Liquid limestone: Have you used a Kalkwasser Reactor?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Could have been easier to just dose alk and let the calcium back down naturally

I don’t really see how that problem can happen in the first place. Overdosing kalkwasser isn’t going to drive calcium to 600 ppm, so some other factors may be at play.

 

[CBonito]

I’m using an AvastMarine K1 on my 75 gallon system that accounts for about 50% of my alk/cal consumption and use ESV 2 part to pick up the rest. It’s about 1440 ml’s being dose 24/7, and have ESV on a control to dynamic dose alk as needed. PH stays 8.1-8.3 and alk has about a .5dkh range over the course of the day.

This is the one I want. Going to use a doser pump to push RO water through it into the tank.
Still not sure what method of monitoring/control I am going to choose though. Maybe the Reef Factory KH Keeper?

 

[vlangel]

Never have and no plans in the future. I am a keep it simple gal plus my tank does not use much calcium or alkalinity.

 

[BAMatter]

This is the one I want. Going to use a doser pump to push RO water through it into the tank.
Still not sure what method of monitoring/control I am going to choose though. Maybe the Reef Factory KH Keeper?

I run Hydros on my tanks. Makes everything I just mentioned incredibly easy to program and be alerted if something goes south.

 

[BAMatter]

I don’t really see how that problem can happen in the first place. Overdosing kalkwasser isn’t going to drive calcium to 600 ppm, so some other factors may be at play.

I know when my cal skyrocketed I was dosing alk at evap rate, and also unknowingly dosing way too much Triton Core 7. My alk stopped rising and I was increasing amounts of 2 part to try to raise it, and alk kept on dropping. I finally figured out there was some sort of issue and stopped dosing altogether and got cal and alk back in line

 

[biecacka]

Dose a semi-slurry via a toms aqualifter controlled by my apex and ph probe. Keeps it pretty steady, but the stuff is hard on pumps. I tried a couple cheaper Amazon ones inside the brute where the slurry is……they didn’t last too long so I have since started using a decent size jaebo pump in it.


Corey

 

[goldhillreefer]

I have been running a GEO kalk reactor for years and have never had issues with over dosing the tank. My ato water runs thru the reactor. My reactor is on a timer that circulates the kalkwasser for 1 minute every 3 hrs. My ATO pump connects to a Milwaukee SMS122 pH meter which I have it set to shut down the ATO pump if PH is over 8.4.

 

[Mikeltee]

I use a 14y/o geo kalk stirrer with the original pump. It runs 1min 4 times daily at the top of the hour. My ATO runs at the bottom of the hour. I add 1/4 every 3 months. In my 40g, I dose kalk at 5grams/gal and go through 5gal every 10 days. I just went from 2g/gal to 4g/gal 3 days ago and here is my pH trend:

 

[anthonymckay]

Been running an IceCap kalk reactor for the last year or so. Never had any issues with it, keeps my alk and calcium in my desired range, and is monitored by hydros+alkatronic.

 

[apb03]

I use the Deltec KM500 reactor and I love it. It's ridiculously easy for me to maintain. I usually just rinse it out once a month and add fresh kalk at that time. Admittedly, I definitely could have a more consistent product with a dedicated pre-mixed reservoir though, but to me, it's not worth the hassle to get a 3rd barrel and plumb it into my mixing station. Nor do I have the space.

For me, the reactor method is more than adequate for my system as I'm also dosing AFR anyway. If I see a drop off of Alk, I look at my reactor and if the Kalk is low, I refresh, if not I increase the AFR dose.

That said, I think it's only simple for me because I use an Alkatronic so I can keep an eye on it easily and I'm a fan of space efficiency. A large reservoir that you can easily re-fill from the RO would be easier with less automation requirement, so I guess whatever suits your reefing style best is the way to go.

 

[sayurasem]

I’ve recently switched from dosing two part to kalkwasser. My reef suffers from supressed pH, limewater has been the best thing I’ve dose to my reef.

 

[ArachnoJoozt]

Was using settled limewater before, but it caused the dosing line at the dosing head to wear extremely quick, causing limewater leaks, not good.
Switched to a Deltec kalkwasser reactor, and it has worked really nicely so far. Rodi water is dosed, so the dosing line has almost no wear now. The only real downside is keeping the exit tube open, kalk builds up quickly there. Got the tip at a dutch forum to point the exit of the ATO at the exit tube of the reactor, so it will flush the kalk buildup away. Good tip, but haven't tried it yet.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’ve recently switched from dosing two part to kalkwasser. My reef suffers from supressed pH, limewater has been the best thing I’ve dose to my reef.

