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ewaldsreef 
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 Topic: kalk question
Posted: January 09 2005 at 7:24pm |
John and Shane you both did an excellant job at the meeting. You really made me want to build a reactor 
I have a few questions ( not just for John and Shane but anyone).
Do you have to use ro water in the reactor or can you use tank water? I have an auto topp of system that I am very happy with.
What I would like to do now that I have a neptune is let that control the dosing so I am trying to think of the best way to do this. Also I am planning on adding a ca reactor as well in the future. From what I understand you can run both of these on the same tank to get a better ph and ca level. I could be wrong though cause I have little experance with this.
Ideas suggestions would be great! Thanks
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kethomps
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 7:34pm |
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The advice I got today, I just got a neptune too, was to monitor the ph
for a few days and see what it is doing. Once I have figured out
what was happening in the tank then I can decide how to proceed with
dosing for kalkwa**er. It was recommended NOT to run both a CA
and Kalk reactor because they could work against each other. Run
the CA reactor and dose as needed with the kalk. Or if the ph is
dropping at night then increase the lights on the refugium at
night.
I have heard several comments that people run both the CA and the Kalk
reactors together, but they both add calcium, so I would think running
them both together you would not be utilizing them both. The kalk
is supposed to maintain but it also adds CA.
What to do, what to do?
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210g sw fish
West Jordan
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ewaldsreef
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 7:38pm |
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What to do is the question. I would prefer to run only one if it would get the job done.
On the dropping ph at night issue would adding a larger RDl refugium help? I am planning on doubling the size of my refuge anyway. So I guess I will find that out soon enough.
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SSpargur
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 7:43pm |
The a** error strikes again. 
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Sean Spargur
West Valley, UT
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kethomps
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 7:45pm |
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If my ph is dropping at night then I'm going to try increasing the
lights on the refugium. If that doesn't help then maybe dosing at
night with kalkwa**er? I don't think I would get a reactor, just
dose it somehow.
If it isn't dropping at night but slowly over time then maybe I can just dose at intervals.
Anyone else?
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210g sw fish
West Jordan
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jfinch
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 8:28pm |
There is absolutely nothing wrong with running both a calcium reactor and dripping kalkwa**er at the same time. They don't fight against each other, as a matter of fact they compliment each other very nicely. Kalkwa**er needs the CO2 that reactors add! They both add calcium and alkalinity (in a balanced fashion). Think of the two as just different ways of adding calcium and alk. If I'm dripping kalk I don't have to run my calcium reactor as hard. But most people who run both do kalk solely for pH control. But do not mix the two effluents together. Drip them into a high flow area and let them get dilluted before mixing.
If you can keep your pH when using just a calcium reactor then that's fantastic, no need for kalk. But if you find that your pH keeps dropping and your reactor spends half the time turned off, then I'd suggest dripping kalk. Or a huge bed of macros. David Carrol has a very large refugium of algae that keeps his pH really high even when using a reactor.
Do you have to use ro water in the reactor or can you use tank water?
You can not use tank water.
I have an auto topp of system that I am very happy with.
I'm sure it could be incorporated into a kalk reactor system.
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 8:48pm |
I don't understand why the cylinder has to be sealed. Why can't the slurry come into contact with air?
Adam
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jfinch
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 10:21pm |
You don't want the kalkwasser to come in contact with CO2 while it's at full strength.
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 = CaCO3(solid) + H2O
Atmospheric CO2 is enough to cause a little bit of precipitation. The "crust" that forms on the surface of kalkwasser is CaCO3 formed from atmospheric CO2.
My cylinder is not sealed. I just live with CaCO3 precipitation in the reactor, but since I've always got excess kalkwasser powder in the reactor it stays at full strength.
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ewaldsreef
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 11:26pm |
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ok john what about a reactor like you built with a soleniod controled by the neptune as the feed for the reactor. The feed would come from a ro unit. Is there some way to reduce the pressure from the ro unit. The neptune would cycle the soleniod as needed for the ph level.
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 11:30pm |
Jon-
I agree. So as long as you have a slurry, no reason to have the top closed tight.... right? If not, the construction is way easier, not needing the union and everything else you demonstrated.
Adam
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jfinch
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Posted: January 09 2005 at 11:48pm |
Adam, yup. Randy HF over on reefcentral did a little experiment on the degradation of kalkwasser and found that very little potency is lost even over a months time as long as there are kalkwasser solids in the container. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rhf/feature/index.htm
Bruce, if you use a solenoid then just place it upstream of the reactor then you don't have to worry about the pressure in the reactor when the solenoid closes. Do you have a float valve or float switch right now?
Edited by jfinch
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rstruhs
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 2:16am |
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Since I was "under the knife" at the time of the meeting, is there a chance of getting Jon's plans on-line? Or are they already?
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Rodney, Sandra, Jeffery, and Laura Struhs
South Jordan, Utah 98th South & 40th West.
(801) 282-2744
75 gallon reef
55 gallon reef
55 gallon FOWLR
20 gallon FOWLR
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 8:34am |
If you bug Jake enough he'll post the entire presentation.
Jon- so why do all the work of routing around that flange and making the union seal and getting the pump cord out, if you could just have an open top?
Adam
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jfinch
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 8:35am |
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Shane has a step by step powerpoint presentation for his reactor that I think will be put on-line.
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jfinch
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 8:40am |
so why do all the work of routing around that flange and making the union seal and getting the pump cord out, if you could just have an open top?
With an open top the reactor needs to free drain into the sump/tank (likely not a problem). But you need a top if you're going to locate the reactor below the sump/tank otherwise it will overflow. Also it looks better with a top
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ewaldsreef
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 10:33am |
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John, Right how I have a float vavle. I have been thinking of adding a float switch like the one you made however what I have roght now works just fine.
Do you run a ca reactor as well on your tank?
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jfinch
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 11:22am |
Bruce, is your float valve threaded on the outlet? If so you could pipe the outlet through a reactor. Otherwise you'll probably need a dosing pump of some kind. You could always wait until you get your calcium reactor going to decide if you really need the kalk.
Do you run a ca reactor as well on your tank?
Yes, the majority of the calcium input to my tank is from the calcium reactor. The kalk is dosed to help with pH, but it also adds about 1/4 of my calcium need.
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ewaldsreef
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 1:06pm |
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So you recomendation is to first hook up the ca reactor? I have a diy self one that I am planning on hooking up soon.
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jfinch
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Posted: January 10 2005 at 1:24pm |
So you recomendation is to first hook up the ca reactor?
In your case I'd say yes that is a good plan. There are a lot of people who don't have pH issues when using a calcium reactor... you might be one.
In my case I ran kalkwasser until all of my make-up water was saturated kalk and I still couldn't keep up with the calcium demand of my tank so I had to invest in a calcium reactor. Now I've cut my kalk additions back and I'm really only doing it for pH.
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