400 gallon project

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Tom R

Try
http://brads-aquarium.viewnetcam.com:50000/

Tom R

Thanks! Now, time to spy!

Wait a sec...it's not working. Is it turned off sometimes? Do I have to "Login"? All I see is a blue page that says "Panasonic Network Camera", but no screen.

[untamed]

Here are the results of my Kalk reactor testing:

I tested the pH of the fluid in the top of the reactor. For this first reading, it has been almost 48 hours since the last 7 second mix cycle. The entire column is clear liquid except for 1cm of undissolved Kalk on the bottom. pH = 11.59

I then allowed the reactor to mix for 7 seconds. This caused the column to "milk" to a level of about 1/2 way up the reactor. I measured the clear liquid at the top of the column again. pH = 11.63

I then allowed the reactor to mix for about 2 minutes. Interestingly, the column of "milk" only reached a height slightly above the pump intake...maybe 2/3 of the total height of the reactor. It seems that no matter how long you run the pump, the topmost part of the reactor will never get cloudy. Again, I measured the liquid at the top of the column. pH = 11.64

My conclusion is that the pH of the liquid being delivered to the tank has not significantly changed even 48 hours after even a 7 second mix. Nor does it significantly change immediately after mixing for several minutes. This actually has made me consider that even 7 seconds every 2 days is more than adequate.

However, the amount of FW that I am pushing through the reactor per day is still very small. It may be possible that pushing MORE FW through the reactor could dilute the clear Kalk between mixing cycles. As I increase the flow through the reactor, I will repeat the experiment.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Myka

Thanks! Now, time to spy!

Wait a sec...it's not working. Is it turned off sometimes? Do I have to "Login"? All I see is a blue page that says "Panasonic Network Camera", but no screen.

I forget what page it was exactly, but I think untamed did mention somewhere that there were only so many hours where the camera is online. For starters it's probably not online during nighttime.

Originally Posted by untamed

Here are the results of my Kalk reactor testing:

Interesting results. Thanks for checking into it and posting. I think I will be making some adjustments to my kalk reactor setup as a result. I agree that it's possible you may need to adjust the frequency of mixes as the flowrate increases but it certainly seems as if there's no reason to expect to need to increase the mix duration.

The only thing I'm a little uncertain about is when you occasionally need to clean the vessel and put in new kalk for mixing. It seems to me as if at least that first mix may need to be a little longer, but in those cases, you'd be manually turning the pump on and off anyhow so it doesn't actually change anything "procedurally".

Anyhow, very nifty. Cheers!