Kalk stirrer

[Pistol]

Calcium reactor having trouble keeping up so I decided to build a kalk stirrer to supplement.
Had a Vertex reactor sitting around so I used it as the main body, also had a Drew's doser that turns @ 8 rpm so I mounted to the top as the motor, shortened the power cord to make easier to unscrew the lid to add kalk. got a shaft coupling and a peristaltic pump off ebay for $60 CAD, used some cpvc for the shaft and voila.
I run the stirrer for 1 minute every 60 minutes and set the pump to match my evaporation, it runs constantly. Dialed my calcium reactor back about 25% and seems to be holding stable. Still have to mount the pump and tidy up the cords

 

[TORX]

This is actually pretty much a bad ass DIY. Great project.

 

[Pistol]

Thanks TORX
So after some observation and research I have changed the mixer timer to a 5 min on 5 min off cycle to keep the kalk saturated.

 

[Pistol]

Update
So dosing clear saturated kalk at my evaporation rate (3ml/min) was not having much impact on pH but did allow me to reduce my CaRx output by about 25%, so I decided to dose kalk slurry.
I got a new 30 rpm motor and added some paddles to the stir shaft to get the kalk into suspension, I am injecting aquarium water into the output tube witch is about 3 feet long and is out letting at my skimmer outlet which has a lot of water movement to aid in the dissolving of the kalk before it gets to the aquarium.

I have @ 1 cup of kalk in the reactor

The motor is rated for continuous duty

the outlet is after the skimmer so no chance of precipitate in the pump.
It has been running for about 1 hour and my pH is up to 8.18 from 8.05, and I have dialed my CaRx back another 10%.

 

[Pistol]

Another update.
So kalk stirrer was a bit on the small side so I went digging thru the closet and found a couple nextreef reactors and bolted them together.
On a side note, I read that dosing kalk helped reduce PO4, and my PO4 has dropped to 0, so I have taken my GFO offline to see what happens.

Lengthened the shaft, added some more paddles, installed the motor.

Filled up and running

The lid is easier to open and adding kalk is easier.
I have dialed my CaRx down from 47ml/min to 15ml/min to maintain 8.5 DKH

 

[Pistol]

I ordered 10 lbs Calcium Hydroxide in the US for $45 CAD shipped Port Huron, 10 lbs for $19.52 CAD.
The company will ship to Canada for a flat rate Duties and taxes for $14.41 CAD

 

[teebone110]

Thanks for sharing, can you share the name of the company?
Keep us posted, will be interested to see how things work out.

 

[Pistol]

Doh!
My World Hut