kalk or calcium reactorr

[Katfsh]

My tank is growing, Been adding different coral just polyps and a leather for now, and my wife bought me a clam last night. I need to start watching my alk and cal levels, whats the best route to go kalk dripping or calcium reactor. What is a good read on this subject?

 

[Ben1]

If I was you I would go with two part for now,
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... 4/chem.htm

No need for a CA reactor unless you develope a tank that has a high demand later, one clam is a pretty small demand.


http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

[Sea Turtle]

I have the same thing going on with my tank. I have maybe 10 sps corals that are small still and a large clam. I use the LiterMeterIII and absolutely love it. You can set it and forget it until the botles are empty. I know that this method is very affective. I would assume that when you get a very large amount of coral and clams in a big tank tank your demand for calcium might surpass that of the LiterMeterIII's capability without having to buy a new jug of kalk every week. Then I would assume a calcium reactor would be better off. As far as a calcium reactor goes, I don't know anything about it and can't help you out in that department. I have heard that thay can be difficult to dial in the correct dossage. Anyway, here is a link to the product I bought and use and again I am happy with it. I also use it to replenish my evaporated water at the same rate it evaporates as it allows you to add two additional pumps.

LiterMeterIII

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... ode=Dosers

B-Ionic two part solution

http://saltycritter.com/additives/esv-additives.htm

 

[Katfsh]

Will a hospital dosing pump pump work?

 

[Sea Turtle]

Will a hospital dosing pump pump work?

I have no idea. I guess if you can get it to drip the right amount, why not. I could be horribly wrong though. Don't take my word for it.

 

[Anonymous]

Not that far off. The dosing equipment used in this hobby is essentially a hospital dosing pump.

 

[Anonymous]

even with a high demand a 2 part solution is perfectly acceptable and in some instances better than a calcium reactor, however automating with the use of peristaltic pumps is a nice option

 

[Anonymous]

Good old fashioned kalkwasser is what I like. It is simple and the cheapest method. It will raise your pH at night and precipitate out PO4, as well as not skew the ionic portion of Na+ and Cl- ions over time. Can't say the same for 2 part solutions.

Higher demand tanks might need a calcium reactor, but a single clam is unlikely to create that much demand (unless it's huge!).

 

[Ben1]

I use my liter meter 3 to dose as well, I got 2 remote pump modules to do this. The minimum it can acruatly dose according to spectrapure is 50ml. My SPS havent developed a need past that setting. In fact even adding 50ml a day of each part my alk gets a very slow increase. You can combat the accuracy if you have a lower need by mixing your two part with less potency and still setting the LM3 to .05

In anycase dosing kalk would also be a good way to go, for the reasons Matt mentioned and may be the cheapest way to go. You can easily make a dripper, or use a dosing pump.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I use my liter meter 3 to dose as well, I got 2 remote pump modules to do this. The minimum it can acruatly dose according to spectrapure is 50ml. My SPS havent developed a need past that setting. In fact even adding 50ml a day of each part my alk gets a very slow increase. You can combat the accuracy if you have a lower need by mixing your two part with less potency and still setting the LM3 to .05

In anycase dosing kalk would also be a good way to go, for the reasons Matt mentioned and may be the cheapest way to go. You can easily make a dripper, or use a dosing pump.

When you first start out you might even need less than 50ml so what I did was mix RO/DI 50/50% with each two part solution to give you 25ml. Now I am up to 90ml I think. LiterMeterIII is great but the only problem is it sure will set you back a bit to buy it all.

If you had a large demand I would thin that you would go through those jugs pretty quickly.

 

[Ben1]

I plan on using 2 part on my new tank when it comes in also and just mixing up 5 gal jugs at a time.

Cutting the solution was what was recomended by spectrapure to reduce the amount dosed but keep the pumps accurate. I was already using the LM3 for top off, so just had to get the two remote pumps. The other way to dose it is drews dosers from bulkreefsupply.com on digital timers.

