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08-05-2003, 03:09 PM
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#1
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Summer's Daddy
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga in a van down by the river
Posts: 2,675
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Plans for a Kalk Reactor
Anyone have any plans for buuilding a Kalk Reactor? I am waiting to upgrade tanks before buying a Calcium Reactor but wondered if I can get away with a Kalk Reactor in the meantime.
Ray
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08-05-2003, 04:31 PM
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#2
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ROOTS...ROCKS...REGGAE
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: south suburbs of Chicago,Il USA
Posts: 1,214
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08-05-2003, 04:52 PM
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#3
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Reefless Reefer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 20,528
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that is one of the sites i think i referenced for building mine . i also have a list of the web pages that have helped me in my design.
i like the kalk reactor. it seems to do a great job keeping the levels where they need to be. mine is working on a 125g SPS tank. right now it has a low-medium tax on it. i have 12+ frags and 5 colonies and a clam. all of my snails and corals are showing great growth.
G~
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08-06-2003, 10:46 AM
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#4
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Summer's Daddy
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga in a van down by the river
Posts: 2,675
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That is what I am looking for. Do you see a need for a Calcium reactor if you are running a Kalk reactor?
Ray
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08-06-2003, 03:46 PM
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#5
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ROOTS...ROCKS...REGGAE
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: south suburbs of Chicago,Il USA
Posts: 1,214
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Maybe, maybe not ;-) Kalk does a good job at maintaining ph but it doesn't have a whole lot of calcium in it. It really depends on how high the calcium demand is in your tank. With a low demand it may be all you need. Or, if you suppliment it with a 2 part calcium additive or calcium chloride you may not need a calcium reactor.
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08-06-2003, 04:08 PM
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#6
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Reefless Reefer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 20,528
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as of now i do not need a Ca reactor, but as my stonies get bigger i am sure that will change. i will dose Ca untill i decide to build a Ca reactor. people with huge SPS, clam tanks usually run both. kalk does a lot of other good stuff. keeps phosphates down, and keeps alk up.
hth,
G~
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08-06-2003, 06:08 PM
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#7
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Shark
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Posts: 3,074
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geoff, that looks pretty easy to build, and looks pretty cool.
is it something i could benefit from on a fowlr?
i MAY put in some softies and sponges, providing the tank has no copper, but if not, would it hurt to have this doohickey on my system?
i just really want to build some cool stuff that's easy to make 
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08-06-2003, 11:23 PM
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#8
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Reefless Reefer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 20,528
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Jay- i do not know for sure if a kalk reactor would become a problem on a tank with a very low alk or Ca usage. i would think that it would not be a problem if you have low water evaporation. i would definately help your coraline algae. kalk reactors also do magic with phosphates. it is really easy to make, as long as you do not pressurize it like mine. i know mine can handle about 10psi before it starts to leak around the pump casing. most people do not hook them up to the house plumbing though.  they are usually connected to a RO/DI water reservoir, so very low pressure.
i will see if i can find out for sure about the chemistry of it in a low usage tank.
G~
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08-06-2003, 11:27 PM
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#9
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Shark
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Posts: 3,074
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i would not be plumbing to the house, due to location. so mine would be fed from a holding tank.
woohoo another project!!!..... i suppose i should finish the tank first
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08-07-2003, 12:27 AM
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#10
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Reefless Reefer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
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Jay- because i was not sure, i PM'd Tom what he thought. this is what he had to say:
I will look, but you can post that regular water changes will supply all the ca needed for snails and a possible clam in a fo system. The extra Ca and alk will drive coralline algal growth on the LR and it will need to be maintained to keep the coralline looking good, but the use of the reactor is a bit excessive and wasteful, and will contribute to pump failure and other problems associated with abiotic precipitatiion of CaCO3, Prolly better off if he wants coralline to do water changes and use a 2 part additive at low doses. With FOWLR, utilization is so low that Calcium and the carbonate alk will be problematic for equipment, as it is not really used up quickly enough.
Lemmeno if you still want me to post, although if you paraphrase the answer as your own response, I dunno where you would have heard that,...
later, ~T
if you are looking for a simple yet fun project, check back in a week. i may have something coming that some may want to try.
G~
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08-07-2003, 06:50 AM
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#11
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Shark
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Posts: 3,074
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cool, thanks geoff...and tom
i still have to finish the tank setup anyway, so i'll hold out for the NEW project
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08-07-2003, 09:31 AM
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#12
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Pretty In Pink
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: portland or
Posts: 3,260
Reviews: 6
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Ray
We are just currently running something the same for our tank and our calcium stays over 400. We do water changes every two to three weeks 10% and no problems.
What I did a lilittle differently was to mount the Ph the other way, with the impeller housing on the bottom and just make sure the gasket is on there and not crimped up, it will seal. (or maybe we are just lucky and ours hasn't leaked yet)
The PH is hooked up to a timer for every 6 hrs mix for 5 mins. And in the fuge a float switch activates the PH in the tank (rubbermaid) full of ro/di. for top off |
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