saw this post... I ended up getting a Dos for Christmas with a ddr from my wife and I started using it with the stirrer but I noticed that the Dos pump was not pumping enough fluid through the reactor to start a drip. I changed back to the pmup pump. I recently saw a video from jake Adams and he’s using the same reactor with the versa dose and I was surprised. so now I’m like wow, should I have gotten one of those versa pumps instead? After contacting Neptunes to ask about how I can have the dos continuously pumping through the reactor like Jake does I was told it cannot does all day it can only do 10 minutes on 10 minute off at the most so now I’m trying to figure out how to set that command so that I can try again with the dos instead of the pmup as I’d like to have better control options.