Best Kalk dosing schedule with timer? not ATO

[duganderson]

I'm planning to switch to Kalk dosed with 1.1 per minute BRS doser and apex timer. I'm calculating that I will need to dose about 240 ml of fully saturated Kalk per day to keep up with use.

Would you dose 10 minutes every hour OR split it up more than that OR just dose at night OR some other schedule? OR dose 1 tsp per gallon at 20 minutes per or OR another plan?

[jason2459]

I use a spectrapure 250ml/m standalone peristaltic pump hooked up to my Apex. I have it dosing fully saturated limewater for 1 second every couple minutes 24/7. This keeps the dosing under my evaprate year round and keeps Ca/alk dosing extremely consistent.

Then use an ATO separate from my limewater reservoir to keep up with evap.

[Potatohead]

I would dose it for twenty minutes twelve times, probably something like nine times at night and three during lights on.

[jason2459]

I would limit kalk dosing to no more then 5 minutes at a time. 10 stretching it. I would not run a brs dosing pump for more than 10 minutes.

Watch that pH and check alk before and after dosing at least once.

[Potatohead]

I would limit kalk dosing to no more then 5 minutes at a time. 10 stretching it. I would not run a brs dosing pump for more than 10 minutes.

Watch that pH and check alk before and after dosing.

I can't speak for the pump longevity, but I do know according to Randy Holmes-Farley's limewater research, it is safe to dose up to .25% of the overall system volume of fully saturated solution at one time. Twenty minutes is 22ml and I am sure his system is more than 2.3 gallons :p.

[jason2459]

I can't speak for the pump longevity, but I do know according to Randy Holmes-Farley's limewater research, it is safe to dose up to .25% of the overall system volume of fully saturated solution at one time. Twenty minutes is 22ml and I am sure his system is more than 2.3 gallons :p.
Im not concerned with a major precipitation event but more so alk stability.

I would also be concerned with the BRS pump's longevity as they suggest not running for more then 10 minutes.

[Potatohead]

Im not concerned with a major precipitation event but more so alk stability.

I would also be concerned with the BRS pump's longevity as they suggest not running for more then 10 minutes.

Obviously this is very dependent on the size of his system. I would imagine his math figuring out the 240ml takes this all into account, but if not, I agree alk stability is of utmost importance. The .25% number is based on pH stability.

How long does BRS recommend the pump have to sit after the ten minutes?

[jason2459]

Good question. I'm not sure. I just remember they don't recommend more then 10 minutes at a time. At least they used to recommend that. I've been running a 1.1ml/m brs peristaltic pump for carbon dosing for a good 6 years straight now. So, they can be reliable. But I've never ran one more then 5 minutes at a time.

Also to note, many have commented that they dose more then 1.1ml/m. I never tested mine but assume it may.

[JohnnyHildo]

i dosed kalk manually very briefly but quickly changed to the tunze 5074 which works with the ato after struggling to find an appropriate dose. to me it was weighing the dose against the needs of the tank which differ from day to night along with managing the ph swing.

[mav3rick478]

I dose kalk 10 minutes almost every hour using the BRS dosing pump without any issues. I even asked if I could use it at 20 minute intervals and they said it shouldn't be a problem. My doser was pushing about 2ml per minute when I tested it originally.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[duganderson]

I can't speak for the pump longevity, but I do know according to Randy Holmes-Farley's limewater research, it is safe to dose up to .25% of the overall system volume of fully saturated solution at one time. Twenty minutes is 22ml and I am sure his system is more than 2.3 gallons :p.

My tank is a 34 G. Red Sea with no sump. Sorry I did not put that in the original post.