Kalkwasser Maintenance

[Reverend Reefer]

ok i think im going to do this and i think i understand it now. just some questions about what im getting myself into:

1. i pour 2 teaspoons / gallon into my ro/di top off resevoir. what happens next? do i need to stir it constantly or can it just sit there? a little confused about this part, looks like some people use a neilsen reactor which im assuming stirs the kalkwasser every once in a while, is this step necessary? or can i just mix it once and let it sit there as it slowly goes into my sump? i.e., is there a wait time after putting the kalk powder in before i can hook it back up to my auto-top off system or can this all happen on the fly?

2. when i put the tubing in to pump the kalkwasser out, do i put the inlet near the bottom, near the top, middle, or right at the very bottom?

3. how often do i put more of the kalk powder mix into the resevoir? is this a daily maintenance thing or can it be a weekly thing?

4. will i need to clean the resevoir every day/week/month? from the descriptions, it seems like there will be this thick paste that precipitates to the bottom of the kalkwasser container. will i need to clean that stuff from the bottom every week or whenever i add more ro/di?

5. when they say this stuff gets hot, how hot are we talking about? does this heat remain or is it only an initial heat once you pour the powder in. mostly i ask becuz it sounds cool and science experiment like but also because my ro/di top off resevoir is a glass containment system and i just want to know if this will make the glass really hot to touch...

thank-you RC members for all the knowledge.

[sjm817]

1) Stir once when you mix it up and that's it. Let is settle for a few hrs or so before use. The container should be covered
2) A little off the bottom so it doesn't pick up what settles
3) Only when you mix up a new batch
4) Once or twice a year
5) It does not get hot

[TheH]

CaO gets hot, not Ca(OH)2.

Just to clarify sjm's point number 3, you only need to add more kalk when you add more water to the container.

[Reverend Reefer]

wow. this is really easy then given that i have an ato system setup up. thanks folks!

[Reverend Reefer]

really makes it seem like a kalkwasser reactor - nielson reactor is just a waster of money and space!

[sjm817]

Using Kalk in an ATO is actually that easy. If you already have a decent ATO system, the only thing you need to do is add the kalk.

[aniceplace]

Kalk in my ATO always worked great for me. Keeps my coraline algae growing nicely and PH stable. I don't understand the need for the reactor either.

[dg3147]

make sure that the kalk enters your sump (or tank) at a level higher than the kalk/ato reservoir to prevent auto-siphon from occuring. (look at my homepage pictures of my sump if u need clarification) .....or pm me.

[MichaelBrock]

Just to add a point of experience, when you add the new kalkwasser to your ato reservoir (I mix mine separately in a 5 gallon bucket and add it to the reservoir) make sure that you turn off your ato. If there is any sediment in the reservoir, and I'm sure there will be, it will be suspended by the process of adding kalkwasser and if you ato kicks in before it settles...not pretty. Also not harmful thankfully, been there a few times.

[Reverend Reefer]

Just to add a point of experience, when you add the new kalkwasser to your ato reservoir (I mix mine separately in a 5 gallon bucket and add it to the reservoir) make sure that you turn off your ato. If there is any sediment in the reservoir, and I'm sure there will be, it will be suspended by the process of adding kalkwasser and if you ato kicks in before it settles...not pretty. Also not harmful thankfully, been there a few times.

hmmm. is this that cloudiness that people report?

i hope my ato is setup properly. i have one of those madison dual float switches where i have an aqualifter pump connected to it. the aqualifter is on the floor below water level of everything. my ro/di resevoir is beside my sump in a big glass floor vase. i have the input airline hose suction cupped to the bottom of the vase. this airline hose for the ro/di water is then pumped thru the aqualifter (on the floor) and into the sump. i have a small pvc pipe set vertically with the little airline output to a level that is higher than the resevoir to prevent siphon? i tend to be an idiot when it comes to understanding siphons properly but im guessing that if the output line is at or near the same level, siphon doesn't occur, even if the water is falling down the pvc pipe?

[sjm817]

That is fine. If it works now, it will work with the Kalk. The suction cup is the only thing I dont like. With the Kalk, it will be a problem. Find another way to hold in down.

Also, how is the dual float configured? It should be that the primary float controls on/off and the second float overrides and turns off the ATO if the level rises. The other thing as previously posted is the float must be sensitive, How much of a level change is there from low to high?

[Reverend Reefer]

That is fine. If it works now, it will work with the Kalk. The suction cup is the only thing I dont like. With the Kalk, it will be a problem. Find another way to hold in down.

