JBJ ATO...Pump, and Kalk questions

[Reef Newb11]

Hi all I hope this is the right forum to ask this, if not mods please move.

In my current tank which is a 29 gallon Biocube with a 150w MH I have setup a JBJ ATO. I kind of threw this together since I didn’t realize how much water I would really evaporate with the metal halide light. So it is set up using a 5 gallon glass tank in the stand with the original Biocube return pump (about 306 gallons an hour) which I think is a bit overkill and the reason my salinity is low right now. (forgot to unplug while doing a water change) but that is besides the point. Basically I was wondering what pump should I get for use with this ATO? Also I would like to start dosing Kalkwasser. I see that some people just add the Kalk powder to their reservoir and dose it that way and some people buy a really expensive stirrer/reactor. Basically I am just looking to see it anyone can tell me a good way to set this up.

Thank you all for your time in reading this.

[Keith P]

I use a Tom's Aqualifter. Cheap and works well.

[downhillbiker]

i dose kalk in saturation in ATO with a aqualifter as well. it works great. i also have a small pump that comes on in the bucket to stir it when dosing. many people say ONLY dose the liquid/clear, but anthony calfo, a well respected reefer/author, doses kalk in a shot glass, in a SUPER saturation. for this reason i feel comfortable with my method.

[Reef Newb11]

so. if I get one of the aqualifter pumps I could mix up 2 gallons of water with some kalk powder and just use that to make up all of my evaporation correct?

Also would this pump be strong enough to go from the resivoir in the stand all the way into the tank...about 3.5 feet?

[downhillbiker]

yes. you just mix kalk and it pumps to replace evap. i replace 100% of my evap with kalk water. probably not strong enough to overcome that much head. dont know for sure though. i use on a minimal/none incline. maybe someone else knows, or the pump has a "head" spec you can look up?

[Reef Newb11]

I just looked and found that the pump can do 60 inches total head, 30 for the intake side and 30 for the outake. Thanks for your help I think i will buy this pump and try it out.