Have Calcium Problems Need Sugestions

[Nathan4Wvu]

Well with the increasing number of lps corals in my system it is becoming harder to does the proper amounts of reef complete to keep calcum up so I need some sugestions do I..
A) build a calcium reactor
B)Build a Kalkwasser or nealson reactor
C) set up a kalkwasser drip system

Also if you know of a good sight to find DIY plans please inclued>

Buying a reactor is out of the question right now due to the fact im a poor college student and my parents are def are not going to fork over the cash unless it 100 dollars or less so i think im going to build one. Im a avid DIYer so i should be ok

[sjm817]

The cheapest and easiest way to start is using Kalk for evaporation replacement.

[Nathan4Wvu]

if i were to buld a reactor which would be my best choice give the pros and cons

[smokez01]

interested in this also

i am, too, a poor college student with a passion for SPS,

i was planning on building a DIY kalk reactor
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...c=64505&st=140

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...opic=68663&hl=

but what ive heard is dosing kalk or kalk reactors are basically just used to keep the dKH stable, to prevent CA dropage, while a CA reactor replenishes CA to keep it stable

[smokez01]

heres another one i found

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...howtopic=66546

i just dont know the whole concept about it and stuf that i duno where to begin

[abfleck]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...nftt/index.php

[p4ck37p1mp]

Get a kalk mix, put in top off, have done this for a year and all is well..

[Nathan4Wvu]

Do you just mix the kalk with the autotop?? To the specs that it lists on the bottle?

[jdieck]

Depends on how much money you have and the amount of your consumption.
Even if you build your Calcium reactor you will still need to ditch between $100 and $200 in the CO2 regulator, solenoid and cylinder.
A Kalk reactor can be cheaper but you still need a float and a dosing pump which may drive it to the $100 level.
The cheapest will be to setup a Kalk drip with no float adjusted manually to match the evaporation.
For a 55 gal I would not even bother with any of the ones mentioned above. Get some Baking Soda, Calcium Chloride (De ICer Dow flake or Pealdow) and Epsom salts. prepare your own supplements using Randy's formula (See the Chemistry forum) and use the calculator to see how much you need to add:
http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/chem_calc3.html

Enjoy!

[smokez01]

holly cow, that calculator is amazing, now i just gota put two and two together to figure out what i need

[jdieck]

Originally posted by smokez01
holly cow, that calculator is amazing, now i just gota put two and two together to figure out what i need

Thanks, glad to be of service.

[Nathan4Wvu]

you don't have to have co2 if you use a kalk reactor right

[lucubrator]

You don't need CO2 at all for a kalk (limewater) reactor. LW reactors are fed with DI water, and have a pH of ~11 when a saturated solution is produced. In a calcium reactor, the CO2 is dissolves into salt water to a pH of 6.5-6 depending on various factors, and the acidity of the water dissolves solide calcium carbonate.

[allstar.h2o]

Here is my Kalkwasser reactor I built. Works good so far.

You could build something similar with or without the stirrer at the base. A passive reactor gets stirred by the inlet water each time the top off is activated by a tube that runs to the kalk at the bottom.

[Nathan4Wvu]

Im not totaly sure on how they work does tank water pass through them all the time or just when a pump kicks on to circulate it through

[Nathan4Wvu]

ohh and does that name brand of pickling lime that is in you picture work well thats all i can find in my area

[GABONE]

I built my Kalkwasser Reactor out of an old salt bucket. Place the inlet from an RO towards the top with a float valve on the inside of the bucket, and an output to a dosing pump towards the bottom. To stir I use a cheap Marineland powerhead that needs replaced once or twice a year. The only major cost involved other than the RO that you might already have is the dosing pump. I don't like to drip because it clogs to easy. Sorry no pics now, but I will get some on soon.

[GABONE]

Actually now that I think about it I like the stirrer, I'll have to try that. Might save a little on pumps throughout the year.

