best kalk stirrer and dosing procedure and why? nighttime low pH solution

Alpha Aquaculture · May 28, 2010

surfjeepzx said:
Maybe try this: run the CR at night when the biggest dip occurs but turn it up from where it was originally set. This should help balance the lower numbers at night once the day time level is established. Then if you need a slight bump to get one or another parameter into line use two part.

I think you're over thinking the solution. :nerd:

CR: Calcium Reactor?? Running my calcium reactor at night would lower my pH even more. If your referring to the kalk reactor, I can't add any more because I only can add 2+ gallons per night as that is what my evaporation is. I am just trying to learn more about this method because knowledge is power 'to grow corals'

Thank you for joining, please continue contributing

Alpha Aquaculture · May 28, 2010

slovan said:
I use a Deltec kalkstirrer with a LiterMeter III. It is about as fail safe as you can get when it comes to dosing kalk. The LMIII can only dose what you program so it eliminates the possibility of it overdosing your tank. You can also use a liquid level controller on it as well to shut down the power of the LMIII if your sump level gets too high.

The kalk stirrer isn't a pressurized unit so the water level reaches the top and then it flows out to the sump. It is about as simple as it gets. Plus the stirrer is nice because you don't need to keep a maxijet submerged in kalk to stir it up. Not to mention the pump gets loud as the kalk cakes onto the impeller and bushings.

LMIII is interesting. Its just a perastaltic pump with digi controller. I have had mixed experiences with perastaltic pumps in the past. How often do these fail? How often must they be greased? I don't think I like the idea of a ATO controlling my kalk additions, too many potential probs.

Alpha Aquaculture · May 28, 2010

I have been adding kalk out of a 5g bucket with an aqualifter with a valve at the end and a drip of around 1+ drop per second. My drip has been variable due to calcium deposits etc but I have been working to keep it steady. I have been tweaking it to match my evap rate. A few times I have dripped some slurry as my ph has been low (7.7) and I didn't have kalk prepared. I try and always let it settle out for 8 hours at least. I have been dripping the kalk from 11pm to 430am. I slowly increased to this increment. My alk has been slowly getting higher from 8.5 weeks ago to 9 to 9.9 and then today it was over 13 after being 9.9 for a few days. My pH does increase at night to 7.8-8.0 when everything is working properly but it is a lot of work tweating constantly and keeping watch on everything. My pH has been anything but stable using these methods and Kent kalk. My pH is never higher than 8.0 during the day and sometimes never higher than 7.8 during the day. I always have many friends over my place and usually have at least 4 people over all day long. Thats a lot of people breathing CO2. I try and increase aeration during the day and introduce fresh air. I have taken the following steps to try a better run at this solution:

I got a aquamedic kalk stirrer 1000 and 5g of BRS kalk. A reeffiller pump is on the way. I'm going to tweak this to match my evap and keep an eye on my salinity. I have been testing calcium alk and mag nearly everyday for over a month now while experimenting with all of these diff methods so that will also be checked regularly. I'm not going with an ATO. Any opinions on this, constructive criticisms??

Why did my alk all of a sudden jump to 13+ in one day from 9.9 with the same kalk addition methods?? I tested it twice

Thanks R2R!

ReeferBen · May 28, 2010

FWIW I have been using liter meters for many years and have never had a single issue with them. They are top notch. I also perfer the type of kalkreactors with top mount stirrers vs those with pumps. Ones with mixing pumps often need replacement impellers as the kalk softens the plastic impellers. The ones with magnetic stir bars IME often get stuck. Grey Seas Aquatics is a sponsor here and sells a nice top mount stirrer cheap. A top mount stirring reactor hooked up to a LM would be the best combo IMO.

cherokee_dude · May 28, 2010

I use a Tunze osmolator ATO with a BARR Kalk reactor, run off of an ACIII timer setting. Both are turnkey devices and work well together. The key is to have a large enough reactor for the amount of kalk you are adding to it. It will get stuck if you try to stick 4 lbs of kalk into the smallest reactor, but why would you do that? I put 1/4 pd in my KR1220: 6" tube, 23" high x 6.5" x 6.5", 2.2 gallon capacity (50-200 gallon systems) and it last a few months before I add more. Even then, I just unscrew the top and dump it in... Couldn't be easier.

The Osmolator is pretty much failsafe w/ Low and High water level settings for turning off the dosing pump
Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155

The Barr reactor eliminates the whole pump problem.
Barr Aquatic Systems - Custom Sumps - Beckett Protein Skimmers - Kalk (Nilson) Reactors - Calcium Reactors - Waste Collectors - Reef Systems - Salt Water Systems

wishntoboutside · May 28, 2010

good thread going on here. well i finally replaced my problematic MRC. magnetic one. i looked around and only saw a few that i like. geo, precison marine and deltec. well i went with the precision marine due to it being available from one of my local suppliers. I avoided the deltec just in case the pump ever went out i could almost get a maxijet pump anywhere as a replacement.

Alpha Aquaculture · May 29, 2010

Thank you very much everyone for your inputs and opinions.

Why would my kalk be increasing my alkalinity to problematic levels? The amount I need to use at night to keep my pH up to acceptable levels (same amount as evap rate) is also causing an alk spike. Any experiences and opinions would be helpful.

tcfab · May 29, 2010

I had a problem with my calcium reactor dropping my ph to low at night also. I tried a kalk reactor and it didn't help to much much, instead I built a second chamber to my calcium reactor called an effluent chamber, it helps in raising the ph before it goes back into the tank. For me this worked wonders, I would say look into an effluent chamber as well.