Auto Kalk Dripper Setup Question

[Shroom King]

I want to automate my daily calcium adding and water top off on my nano. I currently use B-ionic additives daily, but have been looking at dripping Kalk. Will the below idea work, or am I missing something??

1) 5 gal container fillled with RODI water and kalk.
2) Use a peristaltic pump (ie. LiterMeter or similar) to push the effluent drip to the tank replacing the evaporated water.
3) Use a floatswitch in the tank to shut off the peristaltic pump if the level gets to high in the tank.

Most of the plans I've seen use gravity with a small reservoir perched above the water level of the tank (or sump) which still requires daily maintenance. I don't have a sump, I want the reservoir to last longer (like a week), and don't want it perched above my tank (which is the reason for the peristaltic pump idea.) My tank currently evaporates approximately 1/2 gal a day.

What do you folks think?

 

[mikestod]

I did the same thing...had a 5 gal container in my stand, and used a float switch with the powerhead. I put it all on a timer and ran it at night to decrease pH fluctuations (theory only, never realy tested). Worked fine, but because of the age of my nano and lack significant calcium needs, I never was able to figure out if the dosing was stable enought to keep calcium levels. Mechanically, the design will work fine, just not sure of the chemistry. If you keep track of calcium levels, you should be able to increase the kalk dosage.

Also, I had another small powerhead in the resevoir to constantly mix the kalk

 

[Jim Tansey]

Is it a good idea to keep the kalk constantly mixed in the resevoir with the power head or should it be allowed to settle out and drip the clear kalk?

Regards,

Jim

 

[dad300]

I was told to drip just the clear stuff. JMHO

 

[Shroom King]

This was a quote from a chemist on RF:

i can tell you this... the fact that randy lets the kalk settle out has nothing to do with more surface area to react.. because all of the reaction between the Calcium hydroxide takes place in the first 30 or so min of bieng added to the water... and after which point there is no point in mixing unless you are adding fresh water... in fact you do not want to mix it because you will break up the protective crust at the top of the water air interface... this is because calcium hydroxide reacts with co2 to make calcium carbonate which is the crust on the top, as it is not water soluble...so by not mixing you can effectivly keep more Ca(OH)2 in solution because it wont be reacting with co2 in the air...

It doesnt have to a a 50g can.. you can use a 10g can but as time goes on you will waste more kalk as it is converted into calcium carbonate, but its so cheap that it really shouldnt be a big deal.

I am mainly concerned if the peristaltic dosing pump (IV pump) would work if I located the reservoir below my tank. I would not trust a powerhead to dose kalk. This should allow for very accurate additions of top off, if the physics work. I've read a lot of the Randy Holmes Farley stuff on RC, but I can't find anything describing exactly what I propose.

 

[Jim Tansey]

I think the system as described should work fine, I would forget the power head in the resevoir.

Jim

 

[kskvarci]

I use a litermeter to pump kalk to my 65G throughout the day. With the current humidity and temperature I'm pumping about 4 liters into the tank per day. Personally, I wouldn?t risk a powerhead for kalk dosing. With a small tank you?re going to want to be very careful to maintain an accurate dosing regimen or you're going to drive the PH through the ceiling.

I mix kalk in two 5 gallon water jugs once per week. There is very limited air in the jugs, and I do not circulate the water at all. It works for me!

Here?s a pic of the kalk reservoirs and the pump. It?s in a different room than the tank.

Let me know if I can answer any questions on how I have it set up.

 

[Shroom King]

Thanks folks. And, for the pic Kskvarci! I think I'm going to give this a try.

 

[Greg Hiller]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I use used lab grade peristaltic pumps to feed kalkwasser to all my tanks. I use float switches on all the tanks. I like the Tsunami float switches as they are not really float switches and cannot freeze. I've been using them for several years now (I think I have a least 5 of them) and have never seen one fail. For maximum safety I use a cheap lamp timer from Home Depot that only allows the system to pump at night. I plug the float switch into the timer, then plug the pump into the float switch. I have the timer and the pump set up in such a way that even in the event of the float switch (really level controller) failure the pump will only pump just slightly more than the maximum evaporation rate. In this way, if the level controller fails, the sump will take several days to overfill. Since the change in salinity, and the increase in pH would be so slow it's unlikely you would loose any critters before you noticed the sump level was high.

And now...the cheap shot, shameless commercial pitch!!

I have an extra used peristaltic pump for sale!!

http://216.235.242.50/forums/showthread.php?t=1249

 

[Jim Tansey]

Greg if you still have that pump I'll buy it.

Jim