DIY Kalkwasser Reactor w/ magnetic stirrer build

[Isaac Alves]

My DIY kalkwasser reactor parts are ready to go for my office tank.

I thought it might be useful to document it here rather than my build thread.

Today is January 5th. And I got all the parts in today. My thinking was that I could build a cheaper DIY reactor rather than buying the IceCap Kalk Stirrer I’ve been eyeing for some time — and one that is similar to the design of the Avast Stirrer I use on my main display.

Most serendipitous thing to happen is that the @seaside_aquatics dosing container’s base literally fits snugly around the HYCC magnetic stirrer I picked up off of Amazon—— means stronger magnetic contact and secure base —- but I’ll be wrapping this in a wood shelf so it won’t have a chance to fall over.

Summary of Ingredients:

• Kamoer X1 pump
• 2.5L dosing container
• magnetic stirrer plate w/ ac adaptor
• Inkbird Smart outlet
• 1/2” uniseal
• 1/2” Union slip
• 1/2” 90deg elbow
• 1/2” slip barb
• 1/2” ID vinyl hose
• 2 plastic ratchet clamps


I can’t build tonight but I’ll start over the next couple of days.

#happyreefing

 

[jrill]

Nice. I've been considering the same build.

 

[philshel]

I did the same thing with a Fluidized Media Reactor Kit from Avast. Works great. One suggestion I have, is to replace the small stirrer magnet "egg" that comes with the import stirrers with a 80mm one. The Kalk paste can be tough to get moving with the smaller "egg".

 

[CJ Monty]

Did you drill the container for the output? Or are you just adding more water to the container manually?

 

[dactylo]

Any updates on how this is working?

 

[philshel]

Any updates on how this is working?

If you're asking me, mine works fine. I am finding that I am quickly out growing it's capacity but that's a size issue is all.

 

[Borat]

Nice! But what exectly was DIY'd here?

 

[Reef AquaCult]

I don’t like the X1 for kalk because you can’t do continuous slow drip. Have to dose in 1 hour intervals which is not ideal.

 

[Borat]

Those cheap Chinese imitations...

look no further than a solid pump built by the glorious nation of Kazakistan!

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[Isaac Alves]

Admittedly this is not a true DIY. It's more of a gathering of components. And, admittedly I have been bad at getting myself back into this project. But I did pick up a Kamoer X1 Pro T stepper on a black friday deal. Still planning on doing getting to this project.

 

[Borat]

Admittedly this is not a true DIY. It's more of a gathering of components. And, admittedly I have been bad at getting myself back into this project. But I did pick up a Kamoer X1 Pro T stepper on a black friday deal. Still planning on doing getting to this project.

Check out my DIY Kalk Reactor build:

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[Isaac Alves]

Finally got around to it…

 

[Isaac Alves]

 

[Isaac Alves]

 

[Isaac Alves]

 

[Isaac Alves]

Ugh

 

[Borat]

Ugh

Problem I see with these small reactors is that the solution potency is too high - it's not a saturated Kalk in the picture, but Kalk slurry. With Kalk slurry it's difficult to control the potency in terms of DKH addition, there will always be variability of DKH concentration.

Also Kalk slurry will quickly plummet in potency once the amount of Kalk drop to a certain level, so you have to constantly watch it.. My big Kalk reactor (700 mm tall) runs on a full 250ML cup of Kalk and it is sufficient for about 2 months of operation (as a PH additive - not so much as DKH additive)..

 

[Isaac Alves]

Problem I see with these small reactors is that the solution potency is too high - it's not a saturated Kalk in the picture, but Kalk slurry. With Kalk slurry it's difficult to control the potency in terms of DKH addition, there will always be variability of DKH concentration.

Also Kalk slurry will quickly plummet in potency once the amount of Kalk drop to a certain level, so you have to constantly watch it.. My big Kalk reactor (700 mm tall) runs on a full 250ML cup of Kalk and it is sufficient for about 2 months of operation (as a PH additive - not so much as DKH additive)..

Makes a lot of sense based on my brief time dripping the slurry. I think now, I'm just going to watch my pH using the Milwaukee monitor and just see what the pattern is for this tank. Although, I do wish I could have done this without losing the cheap little reactor.

Cheers!