New Swiss 1900 liter (500G) Build

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Laith

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Now I need to reread this excellent input from @Lasse about programming the Profilux to better use the Kalkwasser to flatten out the pH swings.


Complicated but also an excellent example of what you can do with the Profilux if you know how to use it's great features. Still learning here! ;Bookworm

(Not sure why the link shows text from the post about the Macro Algae reactor but if you click on it you do get the right post from Lasse!)
 
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And can't forget about Harley!

Harley.jpeg
 
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Back to my experimentation with Kalkwasser...

So, on the 24th of September, four days after having restarted the Kalkwasser dosing but with the ATO instead of a doser, the pH numbers dropped backed to a 7.86 - 8.1 24 hour swing. And the KH dropped from 7.8 to 7.3 even with the KH Director increasing the dosing of Carbonate.

Yesterday (25th of September) I added quite a bit of Kalk powder to the reactor and the numbers immediately went up again, pH back up to 8.1-8.35 and the KH went back up to 7.8.

So I can only conclude that the Kalk is being used up quickly and the solution is no longer saturated after several days.

I think the Tunze reactor is not sized properly for this size tank. In fact, in rereading the specs, it says for tanks up to 1,000l with hard corals. My tank is almost double that.

Maybe I need to get a real reactor, maybe with a stirring feature and sized correctly...

I don't fancy adding Kalk every three days!
 
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So I've taken the Tunze Kalk reactor offline and temporarily stopped dosing Kalkwasser.

The Kalkwasser was definitely adding carbonate and calcium as I cut my Balling dosing of carbonate and calcium to about 60% of previous dosing amounts and my KH stayed up where I wanted it.

However, as soon as the Kalkwasser was no longer saturated the KH would drop back down as would the pH. So I ended up adding Kalk to the reactor every two days.

My conclusion is that my Kalkwasser dosing methodology was wrong:

- Reactor not at all correctly sized for the size of my tank (way too small).
- For the amount of saturated Kalkwasser my tank needed the reactor needed to be at least half filled with Kalk powder. And the system of pushing fresh RO/DI water up through the settled powder was not working well at saturating the water. It seemed to create channels in the settled powder...

So I've taken a step back to think through things. I do want to use Kalkwasser, mainly for the pH increase but also for the decreased requirements of dosing Balling for carbonate and calcium. The last part is interesting for me for obviously cost reasons but also less Balling dosing also means less sodium chloride (NaCl or salt) being added to the tank as I suspect this is what is causing slow salinity increases over time.

So I need to find a Kalkwasser reactor with a some type of stirring mechanism (the Tunze does not stir) to keep the Kalwasser saturated. And one that can handle 1650-1700 total water volume and dosing of about 10 liters a day without having to add Kalk powder every other day!

The second thing I need to find is a dosing pump that can easily handle the dosing volumes I would want (10 liters a day). I don't want to link it to the ATO as this is too irregular though I will use water from the ATO reservoir. I was thinking a Spectrapure doser as I'm using those for my AWC and very happy with them but they are not cheap and I can't control Spectrapure through my Profilux (though not sure I would really need to). The GHL Doser 2.1 is definitely not made for 10l a day dosing and the GHL Maxi doser is too loud for me.

So, any ideas on a reactor and a dosing pump to use?
 
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And I'm also figuring out a way of getting into the tank to do some serious coral trimming/gardening! I know it's a good problem to have but it's not going to be that easy in a 90cm deep tank! :oops:

Either my mask and snorkel will get used or I get into the tank. The problem with that is the only way I can get back out of the tank without too much difficulty is to be able to have something to stand on in the tank to swing my leg over the 90cm height and out onto my platform... It was easy when I got into the tank to set up the scape at the beginning but with all the coral growth there is no room.

Need to make a plan ;Bookworm :rolleyes:...

I'll post a FTS soon so that everyone can see what I mean.
 
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Here's a video about using Kalk slurry (as opposed to saturated Kalkwasser) to add Kalk. Very informative as it seems to work well despite years of advice saying not to do this!



I'm doing more research to learn more about using this method. The video isn't really clear on dosing amounts etc.
 

