kalk reactors... how do they work?

[jandree22]

I’m obv not a newbie but this is a newbie type of question… I’ve searched for a while now, but I can’t really figure out how Kalk Reactors work. I’m interested in some form of automated system, but as it’ll only be going on a 75 with just one or two SPS/Clams, I didn’t want to mess with a Ca Reactor if at all possible.

My basic understanding of a kalk reactor is that you just dump in a crap load of kalk powder, the water will constantly absorb as much as it can hold, and as new unsaturated freshwater comes through the system, it slowly dwindles down the kalk powder supply, then you just refill the kalk. Saying I have a gravity fed reservoir auto-top off system operating only float valves, how would a kalk reactor be plumbed inline with this? Could I just set it beside my reservoir and allow gravity to the tank pull the water out of my reservoir and through the kalk reactor? How do dosing pumps work into the mix with kalk reactors, and do I need one? (I don’t know much about these either, but that’s a different story.) It seems like a kalk reactor is a very basic piece of equipment that should be easy to understand, but I’m missing a link or two in the process I guess. Thanks :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

My basic understanding of a kalk reactor is that you just dump in a crap load of kalk powder, the water will constantly absorb as much as it can hold, and as new unsaturated freshwater comes through the system, it slowly dwindles down the kalk powder supply, then you just refill the kalk.

You *do* know how a kalk reactor work, you just need some help in the implementation for you situation.

There are tons of different way to implement it. Just need to make sure that:
1, no saltwater is back flushed back into the reactor, and an air break should be present.

2, provision done to prevent dumping too much kalk into the tank at any situation. Bad for the pH, etc.

3, it should be added slowly, about the same rate as kalk drip method, can be faster, but not as a full stream.

See if your setup satisfy the requirements above.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Precision marine Kalk reactor.

There is a powerhead/pump on the reactor that stirs the water/kalk inside the reactor 4 times a day for 15 minutes.

I use a LitreMeter III dosing pump. The pump pulls from my fresh RO reservior and pushes the water into the kalk reactor - the mixed kalk water is then pushed to my sump.

You can probably get away with gravity fed as well instead of a pump but I wanted my tank automated as much as possible.
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[jandree22]

Well, 2 and 3 are satisfied in that it will use a float valve in the tank to control evap replenishment. Therefore, it will go the same rate as evap. If it goes any faster than that, I’ve probably got a leak in my tank and pH is the least of my worries

#1 though, what do you mean by “an air break should be present”? A diagram below explains how I’d set it up, if this works… Stage 1 is pressurized water coming from my RO line into my reservoir tank, controlled by a float valve. Stage 2 is an unpressurized climb from the reservoir tank to the Kalk reactor. This is possible by gravity/siphon from Stage 3, which is entering the main display tank and controlled by a float valve. Now, this obviously takes into consideration that the Kalk reactor is a sealed air tight chamber, otherwise it would not siphon from the reservoir in Stage 2… that a correct assumption?

 

[Anonymous]

If you can get that siphon to work then it will work. The Kalk reactor is a sealed container.
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[ChrisRD]

I've never setup a kalkreactor like this, but one thing that will probably be an issue with the syphon setup is getting things restarted after you have to open the kalkreactor for refills. Seems like it would be easier to have the kalkreactor lower than the feed reservoir and just rely on gravity rather than deal with the syphon thing (you'd need to add a shut-off valve between the feed reservoir and the reactor for when you need to open the reactor).

Also, I don't think I'd be too concerned about using a float valve for freshwater additions but I'd be concerned about calcium build-up causing leaks when trying to use it for kalkwasser.

Personally, I just use a simple dosing pump controlled by a digital timer to feed my kalkreactor. Using float switches to activate a pump works too but personally I don't like float switches much and would only consider a setup like that with two (redundant) switches.

 

[jandree22]

Great. That’s all I needed to know, thanks guys!

EDIT: I just posted that before you I saw your post Chris... I'll have to take all that into consideration... good points :?

 

[jandree22]

Personally, I just use a simple dosing pump controlled by a digital timer to feed my kalkreactor.

Now how is your dosing pump setup exactly? What I don’t understand is how you match the rate of evaporation? n00b questions, I know

 

[ChrisRD]

With a dosing pump you can't match the evaporation rate exactly unless it is controlled by float switch. I prefer to avoid this method and stick to dosing a set amount as I like to know exactly how much kalkwasser is going in the system each day (due to stability concerns - mostly with pH but also with Ca and Alk levels). Also, I prefer to dose kalkwasser at night to keep pH levels more stable around the clock.

That said, IME in a tank that requires and can take 100% evap top-off with kalkwasser, it's possible to set the dose rate to closely approximate evaporation and then just make small adjustments manually every so often (ie. manually adding freshwater).

Another option - IMO the best of both worlds - is to dose a set amount of kalkwasser each day and use a freshwater reservoir w/float valve to keep up with any evaporation difference. In that case the float valve is working with freshwater so you don't have the calcium build-up issue.

All that said, keep in mind there are many ways to accomplish all of this, but those are just some of my preferences...

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

I progam the LiterMetre to match the evaporation rate as best I can and then I increase it a "little" more. I have a float switch in the sump that will turn off the dosing pump if the tank does not need the top off.
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[ChrisRD]

The way Rob has his setup is smart - a very good option if you have an adjustable dosing pump and want 100% kalkwasser evaporation top-off.

If the float switch fails in Rob's setup he has plenty of time to notice the water level getting higher (since the daily dose rate only slightly exceeds the evaporation rate). This way he won't have to worry about a flood or "pH nuking" the tank with a load of kalkwasser.

You could easily integrate a timer into this setup too if you want to dose only at night (to offset the nightime pH dropping effect).

 

[jandree22]

Is it possible to hook the input end of a Kalk reactor up to 70psi? If so, I’m thinking I could just hook up the input end to the RO/DI directly and on the output side I’d hook in a dosing pump into the tank. This eliminates any need for a float valve and the reservoir tank for that matter. But, like I said, that’d mean both the input end of the kalk reactor and dosing pump would be up against 70-75psi.

 

[Anonymous]

Not sure about that.

How would you regulate the water leaving the reactor going to the tank?
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[ChrisRD]

The dosing pumps typically used for aquaria are peristaltic pumps which use soft tubing (so the rollers can squeeze fluid through). I'm not aware of any such tubing that could handle 70 PSI without bursting. Even if the tubing could handle it - there would probably be some bypass/leaking through the pump under such extreme pressure.

 

[jandree22]

...okay. Thanks