DIY Pressurised Kalk Reactor/Stirrer

[Borat]

New stirrer ring:









I will change/slope the existing stirrer ring once I extract it from the Kalk chamber

 

[Borat]

I added one more cup of Kalk to the reactor - it should be able to cope with the amount of Kalk, fingers crossed!

 

[Borat]

 

[Borat]

So the amount of Kalk I loaded in November lasted a bit more than 2.5 months - not bad in terms of low maintenance footprint... Just re-loaded the reactor with 250ml of Kalk a couple of days ago..

No issues with loss of potency due to air exposure as the reactor is fully pressurised..

 

[reef_ranch]

Looks great! Do you measure the pH of the kalkwasser?

 

[Borat]

Looks great! Do you measure the pH of the kalkwasser?

No, unfortunately i havent got around to doing it.. i already have a calcium reactor with 2 PH probes and a third PH probe in the tank - so it's a bit too much to have the fourth probe..

 

[reef_ranch]

DOOOO ITTTTT! It would be the best proof of your thesis! Or maybe just collect some effluent say a month after refilling and test that with one of your existing probes.

 

[Borat]

DOOOO ITTTTT! It would be the best proof of your thesis! Or maybe just collect some effluent say a month after refilling and test that with one of your existing probes.

Kalk dosing is a BAD idea! It brings so much more instability that I see no incremental benefits of it..

This device has been disassembled, spare parts scavenged and the idea marked as non-viable!

Cheers,

Borat.

 

[yury88]

So the amount of Kalk I loaded in November lasted a bit more than 2.5 months - not bad in terms of low maintenance footprint... Just re-loaded the reactor with 250ml of Kalk a couple of days ago..

No issues with loss of potency due to air exposure as the reactor is fully pressurised..

Hi there! I'm considering an upgrade to my Kalkwasser dosing system and would really appreciate some advice.
Currently, I'm using a DIY, high-tech, closed-loop motor peristaltic pump to dose kalk from a container.



I'm exploring ways to make the system more autonomous. I can envision two approaches:

1. A classic Kalk stirrer with a capacity of X liters.
2. A pressurized, closed Kalk stirrer similar to yours.

However, there's one issue I'd like to address: I aim to dose only clear, saturated Kalkwasser. I want to avoid dosing Kalk slurry.

This poses a significant technical challenge, as calcium carbonate becomes extremely cloudy when stirred.

I see two potential solutions for creating an ideal Kalk reactor:

1. Prepare a saturated solution in advance for the entire day and allow the Kalkwasser 1-2 hours to settle. For instance, I could make a 2-liter reactor, mix it thoroughly, let it settle for 2 hours, and then dose it using a stepper motor doser. Once it's nearly empty, I'd refill it with ATO and repeat the process.
2. Use a very tall reactor with a very slow mixer, similar to yours. However, I have serious doubts about achieving the desired saturation.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

 

[Borat]

Hi there! I'm considering an upgrade to my Kalkwasser dosing system and would really appreciate some advice.
Currently, I'm using a DIY, high-tech, closed-loop motor peristaltic pump to dose kalk from a container.



I'm exploring ways to make the system more autonomous. I can envision two approaches:

1. A classic Kalk stirrer with a capacity of X liters.
2. A pressurized, closed Kalk stirrer similar to yours.

However, there's one issue I'd like to address: I aim to dose only clear, saturated Kalkwasser. I want to avoid dosing Kalk slurry.

This poses a significant technical challenge, as calcium carbonate becomes extremely cloudy when stirred.

I see two potential solutions for creating an ideal Kalk reactor:

1. Prepare a saturated solution in advance for the entire day and allow the Kalkwasser 1-2 hours to settle. For instance, I could make a 2-liter reactor, mix it thoroughly, let it settle for 2 hours, and then dose it using a stepper motor doser. Once it's nearly empty, I'd refill it with ATO and repeat the process.
2. Use a very tall reactor with a very slow mixer, similar to yours. However, I have serious doubts about achieving the desired saturation.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

If I were to build another Kalk reactor, it would look like the following:
- not pressurised (for design reasons shown below)
- reactor water level controlled by mini float valve (if you take some water out - the float valve allows additional RO water top-up)
- non-magnetic stirrer: long shaft going through top lid with properller-like end to stir calc; stepper motor rotating the shaft slowly
- additional stepper motor-driven doser
- single controller that controls both stepper motors. [1-5] minute before dosing time you can switch off the stirring motor and allow the solution to settle down. You resume stirring immediately after you administered dose (Kalk should not be allowed to compact - otherwise it would form sludge that's very difficult to stir).

