|
|
|
|
#1
06/30/2007, 08:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
My DIY Kalk doser.
   This is my 5gl kalk dosser. No float switches, no pumps, no moving parts when its in operation. It just replaces all my evaporation loss with Kalk. |
|
#4
06/30/2007, 10:55 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
it looks like a pipe hanging over his sump with a valve on the bottom.. guess he mixes the kalk then hangs the unit.. adjust the drip rate to his evap and drip away..
YzGyz
__________________
YzGyz = Wise Guys ohhh and cows go MOOO!!! 2nd best way is to learn from ones own mistakes but the best way to learn is from others... thx to Randy and so many other for making reefing that much easier |
|
#5
07/01/2007, 07:57 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
It is a sealed container. I close the valve at the bottom and open the rubber cap at the top. I mix up some kalk and fill the container. When the rubber cap is replaced it becomes an air tight container. The half inch pipe at the bottom extends about 4 inches up inside the 6 in pipe so that it doesnt pick up the kalk that settles on the bottom. There is a 3/16 of an inch hole in the bottom of the 1/2 inch pipe. The watter level of the sump stays at the bottom of this pipe. When the valve is open the kalk will not leave the container until evaporation causes the level in the sump to drop. When it does a tiny air bubble will enter the container through this 3/16 hole and allow a few drops of kalk to enter the sump. There is no adjusting of the valve. It is just there so that the kalk doesn't flow straight through as I'm filling the container. It works great. No electricity, no float switches to stick, no hoses to clog up, and no pumps to malfunction. The only thing that could go wrong is if someone poked a hole in the container. Then it would dump all the kalk into the tank at once.
No it's not a brass valve. It is PVC and rubber. |
|
#6
07/01/2007, 08:05 AM
|
|||
|
|||
 This is a pic of the DIY stand with the right side off to show the kalk doser. |
|
#7
07/01/2007, 10:00 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
That is a pretty good idea. A giant dripper that keeps the water at a constant level.
My only concern would be if the seal (as it being airtight, not the rubber one) were to break.
__________________
#something witty |
|
#8
07/01/2007, 10:31 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I have tried many different designs of this. I tried the large water bottles. I had one crack and another implode. After allot of trial and error this is the design I have ended up with. It is made of thick PVC and thick Rubber. It would take something major to poke a hole in it, but you are right. If there was a hole it would dump what ever kalk was in it into the tank all at once. I think this is safer than pumps and float switches though. I have read to many threads where ATO's like that have malfunctioned and caused major problems.
It doesn't really drip though. I don't need to make any adjustments. The amount of evaporation determines the amount of kalk it releases into the tank. When evaporation is high it dumps more Kalk into the water. When evaporation is low the amount of kalk released is reduced automatically. All I need to do if fill it up when it is empty and clean it out about twice a month. Last edited by elegance coral; 07/01/2007 at 10:40 AM. |
|
#9
07/01/2007, 10:40 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Pretty cool idea. Works kind of like a water cooler right? I was thinking about trying something similar, but it was suggested (by someone with more knowledge than I) that one of the draw backs was the potential for transfer of saltware into the the freswater and vicecerse.
Think of it like this, a saltwater tank and a fresh water tank connected with pipe. With out any flow between the two over time the two solutions would (in theroy a least ) equalize. To what extent this actually happens probably depends on many factors (temperature diferences, size of the hole/pipe conecting the two, and how saturated each mixture is... In your case, I think if the gate valves is almost completely closed then transfer would be at a minimum. I'd be interesed in hearing if there is any change n the salinity of the kalk bucket after running for several days. Again, interesting idea... -S |
|
#10
07/01/2007, 11:35 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I think the preventing factor for having that problem (diffusion and eventual equalization of the 2 solutions) would be time. Some saltwater may end up in the kalk reactor but after a bit of evap most of it would end up back in the tank. The small part that wouldn't would be below the top of the 4" 1/2" riser inside the reactor. That small amount of salinity loss would easily be corrected with water changes.
My worries would be the 3/16" hole clogging or getting covered by something like a snail or the container simply breaking/leaking (which elegance coral says he's not worried about with this container version). It'd just be one of those things I'd watch to make sure my sump level never visibly drops below the bottom of the 1/2" pipe. Looks good. 
|
|
#11
07/01/2007, 12:02 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
When it is in use the gate valve is open all the way to keep it from clogging with Kalk. I experimented with different sized holes in the bottom. With smaller holes the kalk just wont come out. the water level in the sump will drop and the container will retain the kalk. Larger holes dump more kalk each time it "burps". 3/16 of an inch seems to work out fine. It dumps small amounts more often. Larger holes dump more kalk less often. Salt water is heavier than fresh and the hole that connects the two is small enough to not allow much flow between the two. The salt water would almost have to defy gravity to make it up into the kalk dosser. A snail would have to leave the water, climb the side of the tank, cross the frame work that holds up the kalk dosser and down the 1/2" pipe to get to the hole to stop it up. Even then the PH of the kalk would probably cause him to move on. The only downfall I have noticed is that every once in a while you will hear a slight burping sound as an air bubble enters the container and the kalk is released.
|
|
|
Linear Mode