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And I'm also figuring out a way of getting into the tank to do some serious coral trimming/gardening! I know it's a good problem to have but it's not going to be that easy in a 90cm deep tank! :oops:

Either my mask and snorkel will get used or I get into the tank. The problem with that is the only way I can get back out of the tank without too much difficulty is to be able to have something to stand on in the tank to swing my leg over the 90cm height and out onto my platform... It was easy when I got into the tank to set up the scape at the beginning but with all the coral growth there is no room.

Need to make a plan ;Bookworm :rolleyes:...

I'll post a FTS soon so that everyone can see what I mean.

Maybe make up a cross beam to go over the tank with a step hanging down off it into the tank to get out? If there's room for that.
 
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Maybe make up a cross beam to go over the tank with a step hanging down off it into the tank to get out? If there's room for that.

That is an excellent idea! ;Happy

And I don't think the weight of me on the hanging step should be an issue as it will be evenly distributed over the front and back of the tank on the beam. And it will only be for a second or two as I get out.

I just need to study the tank and see if there is room and if so, where to put the hanging step...
 
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Your tank has really matured into a beautiful system now! Love the Majestic Angel, one of my favourites!

Thanks! Overall I'm happy with it. Funny though that the original aquascape has the highest rock pile on the right end of the tank, middle sized rockpile in the center and low rock pile on the left. Now it looks like the center is the highest :rolleyes:. But I believe one of the reasons that my eight chromis have survived since June of 2020 without a loss is that they have that chromis "palace" and all of them can find a place in it. But I still need to trim it.

And yes, the Majestic ended up being a great choice: lovely colours, fat and happy. She (or he?) was only about 8 - 10cm when I got her. Now big, fat and happy ;Happy.
 
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I have been using this to add kalk. i feed it with a dosing pump from my ro reservoir. It helps offset the pH drop from my CaRx. The stirring prevents clumping. https://www.avastmarine.com/collections/all/kalk-stirrers. Something like this should do the trick.

Yes, I've looked at various Kalk stirrers/reactors but you're still only dosing the clear "saturated" liquid from the top of the container. I quickly hit an upper limit on the amount of Kalk I'm adding to the tank due to the saturated level of the liquid. In my tank, in order to make sure that I don't add more than my lowest evaporation amount, I'm looking at 10 to 12 liters of this saturated liquid a day. Which is not really enough to raise my pH by the amount I want nor reduce my Balling two part dosing as much as I would like.

From what I understand, by dosing the actually white "slurry" you multiply the actual amount of calcium hydroxide being added to the tank. For the same 10 to 12 liters I get a much bigger boost to pH as well as a bigger addition of both Calcium and Carbonate to the tank. By adding the slurry for example to my overflow, my overflow, downpipe and the entire length of my sump becomes the actual Kalk reactor...

Not sure I'm explaining it well enough!
 
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A few words about the Gyres that I've been running (two XF350s)...

I've decided I have a love/hate relationship with these:

Pros:

- They push a lot of water.
- You can place them up near the surface of the water.

Cons:

- They will run for a two to three weeks and then suddenly stop working.

So they need to be fiddled with (taken apart, cleaned and put back together) way too frequently for my taste. As a comparison, I have two Tunze 6255s that, because of the depth of my tank (and a bit of laziness on my part :rolleyes:) I have not removed and cleaned since the tank was set up (October of 2019). These Tunzes are still running strong though I assume they would be more efficient if they were cleaned (yes, yes, they will be cleaned soon!).

The main problem I think is one of design. The main shaft that turns the two rotors sits in the housing that turns the shaft. Every time I have had to take the Gyres apart because they have stopped I see this:

IMG_3236.JPEG


The shaft has pushed itself out of the housing. When it is seated correctly all the way in it should look like this:

IMG_3237.JPEG


Because it slips out of the housing like that, I think the round part gets slowly pushed in a way that is no longer sitting how it should on the shaft:

IMG_3233.JPEG


You can see how it's twisted (the round part at the top of the picture).

The main reason I got the Gyres in the first place was to push surface water from one end of the three meter tank towards the overflow on the other end so I don't get this surface scum buildup on this end of the tank (picture taken after one of the incidents where the two Gyres stopped spinning):

IMG_3230.JPEG
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.8%
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  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

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