Thinking Kalk/top off

[BCOrchidGuy]

I know I shouldn't think it can lead to doing silly stuff and costing money....
How does this sound for a really dead simple Kalk reactor type thing.

Imagine if you will, a 1 foot tall clear acrylic/plexi tube, maybe 2-4 inches in diameter, it has a small hose coming into the bottom (obviously it is water tight) and it is full of clean De ionized water, with Kalk in the bottom, near the top is a small hole where there is another small hose going to the kent auto top off float. The top itself is removable for cleaning but it should NOT have an air bubble. The hose that feeds into the bottom of it will be attatched to a very low pressure water supply so as the water level goes down in the sump the water from the Tube drips into the sump and it is replaced slowly by fresh De ionized water..... Whadda ya think folks?? Oh btw, the hose coming in from the bottom would be attatched to a small piece of rigid airline tubing so any water coming in would not stir up the Kalk....

I think I will give this a try unless someone tells me I'm completely flaking out here.

[Doug]

I think the water stirring up the kalk a bit upon entering the chamber would be better. Like a mini kalk reactor. I actually believe thats how the Tunze kalk dispensor works. As long as the chamber is high enough and the water flow slow enough, the mixed kalk will stay in the bottom half. In theory. :lol:

[BCOrchidGuy]

I just thought it sounded to simple to be feasable, I'm going to try it and see what comes.

[CHEAPREEF]

You mean like this?

http://www.nacdsm.org/albums/winterbeater/Picture_033.sized.jpg
http://www.nacdsm.org/albums/winterbeater/Picture_035.sized.jpg

Did a test on it for the last 2 days, with dolomite in there just to see if it clouds the water and if it will stay running oh and water tight. Pasted the test, it will be working on one of my tanks this weekend. I have modifide it since that pic though. The bottom now has an inverted 2L coke bottle top siliconed to it. Shaped like a funnel so all the kalk will hit the spot the input sits at and there will be no dead spots.

Clinton

[BCOrchidGuy]

Umm yeah something like that.... except mine will look better... lol, just kidding

Whats the black thing, a solenoid or something? Thats great, thanks

Doug

[Delphinus]

Kinda wondered the same thing but then realized that it's a powerhead that's supposed to sit in the freshwater reservoir. So it's the pump that feeds the water into the mixer.

Am I close? :)

It looks like a minijet. Please explain what sort of pieces you used to make the cap for the output? Is it completely watertight? I'm particularly curious how you made the piece the tubing slips into.

[CHEAPREEF]

Kinda wondered the same thing but then realized that it's a powerhead that's supposed to sit in the freshwater reservoir. So it's the pump that feeds the water into the mixer.

Am I close? :)

It looks like a minijet. Please explain what sort of pieces you used to make the cap for the output? Is it completely watertight? I'm particularly curious how you made the piece the tubing slips into.


Yep it's a pump 185gph, the adptor is from Revy in the sprinkler section, with an end cap screwed into the end. Everything is water tight, the only problem i had was the top where the lid meets the body. I had to silicone the gasket to one side and screw the cap on to dry so it would form it's own imprfections, so to speak. The piece the tube slips through is just a qick conect fitting form Revy, i drilled it though (same size as the tube) and just push though what you need and tighten it down. It would have been made out of acrylic but i had this stuff laying around and i really don't need to see though it. Just need to monitor the output.

Clinton

[smokinreefer]

IMO this will not work effectively unless you have something stirring the kalk, or if you frequently change the kalk, or put very little kalk in at once.

i did a passive reactor, much like what you described, using an empty Tap Water Purifier. i tried this to try to alleviate some of the work involved in mixing and dosing every other day, so the only way this would prove successful for me, is if it could handle enough kalk that i wouldnt have to continually clean/refill it. so iput more than an inch of kalk in the housing. needless to say i ended up with kalk paste.

I do have a DIY kalk reactor now, but the design does need to be improved.

IMO you need a reactor that can effectively stir
all the kalk in the reactor.

HTH

[BCOrchidGuy]

I assumed it would dissolve as the fresh water came in contact with it....

Now I am considering building a Ca Reactor, have to see.....

[CHEAPREEF]

Well just going by what Dez has explained to me about the same type of setup, worked fro him for over 6months with no problems.

Clinton

[BCOrchidGuy]

Well it should be obvious that I don't know much about it so I am just making assumptions. I thought the Kalk would eventually be gone if I dumped in a 500g package of it. I have alot more research to do before I decide on which way to go, for now I drip my kalk and so far things are good, I guess I just wanted an easier (more stylish) way to do it.

[Doug]

As I mentioned, if the incoming water is injected into the reactor, near the bottom, with an elbow pointing to the kalk powder, it will stir it up some.

This is the basis of the Tunze dispensor, which uses no mech mixer. This method works, but only for smaller tanks. For a large load, then a large reactor is needed, to be able to add more kalk and mix it without the powder being pushed out. I believe mine is 3ft high and mixes with a powerhead.

[BCOrchidGuy]

After looking at plans/pictures etc on the internet it is obvious a Kalk Reactor is going to be much easier to build than a Ca Reactor..... I love this DIY stuff.