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It was taken a few iterations but I believe this is working pretty well.



The key for me was finding a small enough external pump that could be firmly attached to the reactor and provide connectors that were securely waterproof. The best pump (the only small one that I could find) was the QuietOne 1200. This is a 296 gph pump with 1/2 " treaded connectors for both input and output.

By mounting the pump to a 4" to 2" T-adaptor, you can provide a solid way of attaching the pump to the main reactor body. The pump screws directly into a slip-treaded adaptor in the T-adapter. Some 1/2 " tubing provides the final connection plus allowing some visable inspection of the contents of the reactor.

Anyway, this is delivering 11.7 pH effluent which is as good as I have been able to do by manual mixing. (saturated limewater has a pH of 12.0). I have it attached to my ACIII with a water level sensor that prevents any runaway dosing. Essentially, this is replacing the topoff water system.

I have a pH probe for this but this is an option for measuring the effluent pH. again saturated limewater has a pH of 12.0.

I would/will do one more iteration eventually to clean up a few details but otherwise this one is completely functional.

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Wow, that looks great. I have a couple questions/comments. When I test my reactor effluent after starting a new batch of kalk I get a pH of about 12.5, possibly just my pen pH tester, but thats even right after calibration. Also I dont think I would leave the pH probe in there all the time unless you intend on frequently cleaning and calibrating.

Extra dohickeys, does the gate valve have a purpose other than possibly draining the reactor, and whats the little pipe on the left towards the rear

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(' )< David >( ')

"The world is headed for mutiny when all we want is unity" Scott Stapp, Creed

The gate value is used to drain the reactor. When I first started using it I was beginning to think I would lose the drain value on a future version but lately I am finding it is useful. For one I can flush most of the debris (remainder) kalk power (mostly CaC03 I think and useless) from the reactor without taking everythig apart. However, with my quick release connectors it isn't difficult to take the reactor down for cleaning.

As to the "little pipe"...That is one version that didn't work and would not make it to a final design.

I would question any pH over 12.0 as I believe that is the maximum you could get from limewater alone. At the moment the pH probe is an experiment as I only have one probe. I wanted to see if the grommet I found would effectively seal the probe-it does. Some commercial reactors provide a pH probe option. It would seem to be useful to determine when the reactor needed to be recharged say when the pH dropped below 11.0 or so. I don't know why the probe would need any more calibration used this way than any other way but is certainly something to consider. Bottom line is whether or not the extra pH probe is worth the extra money. If someone wanted to not use the probe this design works and if you want a probe I have figured out how to make that work also. I am using it both ways.

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You say that the kalk reactor may needto be recharged when the pH falls below 11.0, is this a # you've made up or have read somewhere? I'm curious because I can tell when mine needs recharging by tank pH. When my tank pH starts to fall below 8.0 I know the kalk reactor isnt keeping up anymore, and for the heck of it the other day I tested the kalk effluent when the tank pH started to drop and it was at 10.2 pH. Right now I'm going though a container of Mrs Wages about every 2 - 3 weeks. For some reason I thought I would get more out of a pound of kalk.

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(' )< David >( ')

"The world is headed for mutiny when all we want is unity" Scott Stapp, Creed

Made up but if there is "available" kalk in the reactor and you are stirring on a schedule, then there is no reason that the pH should drop at all. In my case it starts at 11.7 and should stay there as long as there is un-dissolved powder. At least that is what my very old college chemistry (and little that I can remember) would lead me to believe.

Some folks with ACIII's use the pH probe to initiate a "stir" command. I am sure I have seen posts that discuss how they do that and at what pH they do it--I just don't remember.

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I have my ACIII set to stir 4 times per day at even intervals. I did a bit of reading about kalkwasser, and at full strength pH should be well above 12. The article I read can be found here. What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

I also have my ACIII set to stop topping off if the pH reaches 8.25. When the kalk is fresh and fully saturated my pH generally stays pegged right there or even a bit higher.

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(' )< David >( ')

"The world is headed for mutiny when all we want is unity" Scott Stapp, Creed

I thought it was 12.0 but I see it is 12.54. Thanks for the correction.

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I am using 8.4 for the cutoff.

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I was thinking of going higher with my pH, but last time I did I seemed to have problems with it that high. For whatever reason my tank prefers lower. Naturally ( without kalk ) it settles down to about 7.7 - 7.8 at night, and climbs to 8.0 - 8.1 during the day. I'm afraid if I push it too high artificially then I'm going to end up with a larger day/night fluctuation, especially if I slack on my kalk reactor recharging. I just checked my effluent and its down to 11.0, I just recharged the reactor earlier in the week.

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(' )< David >( ')

"The world is headed for mutiny when all we want is unity" Scott Stapp, Creed

hey nice! looks good! i'm always too scared to automate mine lol so i just drip it from a container ... maybe someday ...

The reactor is working really well. I had to change pumps. The QuietOne didn't last very long. I think the grit from the kalk was too much for it. I replaced it with a MagDrive 300. This pump is keeping the reactor well mixed and tolerates the kalk better - so far.

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I'm not scared anymore ... i hooked one that i got used from Jerry the other day up to my tank ... works well ... still scary though .. what have you got in place so it doesn't dump a bunch in your tank anything?

oh and is that a pH probe i see? if it is how come?

I have it plumbed for a pH probe to check the pH pf the efluent. When it drops below say 11.0, it is time to recharge. I have not yet purchased a second probe so this option isn't currently being used. I use the ACIII to time when I add (and stir), I have a float sensor that turns of the reactor if the water in the sump gets too high and I check the pH. I add about a cup every 90 minutes which is a little under the top off requirements. I still have a separate top off system (controller and float) that can kick in if the ACIII for some reason turns off the kalk or the reactor doesn't provide sufficent top off.

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ok i get ya... i've heard about that before ... once the pH drops then it's time to add more......it's supposed to be up near a pH of 12 right ?IIRC ...

I'm still trying to figure out what i can do as a safety measure so i don't pump a whole bunch into my tank...

You need a pH controller to safely pump kalk into your tank.

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(' )< David >( ')

"The world is headed for mutiny when all we want is unity" Scott Stapp, Creed

You also need to have the ALK right...and use the Randy's Two Part - don't bake the baking soda when adding kalk. I find that the pH increase is pretty small when the ALK is 9-10.

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yeah i thought about using my ACJr .. telling it to turn off the ATO if the pH reaches above 8.45 or some crap like that .... that is probably the way I'll go .. still thinking it over .... for now it is fine .. i use my tunze ATO and pass it through the kalk reactor ... also trying to figure out how to automate it so it will only go through the Kalk reactor during lights out .... right now i go down and do it manually .. switch it back and forth ... that will wear thin on me soon too lol