pickling lime instead of kalkwasser

my mag. reading is 1500 and calc. is 500 with lights off yesterday I tested KH at 8.2 after dosing with mrs.wages lime

 

Yep...I used that when I let my kH drop to 5 a little back! Got lazy with my dosing and didnt realize what happened until my SPS began to die! It works wonders! Once I got it back up I went back to dosing with the pickling lime. I also regularly dose magnesium. The only things I test now is my kH a couple times a week, my mag about every 2 weeks and my calcium about weekly!

If you do use Ms. Wages pickling lime....get many bottles when you see it. It is only available in my area for a couple months in the fall!

 

perfect revival for this thread. im about to have a custom made kalk reactor built and was wondering how tall i should make it. it is a 6 inch diameter cylinder.any thoughts? Tangster?

 

Thats another simple idea thats also been way over complicated and overly priced , I use a 3" section of acrylic about 2.5 ft tall mounted in clips to the wall . I have it tapped on the bottom for inlet of make up water to run in and then it stirs it and when it perks to the top is is pretty much clear and sediment free I have a outlet tapped near to the top about 4" down and then another tap above the this one for the pumps wires ,
I use a simple little Maxie Jet 600 in that comes on on about 12:00 AM and then again about 5:00 for 5 mins and thats pretty much it the pipe and a fernco CAP.. works like a charm I have sent a couple out to guys here and I also run a ca reactor .About every month I dump a cup of the lime in and thats it. I have large bulk bags of food grade lime for way less then the cans of Mrs wages . P/M if interested ?
for maintenance I have to change the impellers about once a yr I had a Hanna stirrer on it to much to deal with thought about a shaft and a servo on top to stir it also but why when a simple pump works just as well .
I'm not a Rube Goldberg type of person .

 

can you post a pic? i can have one made that is similar to the geo reef one for less than $200 any size i want,but id rather do a DIY.

 

Here is a pic of the one Tangster made for me. It's the cylinder on the right.

 

Mrs. Wages. You can pick it up at Wal-Mart for like $2-3 per bag.

 

Hey I know that simple reactor How is it still doing for you ..I've been testing a different idea for onm its a 2" cylinder and has a diffuser plate the powder sets on and when the feed solenoid cuts on the water pressure its self actually lifts the wet hydrated lime up into a wavy motion like a fluidized Rowaphos bed then there is never any need to mix or stir it as my sump calls for water several times a hr. All there is to it is just remove top and refill with hydrated lime powder as needed

 

Reactor is running great. Will be needing some lime in about 3 more weeks though. You have some at the house?? I like the ideal of mixing on your new one. My first MJ lasted about 14 month in the environment it's in. I just keep extra impellers on had.

 

thanks for the pics Otty.gives me a better perspective.wasnt sure on how the pump was mounted(inside or plumbed outside).