Avast Marine Kalk Stirrer modded for PH and Saturation?

[BroccoliFarmer]

After an innocuous posting about how much I love my @AVAST Marine kalk stirrer and that I have my PH pegged at 12.0. Randy came back and told me that my kalk is not actually fully saturated at that PH. I then stated playing with my kalk stirrer (moving the mixer up and down) and the PH raised. This got me thinking...has anyone modded the Kalk stirrer so that the stir paddle pushes more of the kalk higher into the water column and thus allowing for a potentially more saturated slurry? Not that I am using enough kalkwasser every day that a 12.0 vs a 12.4 is going to make a significant difference, but just wondering if there is a way of keeping the kalk more in suspension using the kalk stirrer.

Thanks

 

[dwest]

After an innocuous posting about how much I love my @AVAST Marine kalk stirrer and that I have my PH pegged at 12.0. Randy came back and told me that my kalk is not actually fully saturated at that PH. I then stated playing with my kalk stirrer (moving the mixer up and down) and the PH raised. This got me thinking...has anyone modded the Kalk stirrer so that the stir paddle pushes more of the kalk higher into the water column and thus allowing for a potentially more saturated slurry? Not that I am using enough kalkwasser every day that a 12.0 vs a 12.4 is going to make a significant difference, but just wondering if there is a way of keeping the kalk more in suspension using the kalk stirrer.

Thanks

If you succeed, let me know!

I‘ve always wondered if a blast from a MJ1200 a couple times a day would help. But I’ve never experimented with it.

 

[wildcrazyjoker81]

I took my Avast Kalk Stirrer and removed the stirrer rod and instead sat it on a Magnetic Pill stirrer from Amazon. I can now control how much I want it to stir and mix the kalk. That said I am basically dosing a full Kalk Slurry at this point versus a saturated Kalk. My kalk pump is a Kamoer Pro T Stepper pump. Both the pump and stirrer run full time in my setup specifically at 10ml a minute and it makes up for my ATO basically. I do have a huge uptake compared to most as well though. I use a KH Guardian to help keep my Alk in line and have a cut off on my GHL if my PH goes above 8.6.

Just a different way of using kalk that gives more than the saturated stirrer does. Also you can add a little vinegar to help make the saturation higher.

 

[All_talk]

Following.

I am currently using the Tunze kalk reactor, it doesn't stir other than the new RODI pumped in mixes with the kalk in the bottom. The saturation drop between kalk refills (weekly) is very noticeable. I was originally looking at reactors with stir bars but I have read that the suffer from the same issue, though likely less extreme than the passive Tunze. At this point I think I am going to switch to a saturated still reservoir.

 

[Roli's Reef Ranch]

I took my Avast Kalk Stirrer and removed the stirrer rod and instead sat it on a Magnetic Pill stirrer from Amazon. I can now control how much I want it to stir and mix the kalk. That said I am basically dosing a full Kalk Slurry at this point versus a saturated Kalk. My kalk pump is a Kamoer Pro T Stepper pump. Both the pump and stirrer run full time in my setup specifically at 10ml a minute and it makes up for my ATO basically. I do have a huge uptake compared to most as well though. I use a KH Guardian to help keep my Alk in line and have a cut off on my GHL if my PH goes above 8.6.

Just a different way of using kalk that gives more than the saturated stirrer does. Also you can add a little vinegar to help make the saturation higher.

Has it ground a hole in the bottom of the unit yet?

 

[wildcrazyjoker81]

Has it ground a hole in the bottom of the unit yet?

Not a single scratch on the acrylic bottom. The magnets aren't crazy strong to bore a hole through acrylic.

 

[Tcook]

Not a single scratch on the acrylic bottom. The magnets aren't crazy strong to bore a hole through acrylic.

Which stirrer did you get?

 

[wildcrazyjoker81]

Which stirrer did you get?

JOANLAB mini plate:

https://a.co/d/2gWVIot

I tried the Intllab and HYCC ones and they just didn't hold up. I run the JOANLAB one 24/7 maxed out and has been solid for 8 months now and counting.

 

[Tcook]

JOANLAB mini plate:

https://a.co/d/2gWVIot

I tried the Intllab and HYCC ones and they just didn't hold up. I run the JOANLAB one 24/7 maxed out and has been solid for 8 months now and counting.

Thanks. I may try running it for 10 minutes each hour and see what the ph does. I watch the Avast stirrer blade in action and it really doesn't do much.