FWIW, one can also make a DIY two part using sodium hydroxide, calcium chloride and Balling part C that has the same pH boost as limewater/kalkwasser, but without the evaporation limitations for folks where that is an issue.

 

[Projects with Sam]

FWIW, one can also make a DIY two part using sodium hydroxide, calcium chloride and Balling part C that has the same pH boost as limewater/kalkwasser, but without the evaporation limitations for folks where that is an issue.

thats where I 'm going when the kalk train ends.

 

[biecacka]

So do these reactors only dose when ones ph gets low? Then it switches a pump on to run water through the kalk reactor or is it tied to your ato? Or do the reactors run 24/7?
As mentioned I dose a semi slurry from a brute. But if one could achieve the same results from a reactor that is 100th in size then that’s a like able idea as space is hard to come by for many of us! Haha

Corey

 

[Projects with Sam]

So do these reactors only dose when ones ph gets low? Then it switches a pump on to run water through the kalk reactor or is it tied to your ato? Or do the reactors run 24/7?
As mentioned I dose a semi slurry from a brute. But if one could achieve the same results from a reactor that is 100th in size then that’s a like able idea as space is hard to come by for many of us! Haha

Corey

My stirrer runs constantly. I have two 1.1ml/minute dosers continuously feeding RODI into the stirrer and it continuously overflows into my sump. I made the overflow 1/2" pipe so I don't have to worry about it clogging all the time.
I don't dose slurry, The ParlaStir is extra wide so the kalk settles and only fully saturated solution is delivered to my tank. Slurry is too risky imo and I think people stir the slurry too much thus lowering the calcium available to the corals.

 

[biecacka]

Yeah Sam I think you could be right about what you think. Not to mention slurry can be a ticking time bomb and it’s very hard on equipment. I use a 33 gallon brute with a jabeo pump in it. I put about 5 cups of kalk in it and use an aqualifter pump to dose it based on my ph probe. Keeping it at 8.2. I’ve tried adding more kalk and it struggles to dissolve when dosed. My sump got covered in precipitate, I’ve tried less and it required too often of dosing and my ato never kicked on and it couldn’t keep up.
Somewhere around 5 cups seems to be my sweet spot. According to the “slurry” experts, I should be adding closer to 12 cups to the brute, that would be considered a slurry based on their numbers. So I use the slurry term very lightly.
I have seen the reactor you built and it looks very interesting, I’m glad to see someone finally built a reactor focused on width and not just height. Allowing larger stirring mechanisms in it.

Corey

 

[Projects with Sam]

Yeah Sam I think you could be right about what you think. Not to mention slurry can be a ticking time bomb and it’s very hard on equipment. I use a 33 gallon brute with a jabeo pump in it. I put about 5 cups of kalk in it and use an aqualifter pump to dose it based on my ph probe. Keeping it at 8.2. I’ve tried adding more kalk and it struggles to dissolve when dosed. My sump got covered in precipitate, I’ve tried less and it required too often of dosing and my ato never kicked on and it couldn’t keep up.
Somewhere around 5 cups seems to be my sweet spot. According to the “slurry” experts, I should be adding closer to 12 cups to the brute, that would be considered a slurry based on their numbers. So I use the slurry term very lightly.
I have seen the reactor you built and it looks very interesting, I’m glad to see someone finally built a reactor focused on width and not just height. Allowing larger stirring mechanisms in it.

Corey

There were a bunch of growing pains figuring out what worked well. Before the stirrer, I was mixing jugs and dosing from those. that got old fast but I didn't have the space for a larger container of kalk.

The stirrer is pretty consistent. For instance, on the 9th, from that small a trend over the past few days I was able to determine I had to add pickling lime to the stirrer. (and my ph sensor was reading low - but I think its broken now anyway)

I literally opened the stirrer lid and dumped the rest of my bag in and the dosing went back to normal. (I did intermittent rock blowing off on the 12th so the pH never got too high)

 

[sayurasem]

FWIW, one can also make a DIY two part using sodium hydroxide, calcium chloride and Balling part C that has the same pH boost as limewater/kalkwasser, but without the evaporation limitations for folks where that is an issue.

sodium hydroxide was on the list, but then I got scared. Tbh your testimonies and literatures of limewater for the past 20 years made me switch.

 

[Ernie Mccracken]

You mean limewater?

Yes, limewater is one of the "secrets" to growing big gnarly SPS, imo. There are unknown benefits, beyond calcium and alkalinity, that we don't fully understand yet.

I've had the best luck running the ATO through a limewater reactor than any other method.