today on the brstv 52 faq should you mix yourkalk ? hi i'm rt turner your host of brstv’s 52faq. today we are answering k mam’s question. “hi, you mention that we should not mixthe solution after it has been mixed, but certain reactor like two little fishes hasstirrer that works with ato which will stir
wood branding iron custom logo uk, the solution once ato is on.. “ we are going to answer this question aswell as some general thoughts on kalk reactors. this is a pretty common question and at facevalue it is absolutely confusing because almost all of the advice out there tells you afteryou mix the kalk and fresh water once leave
it sit and do not mix it again. however all the kalkwasser reactors out theredo just that very thing, constantly mix the solution or at least do so many times a day. the answer lies within how the kalkwasseris implemented in the aquarium which in a vast majority of cases is mixed in a containerand slowly dripped into the tank or added via an auto top off. when using an auto top off or diy dripperthe kalkwasser or calcium hydroxide powder should be thoroughly mixed with freshwateronce and once only and then put a lid on the container to limit gas exchange.
mixing it the first time allows the calciumhydroxide to fully dissolve into a solution of ionized calcium and and hydroxide ions. once it’s fully mixed its often referredto as a fully saturated solution meaning there is as many calcium and hydroxide ions dissolvedin the water as their ever will be. after that mixing it won't make any additionalkalkwasser dissolve into the solution, in fact the opposite will happen. when you mix it you add atmospheric carbondioxide into the solution from the surrounding air in the room. when the carbon dioxide enters the solutionit reacts with the hydroxide in the water
to form carbonate which in turn reacts withthe calcium to precipitate out as calcium carbonate which reduces the available calciumand carbonate in the solution so it is no longer fully saturated. . so simply put mixing doesn't make the solutionmore concentrated it potentially makes it less potent and needlessly wastes raw material. best thing you can do is put a lid on thecontainer and leave it alone. doesn't need to be a hermetically sealed lid, just one that limits the amount of fresh air inside the container.
in fact, when left alone the saturated kalksolution will form a crust on the surface which essentially protects it from carbondioxide exposure. ok so why do all the reactors mix it constantlyor several times a day then? the answer that is fairly simple , they aresmall containers which are constantly fed new freshwater. with the previous solution you are often mixingup enough fresh water for anywhere from an entire day to week or even month. with most kalk reactors they only hold enoughwater for a portion of the day and the nature of their design is they feed the saturatedkalkwasser solution into tank by pumping freshwater
into the bottom of the reactor which forcessaturated kalk water out of the top. meaning that freshwater that enters the bottomdoes need to me mixed, since there is no air inside the reactor mixing it also won’tcause precipitation issues or dilute the potency. one note, the saturated kalk solution is fairlyclear and that is what you want to dose. the milky white solution is what we commonlyrefer to as a kalk slurry. this slurry contains not only saturated kalksolution but also undissolved or suspended calcium hydroxide particles. this slurry is way to potent to dose to thetank, if you do the ph swings will be immediate and large.
we would strongly recommend against dosingthe slurry to the tank. open and honest i have a hard time recommendingkalk reactors in most cases. in theory they will keep the solution 100%saturated but a container with a tight fitting lid performs almost as well without the expenseor hassle. some reefers believe they save space but youstill need a container to hold the freshwater so you are actually loosing space when youadd the reactor into the mix as well as adding more equipment into the mix which can fail. it's been our experience simple and reliableis what produces long term successful reef tanks.
that said some of us are gear junkies andknowing the mixture is 100% saturated to the max is important so we do have some adviceon selecting a proper kalkwasser reactor. there are basically two types. mixers and stirrers. the mixers will turn on a pump for a few minutesto periodically mix the kalk into a slurry and then turn off to let the particles settleout leaving only the saturated kalkwasser solution behind. problem with these is you need a series oftimers to make sure the system never doses the kalkwasser until after the kalk as settledout otherwise you end up dosing the undesirable
slurry. this can certainly be done but has a lot ofopportunity to fail and frankly the saturated kalk is really hard on the pumps. two little fishes also makes small mixer whichworks off the feed pump. this certainly works but you get what youpay for so don’t be shocked if the stir mechanism clogs and finding the right flowbalance where it is properly mixing but not sending slurry into the tank can be somewhatchallenging. frankly i also don't think it holds enoughkalkwasser powder to be particularly useful, to maintain full saturation most tank ownerswould have to fill it pretty frequently.
the type i have used in the past and recommendif you are in the market for a kalk reactor is known as a stirrer which uses a slow movingbar at the bottom to keep the kalk constantly mixed and fully saturated. the stir bar moves slow enough that the slurrystays at the bottom and the saturated kalk solution goes to the top. when you pump in new fresh water it entersthe bottom and has to pass through and mingle with the constantly rotating slurry at thebottom. as long as you pump water through the reactorslowly and in periodic bursts the slurry stays at the bottom.
aquamedic makes a pair we most commonly recommend. in most cases we find that investing in thelarger of the two is wise because the large capacity makes it much easier to prevent theslurry from reaching the top and being dosed to the tank. that wraps up today's 52 faq, if you are interestedin learning more about kalkwasser in general and how it works checkout week 30: kalkwasser:an all-in-one calcium, alkalinity & ph supplement. if you found this valuable and want to seemore give us a quick thumbs up and subscribe.
