Questions concerning DIY Kalk reactor

[barret131]

Hello,

I am still pretty new to reef keeping but am in the process of building a Kalk reactor from plans posted on another site. I noticed that many sites use a dosing pump or some other type of pump to feed RO water into the reactor. Is this pump neccisary or could I simple connect the output of my RO filter directly to the input of the Kalk reactor? The effluent will be added to my sump through a float valve. Seems like the the minimal pressure of the RO filter (+3g tank) would be enough to fill the void left by the outgoing effluent?

Also, the final volume of the reactor will be close to 2 gallons. Is there a recommended amount of kalk I should added to the reactor for the first dose and subsequent doses? I know it will depend on my tank load, but just a ball park figure would be nice. Thanks!

-Barret

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Specs: 150g, 2-250W MH, 2-110 VHO actnic, 1-15g sump, 1-10g sump
few hard corals, many soft corals
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[BLFuller123]

I use mine with my topoff through a float valve. You can use a dosing pump to make the drip more consistent meaning your ph wont flux.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!



the biggest concern with feeding from the RO unit is pressure. some RO units produce quite a bit of pressure on the output side. this pressure can find any weak points in your DIY'ing and could possibly leak. you might just want to really keep an eye on it.

this is how i had mine setup, i could only put 8psi into the reactor without risk of popping seams.

G~

[barret131]

Thanks for the advice! I am planning on using an existing float valve to top off the sump, and I will ensure all seams are throughly sealed.

This really is a great forum, thanks again.

-Barret

[reef_noob]

Could you post the link to the plans for it?