Another kalk dripping question....

[Dutch06]

Ok, so I tried to drip kalk yesterday for the first time.

Two teaspoons into an old bucket with a gallon of RO water. Stirred it for about two minutes. Put lid on bucket and let it sit for two hours. After two hours, I placed bucket above sump and started the drip. Fearing a huge PH increase, I put the drip rate about one drop every three or four seconds. Checked it before bed, still dripping, checked it when I got up, still dripping, checked it when I got home, still dripping. No problems.

So I open the bucket to see how much is gone, it was virtually nothing. Like maybe less than an inch out of the bucket. It also had a white crusty film on top. Almost like milk that has set out for a few days.

1. How fast is your drip rate? Shouldn't I be dripping almost the entire gallon in a 21 hour period?

2. The white surface on the kalk, is this normal? I have a tiny hole cut into the lid with just enough room to put the drip tube in but I'm sure a small amout of oxygen is getting in the bucket. Does this make it unusable?

Thank you for your help.

[jlinzmaier]

The best practice I found when dosing kalk is to dose kalk in my top off water. To make fully saturated water the mix is 2tsp per 1 gal, however, you can make a less concentrated solution to balance the amount of top off water and the replacement of alk/ca. I found that my tank required 1/2tsp per gallon of top off water to maintain a constant alk/ca lvl.

How are you currently replacing your evaporated top off water?? Just swap that water with kalk water. Start with a very weak solution (1/4tsp per gallon for example). Monitor alk twice daily and adjust the concentration of the kalk solution accordingly. Once you get to 2tsp/gal keep in mind the water cannot be any further saturated and you'll need find another means of dosing (this usually doesn't happen unless there is very minimal evaporation or if the tank is quite heavily stocked and requires mucho ca/alk on a daily basis.)

The white film/crust is normal and is actually helps co2 from being introduced into the solution thus decreasing it's potency.

Dose very carefully!! Kalk has a very high pH and an accidental overdose can lead to significant trouble.

Hope this helps.

Jeremy

[Dutch06]

Jlinzmaier, thank you for the response.

Currently, I am adding about 3 gallons per night manually. I usually wait right before I go to bed at night and add the RO then.

I thought the gallon of kalk I was trying to drip would replace one of those gallons so I would only need to replace two gallons of evaporation per night. At least, this was how I understood it.

Are you telling me to mix the solution, allow it to sit the two hours, then add it directly to the remainder of my top water and add it then? I think I'm confused, I thought you were always supposed to drip the kalk solution?

[jlinzmaier]

NO!! don't add it all at once.

It would be best to have an auto top off set up. Something like this
auto top off (http://www.aquahub.com/store/product27.html)

Adding 3 gal of top off water at once will give you big swings in the salinity (depending on the size of your tank). An auto top off system adds it as it evaporates.

If you don't go with the top off system, I'd start with 1/4-1/2 tsp dry kalk mixed in a gallon of water and drip that over 24 hrs. Monitor your alk lvls and adjust your kalk concentration accordingly. That would require you to dose the other two gallons of top off water by other means (I highly suggest an auto top off).

Jeremy

[Dutch06]

I understand the auto top off system. Due to space limitations it's not an option right now.

I was dripping it last night.

My question is, how fast is your drip rate?

I had one drop every three or four seconds and it only dripped about a cup of water over a 21 hour period. Should I increase the drip rate? If so, to how much?

[jlinzmaier]

My question is, how fast is your drip rate?

Tough question. Depends on what your using to drip (drop size???). Typically there is 15-20 drops per ml. One gallon is 1920 ml's.

You can do the math and figure the calculations, but the truth of it is, the tiny particulate in your kalk mixture will continually slow your drip through the night (usually within an hour or so). That's why it's easiest to dose via a dosing pump. Maybe something like this dosing pump (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~OE1137.html)

This pump doses at a rate of about 3.5 gallons per hour so you'll need a valve (airline tubing valve works well) to adjust the rate and slow it to dose 1 gal over 24 hrs. The trouble is, even with the pressure from a dosing pump, when you drip at a slow rate like 5-50 drops/min there is a tendancy for the infusion to clog and the drip rate will continue to slow. The dosing pump will help the infusion run a but more regularly, but not perfectly. Truly the best way is with a maxi jet in an auto top off but since that's not possible for you, the next best option is something like the Tom aquatics dosing pump. You can buy more expensive dosing pumps that will give you more precision and will give you consistent infusion rates, but their much more expensive.

If you choose to dose without a pump (gravity fed) it will likely be a daily guessing game (and many headaches) to get the infusion in over 24 hrs.

Hope this is helpful for you. I've gone through the same process you are and I know how frustrating it is to try to drip infusions via gravity and dose it accurately.

Jeremy

[jlinzmaier]

My bad. The calculator in my head was showing one thing and I typed another.

There is actually 3840 ml's/gal.

My apologies. Not intentionally trying to confuse you.

Jeremy

[Dutch06]

I think I got it.

Thanks for all the help.