 

[yury88]

If I were to build another Kalk reactor, it would look like the following:
- not pressurised (for design reasons shown below)
- reactor water level controlled by mini float valve (if you take some water out - the float valve allows additional RO water top-up)
- non-magnetic stirrer: long shaft going through top lid with properller-like end to stir calc; stepper motor rotating the shaft slowly
- additional stepper motor-driven doser
- single controller that controls both stepper motors. [1-5] minute before dosing time you can switch off the stirring motor and allow the solution to settle down. You resume stirring immediately after you administered dose (Kalk should not be allowed to compact - otherwise it would form sludge that's very difficult to stir).

Thanks, I'm apriciate your advice.
Especially about non magnetic strirer, I'm also thinking that magnetic strirer is too weak, unstable and do not allow to make high load of Kalk powder.
But about Kalk compacting- is it a really problem?
Stepper motors are strong, maybe 7 years before I had a Deltec Kalk stirrer with a spepper motor mixer and had no issue, even driver(not motor) was extremely weak, but its common problem of poor engineering.
Its enough drivers nowadays that can provide 30w+ power on cold start and keep motor cold during continuous work.

 

[Borat]

Thanks, I'm apriciate your advice.
Especially about non magnetic strirer, I'm also thinking that magnetic strirer is too weak, unstable and do not allow to make high load of Kalk powder.
But about Kalk compacting- is it a really problem?
Stepper motors are strong, maybe 7 years before I had a Deltec Kalk stirrer with a spepper motor mixer and had no issue, even driver(not motor) was extremely weak, but its common problem of poor engineering.
Its enough drivers nowadays that can provide 30w+ power on cold start and keep motor cold during continuous work.

If you stir more or less continously - it should not compact. It only compacts if you leave it unstirred for a few hours..

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Reactor lid held by 8 M6 plastic screws glued to the acrylic tube:

Jagshemash!

Please explain this part more. Plastic screws? This might be a weak point, no?

 

[yury88]

If you stir more or less continously - it should not compact. It only compacts if you leave it unstirred for a few hours..

Actually I'm thinking exactly about this.
Mixer with enough volume for full day:
1)In the morning turn off the dosing
2)Fill with the mixer with RO water
3)Stire for 1 houre, let it settles for 3h hours.
4) Slowly dose all day
So Kalk will be all time extremely transparent and fully saturated.

In my view dosing cloudy Kalk has to much disadvantages.

 

[Borat]

Actually I'm thinking exactly about this.
Mixer with enough volume for full day:
1)In the morning turn off the dosing
2)Fill with the mixer with RO water
3)Stire for 1 houre, let it settles for 3h hours.
4) Slowly dose all day
So Kalk will be all time extremely transparent and fully saturated.

In my view dosing cloudy Kalk has to much disadvantages.

You don't need to wait for long, as long as you are not dosing Kalk slurry - small suspended parts in the solution are not an issue in terms of potency or accuracy of dosing. Also slow mixing (something that cannot be achived with magnetic stirrers) would keep "cloudy" part to the bottom and the top part is relatively clear - then it's easily dosed.

It's you call, but I have (almost unlimited) gravity fed RO water feed to my tank from outside (to top up evaporation).If I had a Kalk reactor nowadays, I would put enough Kalk to last at least 2 weeks and then add a RO water feed to top off any water after every dose. This is where float valve comes..

So your maintenance becomes once every couple of weeks rather than once a day - it's a bit of a bother otherwise.. Btw you should also have a "hatch" - which is the easily openable part in the top lid allowing you to top up Kalk/RO without having to open the lid.

If your reactor is not pressurised (the below is pressurised reactor) - you can do with drilling a hole and closing it with a removable plug (does not need to be super - robust, a wine cork might do!).