Also, how is the dual float configured? It should be that the primary float controls on/off and the second float overrides and turns off the ATO if the level rises. The other thing as previously posted is the float must be sensitive, How much of a level change is there from low to high?

what happens with kalk that suction cups don't work? what else could i use to hold it down, i guess a weight of some sort?

its the same dual float switch found here: http://www.autotopoff.com

i think what happens is if the float goes below the level, it turns on the aqualifter on. if it floats up, it turns it off. the secondary float will also turn it off if the first one fails. seems to be working since the levels in my tank and sump remain the same, although ive only had it running for a month.

i hope the madison dual float switch is good, i paid 80 bucks for this damn thing! i figured it was worth the investment since automating anything like this makes me nervous. i've been leaning recently towards automation so i can go away on weekends without losing sleep for fear of a flood!!!

thanks again for all your help. reading all these kalkwasser dosing things on the net make it seem so complicated and yet now that i see the reality of it, everyone should do it! its so easy (i guess its only easy now that i have an ato system setup?).

[reefgeezer]

Kalk is great.

The benifit of a reactor is that it reduces the frequency in which you must add Kalk to keep the water saturated. My ATO is completely automatic, including filling of the reservior. Without my reactor I would have to add kalk and stir every day. That means I need to turn off the ATO, stir the Kalk, wait for it to settle and then remember to turn the ATO back on. With the reactor, I just add Kalk once a week and don't even have to turn off the ATO.

Reactors are easy to build and cheap.

[Reverend Reefer]

Kalk is great.

The benifit of a reactor is that it reduces the frequency in which you must add Kalk to keep the water saturated. My ATO is completely automatic, including filling of the reservior. Without my reactor I would have to add kalk and stir every day. That means I need to turn off the ATO, stir the Kalk, wait for it to settle and then remember to turn the ATO back on. With the reactor, I just add Kalk once a week and don't even have to turn off the ATO.

Reactors are easy to build and cheap.

is the reactor hooked up to your top off resevoir or directly into your sump? is the reactor's purpose only to stir it or does it dose it as well?

[dg3147]

In regards to auto-siphon prevention, it sounds good.

[sjm817]

The suction cup wont stick to Kalk slurry very well :)

Maybe a magnet holder or a weight or some rigid line.

I've used reactors and didn't like it. I found it to actually be more work. You have to clean it out more often since the vessel id much smaller in diameter and precipitates build up a lot quicker. It also took more time to fill. One more thing to check to be sure it is working. It is also harder to deliver a consistently saturated mixture. I fill my ATO container once every 2 weeks. It takes an extra 30 sec or so to mix in a couple cups of lime. I dont touch it again until its time to refill again in 2 weeks. It you have a very small ATO container that you have to refill more than every couple of days, then it may make sense to use one.

[R@ck78]

hmmm I was just thinking about how I would add kalk to my system. This is some good information. I was actually thinking of building a reactor but looks like I may just add it to my ATO container.

Thanks
Mark-

[reefgeezer]

is the reactor hooked up to your top off resevoir or directly into your sump? is the reactor's purpose only to stir it or does it dose it as well?

The reactor is hooked between the make-up water reservoir and the sump. The entire system is gravity fed and operated by a solenoid. A liquid level switch in the sump opens the normally closed solenoid and allows water to flow from the reservior through the reactor to the sump. The reactor's purpose is to allow the kalk to be stirred and keep the water saturated without allowing undissolved kalk to be added to the sump. The liquid level controller is pretty sensitive and only adds a few ounces of water to the sump at a time so the flow inside the 3 gallon reactor is very low.

I built the entire ATO and Kalk reactor system for around $100. Solenoids and Liquid Level Controllers are not expensive and can be purchased cheaply at McMastercarr.com. I'va also wired a set of liquid level controllers to a latching relay that opens a solenoid when the low level switch is activated and closes it when the high level switch in activated. This keeps the reservoir filled automatically and preserves my DI resin by allowing the RO/DI unit to run for the longest period possible. This DIY cost abour $60.

These two DIY projects are ones that I am really happy with. The only maintenance required is to add Kalk weekly and make sure the line from the reactor to the sump is cleaned about once a month so calcium build-up doesn't clog it.

[bertoni]

Just to add a point of experience, when you add the new kalkwasser to your ato reservoir (I mix mine separately in a 5 gallon bucket and add it to the reservoir) make sure that you turn off your ato. If there is any sediment in the reservoir, and I'm sure there will be, it will be suspended by the process of adding kalkwasser and if you ato kicks in before it settles...not pretty. Also not harmful thankfully, been there a few times.
Rather than turn off the autotopoff, I just dumped some RO/DI water into the system, so that it'd take some time for the ATO to kick on. I agree that keeping the sediment out of the tank is worth a bit of effort. Suction cups don't last long or hold well in a kalk solution, as others have stated.