[GABONE]

Allstar, can you suggest a place where I can get a stirrer at a good price Thanks for your help.

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...&hl=got+kalk\?

The flange set was something like $30 from Barr Aquatic

The pipe was $50 (1/8" wall 6"OD cast pipe) from firstclassaquatic

The Mag3 was on sale for $20 from petsmart online

The 1/2" acrylic was cheap...$10 all sliced up I think

One could skip all the costs I added in my design by plumbing everything through the lid, or by using a maxi-jet pump. The key part for a kalk reactor that alot of people leave out it the mixing pump on a timer (mine comes on for 2 minutes every other hour). Those few nano-reefers that I have seen with the drinking-filter ones are not using the kalk properly...they will never get the liquified calcium without a mixer/stirrer. I have mentioned this to them on occasion, but it seems to go without notice...but their version will do little for their calcium levels.

Im sure you can find a way to plumb a mixing pump onto a sealed container however.

I just wanted to add, as a clam/SPS junkie, I have pretty high calcium demands...but the calcium tends to keep itself in check rather well with the aragonite and all. The more important part for many that goes unchecked, and is more important, is alkalinity. Your calcium can plunge down to 230ppm, but if your alk is nice and high, your corals will keep growing. You can see various products, even DIY ones mentioned, on that chemistry calculator (I use it as well) for buffering alk. I use Seachem Reef Builder. My alk is kept higher than normal...but my corals look and grow great!

I think too many look over this as the average saltwater tank/reef doesnt have the huge uptake of calcium that can also send alkalinity plunging downwards. But for SPS/clam heavy reefs, this is key. I would say it is higher on the list than calcium any day.

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

What size tank are you thinking of running this on? Your 20L in your sig and its corals dont seem to warrant the need...

You could plumb a couple bulkheads onto the flexible sides of a 2L soda bottle, and glue ridgid airline tubing through the top cap for the ins and outs. Attach a maxijet to the 1/2" bulkheads on the soda bottle, and have a kalk mixer for about what...$40?

Keep in mind, it isnt just the kalk reactor, its the controls as well....the feed mechanism (paristaltic pump, pressure pump, or in my case, gravity feed), and the mixing timer, to add in to the overall cost.

[Nathan4Wvu]

does the flow through the reactor need to be very slow and is that the reason for useing a dosing pump? or would it be ok to just hook the reactor inline with my auto top off im building the topoff system will be using a cheep powerhead i have laying around

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Well, usually it does have to be slow, as dunping a bunch of kalk all at once is a bad idea...it will most likely result in calcium precipitation.

I suppose the 'official' way to do it on a larger tank is to have the kalk on a dosing pump...set to run at a rate lower than that of the top-off, so just a slight drip. And then the ATO runs by itself to fill in the daily gap...

IF you look in my thread, I found a way around this. The main ATO pump pumps water into a standpipe (you could use a tank, bottle, res, whatever you like above the tank) that can overflow into the tank, but the water that is in this pipe gravity feeds the kalk reactor. So every time the ATO is triggered, it adds about 8oz to this standpipe before it overflows into the tank. This 8oz slowly feeds into the kalk reactor, and then back to the tank where is slowly drips back (regulated via a simple airline valve on the outlet). Sure beats an expensive parastaltic pump. That extra 8oz also prevents the ATO from being set off as much.

The other problem with the direct feed of 1/2" hose and pump with the ATO res and pump is the plumbing end...I was thinking of this...but most likely, you will end up with a backflow problem (dumping kalk into the RO tub), and air in the kalk reactor.

[Nathan4Wvu]

I looked over you thred and i like you idea im going to think about it tonight so tomorrow im going to start drawling some plans for the reactor.

I was looking through some of the old stuff that i got with my used tanks and i found an old berlin type skimmer it has about 24 inches of clear acrylic pipe exactly 4" so i got lucky their.
Last night i made me a drip system out of some ridged air line and a valve. Its being tested tonight to see how the drip rate works out with the evorpation