Will this work for Kalk?

[Crustman]

I plan to use it for my 65 gallon if I can ever find one in stock. Only 2 sellers on the Internet. It should be simple to connect it to my ATO. Tank uses 1 gallon of RO water per day. It does not have a stirring device or pump. I plan on changing it weekly. Thanks

https://www.dtpetsupplies.com/catalog/product_info.php?language=en&currency=USD&products_id=8435

[der_wille_zur_macht]

What do you have for an ATO setup?

That'll work, but it won't be ideal. If you use it, I'd give it a gentle shake every day. I had an unstirred kalk reactor on a tank years ago and I found that gently shaking it once a day or so really helped in the consistency of the solution - otherwise, it tends to not mix fully just from the RO water flowing through the powder, and/or the powder can get clumpy.

That said, it would be really easy to add a tiny powerhead to one of those reactors - two uniseals, a few small plumbing parts, and you're all set.

At any rate, you want to be careful with any mixing scheme (stirrer, powerhead, shaking manually) that the unit won't be "on" while it is getting churned up, or you'll get solids in the tank which isn't good.

Also, this applies to any ATO and should go without saying, but make sure the tube running from the unit to the tank terminates ABOVE water level. If it's below water level, you leave yourself open to the possibility of back siphoning.

[THE ROOK]

It would be better to just use your ATO reservoir, IMO. Prep the Kalk in a separate bucket & pour off the saturated water, into the reservoir, once stirred & settled.

The problem I see with that reactor is it will likely push the Kalk "slurry" right into the sump.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15163045#post15163045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by THE ROOK

The problem I see with that reactor is it will likely push the Kalk "slurry" right into the sump.

As long as you don't put a whole can of kalk in at the same time, the flow through it is so tiny that there's virtually no risk of this happening.

The problem with putting kalk solution into an existing ATO reservoir is that if the ATO system relies on anything sensitive (a pump, solenoid, valve, etc) the kalk solution will most certainly kill it sooner or later. Hence, it's "better" to put the reactor "after" the ATO, such that the ATO pushes freshwater through it, and there is nothing after the reactor except a simple piece of tube.

Now, if you're just using a bucket and a piece of airline with a loose knot in it as an ATO, then by all means just put the kalk in that.

[Michael]

you could get 2 buckets, 1 needs to be air tight and sealed. basically the first resevoir needs to have the pump from the ato in it, and the pipe from the resevoir can connect to a second resevoir which is sealed and has kalk in it, this way the ato pump never comes into contact with the lime water but you still dose the tank via evaporation.

[Crustman]

Thanks everyone, the ATO is a JBJ and it will be placed before this reactor. A small AZ00 pump would pump the RO water to this reactor and the reactor would empty directly into the sump. One of the ATO float switches is in the sump.

[knoxtnreef]

i just put kalk in my top off bucket, stir it everyday, and let the pump do the rest. no need to complicate things more then it has to be. if it kills your 15 dollar maxijet it's not the end of the world.

double float switch from www.autotopoff.com

[Michael]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15163781#post15163781 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by knoxtnreef
i just put kalk in my top off bucket, if it kills your 15 dollar maxijet it's not the end of the world.



perhaps not, spend 200 bucks on a tunze pump though and you will have a second chamber :D