Kalkwasser Auto Top-off
- Thread starter geoj
- Start date
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J
jstdv8
Guest
what are we looking at here?
geoj
Active Member
A Kalk reactor helps maintain calcium and alkalinity. The idea behind a Kalk reactor is to add calcium and carbonates without them combining together. By keep co2 from being added in to the mix you reduce the calcium carbonate formation which is not useable by the corals. I am not totally convinced that there is some big need to stop this from happening. But the reactor does this by having an air tight container that passes water through it. This is why you can spend $200 + on a Kalk reactor. A bucket with a lid and some tight holes for your water lines will also work. But both the reactor and the bucket w/lid have to be taken apart to refill it with mix and can be more trouble then their worth. So most just use an open top container with a narrow top. You lose some effectiveness but once a film layer of calcium forms on the top of the water, the mix will last a few days.
Now the blue foam does three things, one: it reduces surface area so less air can mix with the water making the calcium carbonate, two: and more importantly it reduces evaporation so I don't need to refill the bucket as much, and three: makes maintenance easy with no top I just pore the new mix in and watch as the foam pops up and seals the air off.
Now the blue foam does three things, one: it reduces surface area so less air can mix with the water making the calcium carbonate, two: and more importantly it reduces evaporation so I don't need to refill the bucket as much, and three: makes maintenance easy with no top I just pore the new mix in and watch as the foam pops up and seals the air off.