Kalkwasser – Feeding Your Tank What It Desires

marvelousone

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Thanks for the write up. I am fighting my levels now. Was think about dossing it. After reading this I know what I am going to do. Thanks for writing this at work. Good job
 

jrhaughey

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When dosing kalk with the top off water, why mix it and let it settle before using it? You state that it is to prevent impurities from going into your tank, but we are mixing with RO/DI water.

Also keep in mind that with a kalk reactor, you are dosing a kalk mixture because of the stirrer.

Both are proven methods, but why the difference?
 

mcarroll

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Generally most folks dose clear, saturated limewater. It's a known quantity and carries all associated benefits.

Several folks of note have dosed "milky lime" (dosing undissolved power with the saturated liquid) without apparent harm, but I've never heard anyone quantify actual benefits from this. I don't think I'd bother, personally.

If you want to dose more lime than will dissolve in RODI straightaway, then the sensible way to go IMO is to pre-dissolve the lime in white vinegar, then dissolve that in your ATO reservoir. (Or if you use a reactor, just add the correct amount of vinegar to your RODI reservoir.)

-Matt
 

joekool

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Nice I'm going to use a reactor with a aqua lift controlled by my apex. Also going to use Jbj Ato for straight RO/DI top off. Buying a new 20 gallon brute for my reservoir and scub it very good with distilled white vinegar first.

Currently using brs 2 part and also using vitamin c carbon dosing that is lowering my ph because it is buffered to 7
I think the kalkwasser from what I have been reading is a great way o go for both PH and to keep up other parameters.
 

duke62

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I just started using Kalk on my 180. I have a small pump mixing the kalk from 1pm to 10 pm. At 10 pm the pump goes off and the kalk settles for 3 hours then the top off comes on at 1am. . I lose just about 2 1/2 gallons in evaporation. The aqualifter runs steady for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes putting a nice dose of kalk then it goes off every 10 min or so to add water as it evaporates. Then the aqualifter shuts off at 1pm and the mixing pump turns back on. Anyone else do it like this?
 

ryecoon

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how much kalk should i out in a KW Reactor as a starting point? Should i go by how many gallons are in my Refugium or how many gallons in my DT?
 

mcarroll

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how much kalk should i out in a KW Reactor as a starting point? Should i go by how many gallons are in my Refugium or how many gallons in my DT?

Dosing is always done based on test results.

How much are you dosing presently (pre kalk)? (in ppm or dKH)

-Matt
 

Gwitness

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Is it possible to run BRS Kalk and BRS Magnesium through the ATO system?? I do Kalk now, but I was just curious if there was an easier way to keep up my magnesium other than manually dosing every day!
 

mcarroll

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It may be compatible with the Ca component of your two-part, but definitely not with kalk.

You definitely don't have to dose Mg by hand every day, FWIW. If you have the hardware to automate it, that would be ok.

Even on a high-demand SPS system I dosed by hand, I never dosed Mg more that about monthly - usually less-often than that.

This did include a 20% weekly water change schedule with Reef Crystals though.

-Matt
 

Gwitness

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Really?! I dose 30 ml a day of aquavitro ions to keep my magnesium stable at about 1320.....I do 10 gallon weekly water changes on my 180 and I used to use reef crystals but it would always drop my magnesium aftet my water change so I recently switched to aquavitro salinity for my salt and hopefully that works....I don't mind dosing manually but every day just for some magnesium seems stupid to me haha!
 

mcarroll

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When I say two part, I'm being generic - referring to Randy's DIY recipes, including the Recipe for Magnesium. I'm specifically doing Recipe 2, so the solutions are more dilute (better for dripping) and there's no baking of the baking soda (easier; less wasteful; just as good).

If you're using a commercial product, you'll have to know it's concentration to be able to compare the amount you are dosing with folks doing DIY.

Also: 30 mL/day = about 900 mL / month. I'm not sure that's too far off where I am. I'm just dosing more occasionally.

Some info that might help if you haven't already been through it.

Pretty much the whole end of this article is out of date but the recipes still hold so you can at least have an idea what I'm doing to compare:
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

There might just be a difference in concentration. Use whatever works best for you though - there's no "BEST" concentration. More isn't necessarily better. (But it could be.) :)

-Matt

P.S. Mg dropping at that level after a water change with RC doesn't make sense in general. For example, perhaps one bucket was off (inconsistent) due to settling or some other issue....but long term I've never seen an issue with RC's Mg levels.....keeping my tanks around the same as you.
 
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ryecoon

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Dosing is always done based on test results.

How much are you dosing presently (pre kalk)? (in ppm or dKH)

-Matt

Hey Matt. So i figured it out. I put 5 tsp of kalk in the reactor to start with. I did this 2 days ago and i tested it today. New Results are:

PH- 8.2
Alk- 8dkh
mag- 1300
Nitrate- 0
Phos- 0
Salinity- 1.023
Cal- 420

PH was actually at 7.8 before i added reactor. I will then program my 2 part doser but im trying to figure out what starting point for that as well. Any suggestions on how to dose mag?
 

Countrybob

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I would like to make a quick comment on this subject. I am against Kalk in an Auto top off unit and the reason is that there are to many variables with this method. In the winter the heat is on and evaporation rates are high, spring comes and then evaporation slows down, then summer hits and evaporation picks up again. The one thing we can all agree on is that constant water parameters are the key to a succesfull aquarium. I use a Avast Kalk stirrer along with a dosing pump. I dose 30 ml per hour over an 8 hour period during the night. This doses approx. 2 cups of saturated lime water into my system. I am also running a calcium reactor. start slow and make adjustments as you go. My father used the auto top off method and the tank looked amazing over the winter and when spring came he lost almost everything because the top off rate slowed down over time and his tank began to starve. we learned the hard way :eek:(
 
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Randy Holmes-Farley

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I would like to make a quick comment on this subject. I am against Kalk in an Auto top off unit and the reason is that there are to many variables with this method. In the winter the heat is on and evaporation rates are high, spring comes and then evaporation slows down, then summer hits and evaporation picks up again. The one thing we can all agree on is that constant water parameters are the key to a succesfull aquarium. I use a Avast Kalk stirrer along with a dosing pump. I dose 30 ml per hour over an 8 hour period during the night. This doses approx. 2 cups of saturated lime water into my system. I am also running a calcium reactor. start slow and make adjustments as you go. My fathers used the auto top off method and the tank looked amazing over the winter and when spring came he lost almost everything because the top off rate slowed down over time and his tank began to starve. we learned the hard way :eek:(

I appreciate what you are saying, and it does make intuitive sense, but I have used only limewater top off for 19 years, and it works well for my tank, winter or summer. Obviously, one has to make sure it is meeting the demand. It always has for me. It won't for many tanks with a lot of SPS, regardless of season.

Might my tank be better some other way? Certainly possible.

Might these issues be more critical for other systems? Quite possibly.

But we are forced to conclude that for my system it does work well, even if it doesn't work in others. :)
 

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