 

[Katfsh]

I realize that my clam will not be using a large amount, I just want to be ready for later I want to be able to get sps and not have to set it up after the fact. I read about people using timers why is this, do you only dose at night? I already have a top off system, what is the advantage of the lm3 over just a regular hospital dosing pump

 

[Anonymous]

Good old fashioned kalkwasser is what I like. It is simple and the cheapest method. It will raise your pH at night and precipitate out PO4, as well as not skew the ionic portion of Na+ and Cl- ions over time. Can't say the same for 2 part solutions.

I was going to say something like the above.

Just get a good handle on your evaporation and water replacement demand and its about as easy as it gets.

Two things to be careful of though with kalk - the precipitate / residue can build up and clog tubing, valves etc. over time. Check them once a month or so. Also, using in conjunction with an auto - top off and not dripping / dosing make sure you have safeguards to not dump too much in at one time particularily in a small tank. I'd reccomend the tunze osmolator based on past experience.

 

[Anonymous]

Good old fashioned kalkwasser is what I like. It is simple and the cheapest method. It will raise your pH at night and precipitate out PO4, as well as not skew the ionic portion of Na+ and Cl- ions over time. Can't say the same for 2 part solutions.

Higher demand tanks might need a calcium reactor, but a single clam is unlikely to create that much demand (unless it's huge!).

I agree. I made mine out of a plastic coffee can, some airlift tube, airline tubing, a bent paper clip and an 10/ggt/ml IV drip set low tech to the max, but it works fine.

 

[Anonymous]

Bent paper clip? :?

On my old tank I just used a 1 gallon jug with a 18 gauge hypodermic needle jabbed in the side, and used a wire to clean it out regularly. It ended up matching the evaporation rate pretty closely.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~ ... ndor~.html

I like the IV thumbwheel valve for adjusting the drip rate. Way simpler and easier to maintain than anything else I've used.

 

[Anonymous]

Good old fashioned kalkwasser is what I like. It is simple and the cheapest method. It will raise your pH at night and precipitate out PO4, as well as not skew the ionic portion of Na+ and Cl- ions over time. Can't say the same for 2 part solutions.

Higher demand tanks might need a calcium reactor, but a single clam is unlikely to create that much demand (unless it's huge!).

Ditto.

I drip mine with a modified plastic chinese food container and a dripper I got from a hospital and a little silicone.

 

[Anonymous]

Bent paper clip? :?

On my old tank I just used a 1 gallon jug with a 18 gauge hypodermic needle jabbed in the side, and used a wire to clean it out regularly. It ended up matching the evaporation rate pretty closely.

:lol: well, I guess a picture is in order here, it's a design I stole and modded from Melev's site. Inside the can I have a piece of rigid airlift tube, connected to the black flexible airline tubing, which runs to the IV set. On the outside of the can I have an airline suction cup type holder that I superglued in place that holds the assembly. The paperclip (green plastic coated) is open into "s" shape, and holds the bend in the airline hose which holds the rigid tube at the height I require. The rigid tube is shorter than the depth of the container so I don't siphon the bottom gack into the tank. All the parts are cheap and easily replaced if soaking them in vinegar doesn't remove any deposits.

 

[Ben1]

what is the advantage of the lm3 over just a regular hospital dosing pump

I have neve rused the hospital ones so am not sure. The LM3 is an excellent product and right now is dosing my two part and topping off my tank, so it has 3 seperate pumps all which are individually calibrated. The top off uses a set amount to top off and has a air lock switch in the top off module to shut off the top off automatically at a certain level.

I know it looks cooler then the hospital pumps :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have views on whether the extra expense of a proper Kalk stirrer is worth it over a Tunze Osmolator combined with Kalk doser? I'm not great at these homemade solutions (I suspect anything I attempted along those lines would fail catastrophically at some stage), so I'm considering a Osmolator/doser combo for my future tank. The Kalk stirrer has the advantage of keeping the Kalk in suspension, but disadvantage that you're still going to need the top-up mechanism as well, AFAICS. What do people think?