Kalkwasser Reactor

jjboods

jjboods

Member
Can someone give an explanation of how these are used. I understand what they do and how they work, I am asking how they are installed/integrated into a system. I've read alot about dosing and top off. My tank is not in a location where I can add a source of RO/DI water. Do I need it or does the reactor keep recycling tank water? Do they go in sump? How is the water added to the unit?
I hope I am expressing the question well enough. Thanks.
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member
Its all about top off. You need to run RO water to them using a dosing pump. Some people use powerheads but its not a real good idea.
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
The cost of the dosing pump makes it close to the cost of a CA reactor. I might just keep using a two part and start mixing them myself.
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member
not sure but your thread over at -- suggests that you have a FOWLR tank. If so why do you even need to add so much Ca? If I'm wrong and you do have corals a kalk reactor might not do what you need. Kalkwasser is good stuff but it helps to maintain kalk levels. Most people who have tanks full of corals can't keep up levels with just kalk.
Its kind of like which came first, the chicken or the egg..I didn't setup a top off system so I could run a kalk reactor. I setup a top off system so I didn't have to carry water to the tank every 6hrs. Sometimes I evap 5 gals a day. I use a Ca reactor to get my Ca and alk levels where I want em. When using a Ca reactor the CO2 tends to drop the tanks pH, adding a kalk reactor help bring up the pH, plus all the other good things kalk does.
I'd bet most of the guys who replied to your thread at -- run a Ca reactor too.
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
The signature in my -- profile is old. I was reading an article by Randy Holmes-Farley that discussed different methods of Calcium and Alkalinity supplementation. I read it as you could run one of a number of systems. Kalk/limewater being one of them. Maybe I read it wrong? It also stated that CA reactors are perhaps a better choice for tanks with higher CA demand, which mine is not.
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member

Originally posted by jjboods
The signature in my -- profile is old. I was reading an article by Randy Holmes-Farley that discussed different methods of Calcium and Alkalinity supplementation. I read it as you could run one of a number of systems. Kalk/limewater being one of them. Maybe I read it wrong? It also stated that CA reactors are perhaps a better choice for tanks with higher CA demand, which mine is not.
The good thing about a Ca reactor is you don't need a top off system. The bad things is you need a lot more other stuff. Its all about how much time you want to spend on the tank. On my old 55 I used to drip kalk (link below) and add B-ionic. The cost of that stuff alone was getting out of hand. When I went to the 150 and all sps there was no way I could keep up with B-ionic. A Ca reactor is so easy its not funny, You set it and forget it.
http://members.aol.com/sf49er1959/re...yidripper1.jpg
 
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