Anysize cup as long as the airstone is submersed... the effluent will just flow into the cup with the stone and then into the sump/fuge. I do this(even though I have a second chamber for my ca reactor).
There's nowhere else I'ld rather be... unless, of course, you're buying
OK, an update. I removed the acrylic cover on the tank and added egg crate. I also incrreased the chiller setting from 78 to 79, and I am bubbling the calcium reactor effluent in a cup. After three days, no chanhe in the PH, still at 7.8-7.85, ack. Although you do notice a nice saltwater reef smell when you go in my house now
Yes, been playing with the bubble count, flow rate, etc, can;t get it dialed in to balance the ca and the PH on this large system. O, and the windows are shut most of th etime, getting cold up here
I ahve a new thought that I am probably going to implement. I need to get another 2-3 gallons per day of flow through my kalkwasser.Currently this is fed by myauto-top off in the sump, runs the RO/DI through the kalkwasser. If I have the RO/DIgo to a small (2-5gallon) holding tank first. I could then use a metering pump such as the litermeter III to continually dose/flow RO/DI through the kalkwasser. This would allow me to preciselpy dial in both the ca and the PH using the kalkwasser effluent.
I would have the RO/DI resovoir on an auto top-off so it will stay full and then I can superconcentrate the kalkwasser unit so I don't have to manually measure and dose every day.
The one battle is that it would require more dosing through the kalwasser than what my evaporation rate is. So 1) I would be slowly filling the sump more than is lost due to evaporation and 2) would slowly dilute my specific gravity or salt content int he system.
However, considering I will only be adding an excess of 2-3 gallons per day into a 600 gallons system, I do;t hink it will hav adverse affects on the inhibitants. Instead of having a liquid level switch in the sump, I would simply put an overflow valve in that drains out. I could then easily monitor the specific gravity and ad a cup or so of salt to the sump when needed. This is also like doing a couple gallons per day water change to the system. To me this is a lot easier than making up kalkwasser and trying to drip it from a jug, which would offset my current evaporation rate and work against me, and is also much more time consuming.
Correct me if i'm wrong,your RO/DI is plumbed directly to your kalkreactor then its output is plumbed to the sump where all evaporation is replaced via float switch/valve?You think that an additional 2-3 gallons a day of this kalkwater will correct your problem?Your tank is large(480gal),do you know how much your evaporating daily?My tank evaporates 2.5% total system volume daily.At a 2.5% evap rate,that would put you at 12gal a day.Of course every sytems rate will vary with climate,size,equiptment,etc.. but i would strive for at least a 1.5%(7.2gal)evap rate.
I think if you can achieve that,7.2gal daily of continually dosed kalk will solve your problems.
BTW,I do think your plan is fine,i just think that there's an easier way to solve this.I hate dosing pumps/float switches/etc..The more equiptment,the more that can go wrong.My motto is keep it simple,i use fans for evaporation and gravity fed kalkwater from a reservoir to a float-valve in sump for auto-top-off.
I don't have all those fancy reactors .I just drip kalkwasser, but
about 2 months ago I had the same problem I just could not add enough
calcium to my tank.I was adding calcium powder and dripping kalk too
and I could not raise my calcium above 380 my ph was low too.I found my
problem.My magnesium was low .I tested it with a test kit added epson
salt to raise the magnesium.Calcium has been at 420-440 with only a
kalkwasser drip ever since.I will not tell U too add epson salt to your
system without future advice from others, but it worked great for me.
good point,low mag levels make it hard to maintain calcium levels.I find it kind of funny how so many people constantly test/monitor calc levels trying to keep them high when its not necessary IMO.Bicarbonate/carbonate is the limiting factor in calcification of stoney corals,NOT CA.By testing for alk depetion,you rarely need to test for calc as long as your using a balanced supplement.I've also found a higher mortality rate with SPS when kept under high alkalinty(11-12dKH)conditions.NSW is only 8,I keep mine at 9.
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