UV sterilizers? Kalk reactors? (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

How many of you use a UV sterilizer on your reef tank?

Also, where does a kalk reactor get its water supply from? Do you have to fill it with RO water every day? Or does it pull from tank water?

How do you keep from having to fill it every day?

 

[Guest]

I have a UV but it is not hooked up at the moment. I'm on the fence about installing it after the move.

I feed my makeup through my Kalk reactor. When I set up the system in the new house, I'll have the Kalk reactor feed at a slow drip using RO/DI water alonge with a seperate makeup system.

 

[Wildfire]

I have an angstrom 15watt UV. The only time the bulb has been ON was when I had an ich outbreak. It generally sits off.

 

[Guest]

SuperDave, will your kalk reactor need to be filled every day then?

 

[AggieBrandon]

FMB,

you can have the top off water come directly from an RO/DI unit or from a water storage container. Then you just have to fill the container as needed. The only thing you have to put in the Kalk reactor from time to time is Kalk. You feed the Kalk reactor your top off water. As new water is added to the Kalk Reactor via RO/DI or storage tank, the Kalk rich water is sent to the sump/tank.

Brandon

 

[Guest]

What I'm trying to understand is how it will fill on its own. It doesn't have a float switch inside it.

If its sealed except for the drip, I guess if its hooked to an RO/DI unit with an auto-shut off, that would work right? Or would that put a punch of pressure in the kalk reactor and cause the drip to speed up?

 

[AggieBrandon]

FMB,

you can put a float in the sump that only allows kalk water to enter the sump when it is needed or you can use the constant drip. Water from the RO/DI would require one of the auto shut off valves and water from a storage tank would just be gravity fed. The Kalk reactors have two openings: one for water input from the RO/DI or storage tank and one wor water output where the Kalk water leaves the reactor and goes to the tank. You use a pump like a powerhead to stir up the kalk that is hooked "closed loop" style to the reactor. Water entering the reactor goes to bottom of the reactor (where kalk is) and water leaving the reactor leaves from the top of the chamber (where clearer lime water is) by using flexible or rigid tubing inside the reactor.

Brandon