Recommended auto Kalk Dosers/Mixers?

After retiring my Tunze kalk reactor recently I am looking for a true kalk mixer (edit: or doser).

I could hook this up inline to my ATO I suppose or I am looking for a very slow drip that is constant. The latter would be great.

Any recs?


matt

 

Why do you want a kalk mixer? I am using a Reeftek kalk reactor, with a Toms aqualift pump. It works great, but I will probably get rid of it as I do not believe that there is significant benefit to using premixed in a bucket. Really the only benefit, is the dosing pump may last longer, as it is pumping RO/DI rather than limewater. There is certainly a disadvantage over just using kalk premixed with RO/DI in a bucket though.

Randy Holmes-Farely showed that due to Kalks very high, pH, metals and other impurities tend to precipitate out. So, kalk is somewhat self purifying. So, if you pre-mix and let settle then just use a dosing pump on an ato, the lime-water will be very pure. If you use a reactor, it is always stirred up, so impurities may be suspended and dosed with the lime-water. It may not be much of an issue if using lab grade kalk, but with the pre-mixed kalk, you can get away with using cheaper kalk, such as MS Wages pickling lime.

Also, I have found that the reactor does not always provide maximum strength lime-water, or over mixed causing precipitation issue. Regarding the strength, certainly after the reactor is mixed, is should be saturated.
However, if the dosing pump is on for a while, the water flowing through, may not fully mix and this may lead to diluted limewater being dosed. This can have a fairly large effect actually IME. Second, if the dosing pump comes on right after it is stirred, the kalk may not have settled yet and this suspended material tends to immediately precipitate and can clog pumps and so forth... Of course, this can be avoided with timers, but that is more complicated.

So, IMO, a simple pre-mixed bucket is probably best. If you use aqualift pumps, you may need to run some vinegar though them more, but even if they die, you can buy a lot of them for the cost of a reactor. Any ATO is fine; I use the reef-fanatic, it's cheap and has worked flawlessly for many years.

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention, with the aqualift, you just use a inline valve to restrict the flow. You can get these in the plumbing section of lowes or HD.

 

@ m2434
Interesting points. Thanks for the info!
I am attracted to the mixer because of my experience with the Tunze reactor. It had a lot of dead spots. I resorted to shaking it.
Also as you point out, sometimes the ATO would go on right after I shook it up and it would do a heavy dose in my tank.

Do you have a link to the reactor you mentioned?

Your points really make me want to go back to my simple reservoir and float with the near constant drip. The results were very good and there were no large doses going on.

EDIT - pink4miss - interesting setup! And I agree on kalk - it can be a pain, but you do see results.

 

This is what I'm using. Has been pretty trouble free. Occasionally the tubing gets clogged up with kalk and needs to be cleaned out, but I think that's just a fact of life with kalk. Also, I had to replace the rotor and shaft on the maxi-jet 600 mixing pump after 2 years, but that was like $6 or something.

ReefTek.com - Nilsen (Kalk - Kalkwasser) Reactor

The Geo and PM are similar, but a bit more expensive.

As I said though, IMO a simple bucket is the way to go, although maybe not as fun as a new toy ;D

The other thing about a bucket, that you can't do with a mixer, is super saturate it with vinegar for more potency and possibly for carbon dosing. There just doesn't seem to be a good way to do this with a mixer.

 

Settled. k+
I just went back to my original setup from the 90's that worked for years without fail and really did the job...

THis:


And this:


All I ever did was clean the float occasionally with vinegar.
Constant kalk drip got results. Once every couple days I shaked the bucket a bit.
EDIT - also that float really works for an ATO - water was level.

Done Deal. Thank you sir!

3reef sponsors are getting my money lately.

matt

 

Awesome, sometimes you just can't beat simplicity no matter how hard you try


Edit: Another thought, you could always step up to the next level and buy a calcium reactor. I know the sponsors have some nice ones

 

this is a stupid question.......
how do you have it hooked up with the float..... I use the aquadoser but dont use it to refill my evaporation. (I am sure I am missing something easy...... )

 

I used a Kalk dripper when I first started, but got tired of messing with the drip rate, mixing kalk, changing the container, etc.

Then I tried mixing Kalk in my ATO.
Got tired of that really quick due to the mess it made and the damage it did to my ATO pump.

Now I am using an Aquamedic Kalk Stirrer in line with my ATO reservoir, controlled by my Tunze ATO controller.
Works perfectly. No mess, no hassle.
Pretty much set and forget, just change/add your Kalk powder (I use Mrs. Wages pickling lime) about once a month.
What I like about the Kalk stirrer over a Kalk mixer is that the stirrer does not need a pump on a timer to mix the Kalk, then wait till it settles before you can dose. The stirrer keeps the kalk mixed constantly and your ATO feeds in from the bottom and you get saturated Kalkwasser from the top.
Easy, easy, easy.

Kalkwasser Stirrer 1000 by AquaMedic - AquaCave

.

 

Nice stirrer!

Gravity. Have the aquadose higher than the sump.