A few questions on Kalk reactors.

[captjab]

I've been topping off with a Tunze Osmolator with a 5 gallon reservoir with 10 teaspoons of kalk in the 5 gallons of RO/DI water. I run the Tunse 24/7 and my ph seems to stay pretty stable at 8.15 to 8.35.
I've been looking into getting a Geo Kalkwasser reactor, but my main concerns are:
Will my ph fluctuate more with the reactor?
Will the Tunze pump have enough head pressure to run through the reactor?
Will there be any advantage running a kalk reactor vs topping off with 2 teaspoons of kalk per gallon of top off water.
Thanks.

[captjab]

Ttt

[sirreal63]

I prefer to drip kalk as opposed to a kalk reactor. People have noticed a less than saturated mix with a reactor, but there could be some user error in that as well. One nice thing about you mixing the solution, you can control the strength (up to saturation) and rate of dosing. A reactor or stirrer increases the chances of dosing slurry and they require more maintenance and testing of the effluent to make sure your dose is correct.

Either method will work, you just have to decide which is a better option for you. I don't use the osmolator so I can't help you there, I use a peristaltic pump running 24/7 set to the evap rate of the tank.

[captjab]

Thanks. I think I'll probably keep it like I have it then unless I can get some more opinions that would change my mind. I like to keep it as simple as possible and I was actually thinking a reactor would make things easier, but I see your point on maintenance.

[captjab]

Bump one more time for second opinions.
Thanks

[keithhays]

I will let you know in a few days, I should have the avast k2 tomorrow. I suspect it will be more stable, but we shall see. The risk that I saw people report while I was researching seem to be limited to a sometimes higher PH than they wanted, though this could be due to a higher than normal alkalinity and Co2 prior to using it.

[captjab]

Thanks Keith and good luck with the new K2.

[keithhays]

I received the K2 yesterday; I got the one I assemble, so I put it together last night. The process took me a couple hours not counting drying time. I let it dry overnight. I leak tested it and there were no issues. I cleaned the system; there is a bit more manufacturing residue than with already assembled items. The only issue I had with the whole assembly was that I over tightened one of the black nylon screws that holds the stirring rod. There was an extra white nylon screw that worked just fine.

I got the K2 for a 300 gallon system which is quite a bit over-sized, but I wanted to extra capacity so that the given my 4 to 5 gallon a day evaporation, I would be sure it was settled; there wasn't much of a price difference. I am following the "Kalk Calc" for 3 gallons a day evaporation for two weeks, just to be a little cautious on where my PH lands.

Over the previous couple of weeks, I have allowed my system to drop to 430 ppm calcium and 170 ppm (about 10 dKH) alkalinity so that I can have a little leeway on where the PH falls as the system lowers in Co2.