DIY Kalk stirrer (nilsen reactor)?

[siskiou]

Is it worth making one?

 

Or is anyone selling one, by any chance?

I don't have many corals in the tank yet, but should plan for the future.

And a stirrer appeals to me more than a calcium reactor with CO2.

[CCR]

Don't know if it's worth it or not. Jason at CRPC has them bt PM

[oldbrownies]

It would be nice to set one up on a float valve, then you don't have to worry about dripping the kalk (or spilling the kalk on the carpet on the way to the tank)

[impur]

How about just using kalk in your topoff water? A small AC powerhead in there on a timer to stir it up every couple hours?

[siskiou]

My top off water container is pretty large and I'm not sure I want to lug it around for the occasional cleaning!

 

And I also read that the kalkwasser becomes useless after about 2 days when exposed to air, which it would be in my container.

[Michael7979]

Place a lid on your container.

 

I use a 5 gallon bucket and add kalk to it for top off and I use an extra floor tile from a re-maodel job as a lid. Have to fill it at least every other day. So I claen it out then. Just an idea.

[impur]

Yah, just put a lid on it. It will create a film on top of the water anyway, so if its dissolved your fine. I only cleaned my container about twice a year when i dosed kalk that way.

[siskiou]

I admit I'm lazy and don't want to mix kalkwasser every few days! I just know I won't keep up with it regularly.

 

I think I'll try something like this: http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1989

 

It sounds easy enough to set up with my current ATO system.

I'll have to see if Jerry's or HD have RO canisters and John Guest fittings.

 

Any cheap Phosban type reactor would work too, I think.

Anyone have one they want to sell?

[impur]

Well its really only a matter of tossing in a cup or 2 of kalk when you refill your topoff container. The pump on the timer does the mixing. Or does your topoff container stay full constantly?

 

My next suggestion was going to be to use a house water filter. You can get the filter housing at walmart even for around 10-20 bucks. The JG fittings are going to run you another 10-20. You will probably be in it around 50 at the end. Versus a $4 timer and a $8 pump the other way :p

[siskiou]

My next suggestion was going to be to use a house water filter. You can get the filter housing at walmart even for around 10-20 bucks. The JG fittings are going to run you another 10-20. You will probably be in it around 50 at the end. Versus a $4 timer and a $8 pump the other way :p

 

Right, but I'm also worried my aqualifter pump will get ruined quickly having kalkwasser go through it.

Or is that thought unfounded?

[mister crabs]

homedepot sells the RO canisters you mentioned

[impur]

Many many ppl use that pump for kalk. Its perfect for the application. Just run some vinegar thru it ever few months.

[Nyles]

It will be fine, when I dripped Kalk it was 1 teaspoon per gallon, and if you have heavy load then 2 teaspoon per gallon. I added every 2-3 days days and setup for drip into my skimmer. Its really quite simple and you dont have to use it everytime you add top off, but should. Make sure you wait about an hour min before you start to drip or I have had trouble with it precipitating cal. Gimme a ring if you have trouble.

 

There was a 20 pound bottle, cal reactor, regulator, ph controller and whole setup in local craigslist for $150, part of a tank teardown guy has to sell ASAP due to moving.

[CCR]

Lows has the fittings and canister.

[Palani]

Hey, I'm thinking about making a DIY kalkreactor, but don't exactly know the process. I've dripped kalk before, it's just that the kalkreactors not kalk stirers, get me. Does the pump go 24/7? Even when it is dripping into the tank? Isn't there any percipitate that gets into the tank?

[impur]

Yes the pump goes 24/7. There is constantly new RO water going into the unit so there should be no precipitate. The kalk dissolves slowely as new water is introduced and mixes it.

[Palani]

So when you first add kalk to the RO water there should be Kalk everywhere, but it should dissolve completely. Is that right? Even if you have 2 teaspoons per gallon of water you are mixing it with? So when do you know you have to add more kalk? Do you have to make sure that the kalk reactor is air tight to prevent CO2 from entering and creating precipitate?

 

Also I heard that kalk makes your skimmer work better. Kinda how ozone does, is this true?

[impur]

No you add enough kalk so that a lot of it stays in powerder form undissolved. Then as the new RO water comes in, it travels thru the undissolved kalk, dissolves what it can, and travels out to the tank. You add more kalk when the undissolved kalk is almost gone. Usually the reactor is air/water tight.

 

I did not find that adding kalk helped my skimmer. This is JME.

[impur]

Jansen check this out

 

http://www.mv.com/users/besposito/nilsen.html

[dippin61]

hmm.. i thought i read on the reefkeeping.com article about kalk, that it is actually more beneficial to NOT clean out the container often. Something about the gunk on the bottom helps nuetrulizing something.. i dont quite remember, i was reading it at like 3:30 am the other night... ill see if i can find it.

[dippin61]

Ok.. found it..

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

What Else Is In Limewater Besides Calcium And Alkalinity? Metallic Impurities

 

One interesting aspect of limewater is its ability to self purify before being added to the aquarium. This happens in several ways, but all relate to the fact that most aquarists dissolve it and then let any undissolved solids settle out. Few, if any, of these solids are then dosed to the aquarium. It turns out that these solids can contain many of the impurities that came to the limewater, either in the solid lime, or in the water itself. In a recent article I showed experimentally and theoretically how this process works for a variety of metals, including copper, nickel, and cadmium.

 

Figures 1 and 2 show experimentally what happens when solid lime is added to water that contains a significant amount of copper. In the high pH of limewater, copper precipitates from solution as copper hydroxide. It also turns out that excess lime solids themselves can help remove additional metals from solution, as those metals bind to the surfaces of the undissolved lime. Besides metals, other impurities can also be precipitated from limewater as calcium salts, including phosphate.

Figure 1. Fresh water containing copper, giving it a slight blue color (left).

Immediately after addition of calcium hydroxide (right), the solution is

cloudy and darker blue.

 

Figure 2. Fresh water containing copper, giving it a slight blue color (left).

After addition of calcium hydroxide and allowing time to settle (right), all

of the visible blue color has settled out of solution.

 

This purification is also seen in practice by many aquarists who have noticed the solids on the bottom of their limewater containers discolor, often to a bluish/green color suggesting copper. For these reasons, I recommend that lime solids not be dosed to aquaria when it is possible to avoid it. Letting the limewater settle for a few hours to overnight will permit most of the large particles to settle out, and whether it looks clear at that point or not, it is likely fine to use. In general, it is a good practice to leave residual solids on the bottom of limewater reservoirs rather than cleaning them out every time, as they may actually help purify the water by these precipitation mechanisms. Once the solids discolor, or have been collecting for 6-12 months, however, they should be discarded.

[Palani]

Wow thanks guys. I read both of them with respect and now I have a better understantding of kalk than what I had before. Now time to make a kalk reactor!

[impur]

Yah when i dosed kalk i used a bucket and a peristaltic pump. I just dumped 8 teaspoons kalk in, filled it up with water, dropped in a pump for 15min and i was good to go. I only cleaned the bucket once or twice a year.

 

Here is another simple build

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1010509

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=896134