Calcium Reactor Question

[redartyfarty]

Can anyone help? I need to measure the dKh or calcium of the effluent of my reactor so that I can set it up properly. I don't know of any test kits that can read that high so is there a method for getting the kits to measure this? I use Salifert test kits btw! TIA!

Gio :thumbsup:

[gary smith]

hi there,if you can get hold of a tropic marin kh/alk test kit these will go as high as you like in dkh :cheers: gary

[Glenn@home]

you can take a sampe use the alk kit from salifert and keep adding syringes of reagent until you get the colour change, you can probalby dilute a sample and do a conversion but its hot im sweaty and i cant think of how to do that.

When testing my effluent from the kalk stirrer i just use loads of reagent and when finihsed just add the amounts together to get a total dKH or meq reading.

HTH

Glenn

[redartyfarty]

Thanks chaps - thought it would be simple but just needed reassurance that I could get the answer reasonably accurate using the 'roll up' method! :cheers:

Gio :thumbsup:

[xxmattyxx]

When using the Salifert DkH test kit, take one ml of effluent and add 3ml of RO water, do the test according to the instructions and multiply the result by 4 as youve diluted it when adding the RO water to a quarter of its concentration.

From my kalk stirrer i get readings in DkH of approx 30 which equates to a DkH level of 120 or in meqs about 43.

Matt

[mark_dimeck]

Another way with the Salifert kit is use just a 2ml sample and 1 drop of indicator dye.

Have copied this from a previous post on the topic which I have kept for reference...

Titrate (if more than 1 syringe is used then add 16 for each additional syringe), multiply the total result by 2. For example 1.5 syringes would be:

1 x 16KH (1 full syringe)
+ 8KH (0.5 syringe)
= 24KH
* 2
= 48KH

IMO you should be aiming for around 35-40KH effluent from a Calcium Reactor.

Hope this helps

Mark

[Glenn@home]

IMO you should be aiming for around 35-40KH effluent from a Calcium Reactor.


Mark do you mean dKH or meq/l?

If its the former isnt it undersaturated by a long way?

Glenn

[mark_dimeck]

Yup, dKH to be precise.

I always understood 35-40 dKH to be the ideal target for effluent. It has successfully maintained my Ca/KH in balance at around 420ppm Ca.

Other opinions welcome

Mark

[xxmattyxx]

Originally posted by mark_dimeck@Jul 21 2005, 07:27
Yup, dKH to be precise.

I always understood 35-40 dKH to be the ideal target for effluent. It has successfully maintained my Ca/KH in balance at around 420ppm Ca.

Other opinions welcome

Mark
35-40 DkH effluent reading is dramatically low, 35-40meq/l is a good reading, one to aim for with saturated effluent.

[danny]

Mark, I think Matty and Glenn are refering to the recommended output of Kalk reactors/stirrers reather than Calcium reactors.

[mark_dimeck]

Hope so Danny!

I was just going by the thread Title. In which case I would stand by my 35-40 DkH effluent ;)

If Gio, the orginator, can clarify then hopefully we can give a definitive answer and avoid confusion :thumbsup:

Must say I never bother checking the effluent from my KalK stirrer. I just ensure I maintain 1 - 2" of sediment at the bottom and give it a refresh every couple of months with fresh Kalk.

I run the two on opposite shifts - Calc reactor when Lights are on, Kalk Strirrer when off.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[Glenn@home]

Must be honest and say I was thinking kalk stirrers, appologies for any confusion.