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Eric The Clown
11/18/2017, 09:50 PM
I have a question for which I am seeking an opinion. Since I started dosing kalk a month and a half ago, I have seen a tremendous positive difference in growth and color as the Ph has been very stable at 8.2 as well as my Ca and dKh being stable with now swings. For now I have only gravity fed the drip as I do not trust an ATO with kalk running through it to not clog and get stuck in the on position. A gravity feed drip allows me to have control to not over dose. With that being said, should you only dose at night or is beneficial to dose steadily over a 24 hrs period? By the way, my parameters are all appropriate and I test twice weekly.

Daddi0
11/18/2017, 10:22 PM
Sounds like what you are doing now is working for you. What is the PH swing between end of day and end of night?
Currently I run Kalk with an ATO
Cheers! Mark

bertoni
11/18/2017, 10:25 PM
The dosing schedule will depend on the tank's consumption rate, but I suspect that I'd drip throughout the day and night. That approach should keep the alkalinity level more stable. You could check the alkalinity at a few points during the day to see what happens, though. That might be useful.

outy
11/18/2017, 11:10 PM
There is no reason not to use a good ATO with a kalk reactor on any sump.

My avast is fed by the aqualifter gravity feeding the tank, and the autotopoff system to trigger the aqualifter to pull fresh ro/di water through the avast that simply drains downhill to sump with the saturated effluent.

When a float fails it just shuts the whole system off and it does not get a chance to get the second float.

I ran the aqualifter from a kalk sump for years and I think the aqualifter lasted a decade before I put new rubbers in it. It never clogged but I'm really happy with my new system now almost a decade old

Eric The Clown
11/18/2017, 11:22 PM
I have checked a few times over the last month at different day/night intervals and I have gotten readings of Ph swinging from 7.9 - 8.2....Alkalinty remains relatively stable at around 8.5 dKh. I actually started dosing kalk as a means to raise Ph. My tank is located in a finished basement but my Co2 levels are higher so the kalk battles that issue. I truly did not expect the benefit of kalk that I am getting outside of helping the Ph.

I will need to look at the Avast float switch the OUTY mentioned in the post.

Cheapreef
11/18/2017, 11:48 PM
I run a Kalk Stirrer and Aqualifter for all top off, no chance of a clog as there is only ever clear saturated water if setup correctly.

45commando
11/19/2017, 07:39 AM
Kalk used to be dripped into tanks during the night to offset any pH drop, but I think most people would find that to be a hassle.

I would either keep using it the way you are..."If it ain't broken..." or consider dosing kalk via an ATO. If you use a kalk reactor (either DIY or purchased) & have the ATO feed the reactor, you really eliminate potential failures. The ATO pump only ever pumps fresh water & any float valves or optical sensors can be located in the sump, while the saturated kalk is delivered to a high flow area in the tank. I've been doing it this way for years & wouldn't do it different. HTH

outy
11/19/2017, 01:48 PM
I will need to look at the Avast float switch the OUTY mentioned in the post.

autotopoff. com for ATO

avast for kalk reactor

Daddi0
11/20/2017, 05:45 PM
autotopoff. com for ATO

avast for kalk reactor
Question on the kalk reactor:

- If you run one from your ATO, are you then always running fully saturated Kalkwasser into your reef without any way to adjust the dosing?

outy
11/20/2017, 07:46 PM
Question on the kalk reactor:

- If you run one from your ATO, are you then always running fully saturated Kalkwasser into your reef without any way to adjust the dosing?


Dosing is done by evaporation, float drops and kicks on the aqualifter which only makes a very very small stream. Not enough is ever put into the sump before shutting off he float.

The beauty is with 250 ish gallons adding a few cups now and then changes nothing. If you have a small sump the beauty is only small amounts are added before float shuts it off.

never been an issue and ph always stable. I run a 2 chamber calcium reactor so I always have low ph effluent dripping in tank. Much much less then the higher ph of the kalk reactor.

bertoni
11/20/2017, 08:34 PM
Some tanks have a fairly constant evaporation rate. In cases like that, dosing as ATO is fine. I dosed that way for years. Other tanks have issues with Kalk on ATO because the evaporation rate changes too much. You could watch the ATO consumption for a while to see how consistent it is. Sometimes, consumption changes with the season, so you'd need to keep that in mind, too.

outy
11/20/2017, 08:56 PM
Other tanks have issues with Kalk on ATO because the evaporation rate changes too much. .

Thank you, I was unaware.

Daddi0
11/20/2017, 09:06 PM
Dosing is done by evaporation, float drops and kicks on the aqualifter which only makes a very very small stream. Not enough is ever put into the sump before shutting off he float.

The beauty is with 250 ish gallons adding a few cups now and then changes nothing. If you have a small sump the beauty is only small amounts are added before float shuts it off.

never been an issue and ph always stable. I run a 2 chamber calcium reactor so I always have low ph effluent dripping in tank. Much much less then the higher ph of the kalk reactor.
So you are running a Kalk reactor and a calcium reactor?

outy
11/20/2017, 09:10 PM
So you are running a Kalk reactor and a calcium reactor?

Yes. I used to run my ATO on kalk only, and still had to use 2 part before the Ca reactor.