My quick and easy Kalk drip bucket

[skinz78]

There seems to be a lot of Kalkwasser threads going on right now so I thought I would share my DIY drip bucket.

I used a 1 gallon bucket and one 1/4" airline valve. I just drilled a 1/4" hole about 1/2" up from the bottom of the bucket and glued the valve in, took less than 5 min and less than 5 dollars to do!

You can see the valve inside of the bucket, you need to leave at least 1/2" for the undissolved Kalk to settle in.

The valve gets plugged from time to time so I just take my needle and syringe that I use for Kalking Aptaisia and clean the valve out by running the needle through it.

 

[redtop03]

nice DIY skinz,I posted mine in my build thread,my first design was similar to yours,but I didn't want it to drip during the day time so I added the aqualifter to it and have it plugged in with my fuge light to only dose at night,my PH was dropping lower than I was comfortable with,and the kalk has solved all my problems....now if I could just make a self cleaning skimmer cup,I'd have it made :D

 

[skinz78]

Sweet redtop, can I get you to post some pic's of yours as well just for comparison?

 

[redtop03]

I can do that :D

this was my first doser

now it's set-up like this

 

[btkrausen]

Looks nice and easy. Thats why kalk is a great tool to use. You don't have to buy an expensive reactor or setup to run. Drill a hole in a bucket, and you're ready to go :)

 

[Captain Nemo]

Awesome thread!!! I would never had thought of this. Now I am tempted to go home and do this!
LOL

 

[Sasquatch]

bottom bucket is for settled mix, I pump the upper container full every day and its my ato so kalk 24/7, also put an overflow on the upper as I forget to shut off the pump a lot

 

[redtop03]

sasquatch,does your PH go very high during lights on with the 24/7 dosing ? mine was getting dangerously high,but dosing at night time only has balanced my PH swing out very well,my tank don't have a high demand for calcium,so night time dosing is fine for now in my tank

 

[Mantis]

I am also going to build one tonight.

Where do you guys by your Kalkwasser? I know people say Pickling Lime from Walmart, but what aisle or section (that place is insane to find anything).

And how much do you mix per gallon.

TIA

 

[btkrausen]

I am also going to build one tonight.

Where do you guys by your Kalkwasser? I know people say Pickling Lime from Walmart, but what aisle or section (that place is insane to find anything).

And how much do you mix per gallon.

TIA

Buy it at BulkReefSupply, you can get a big tub of it for about $10. Thats exactly what I use, and its been working out perfectly.

 

[btkrausen]

Go through my writeup that I did yesterday and should give you a good idea on how to get started:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...alkwasser-feeding-your-tank-what-desires.html

 

[Sasquatch]

sasquatch,does your PH go very high during lights on with the 24/7 dosing ? mine was getting dangerously high,but dosing at night time only has balanced my PH swing out very well,my tank don't have a high demand for calcium,so night time dosing is fine for now in my tank

never had a problem with that but I run my fuge lights 24/7, if you use it as makeup water for an ato you probably just need to lower the amount of kalk per gallon

 

[skinz78]

Redtop, I am thinking I am going to have to do something similar as to what you did. My 1 gal a day isn't keeping up with demand.

Wow Steve you have quite the setup there, I never knew about it ether...

 

[btkrausen]

This was my dosing bucket when I was doing it manually. It worked out perfectly for leaning it over the sump to drip:

 

[btkrausen]

Here is a pic of my kalk reactor in line with my tank. The line on the left comes from the RO holding tank and into the reactor. The line on the top is the overflow that goes to my tank.

 

[redtop03]

Buy it at BulkReefSupply, you can get a big tub of it for about $10. Thats exactly what I use, and its been working out perfectly.

the mrs.wagers pickling lime,like I use,is a food grade,the BRS kalk is a pharmaceutical grade,it's supposed to be more pure than the mrs.wagers...they claim it'll mix up better,but I've not tried it yet....I'll buy the BRS brand the next time and try it out

mantis,it's usually where the canning jars are at in Wal-Mart,but at my local store,it's a seasonal thing,they don't always have it in stock....with the price that BRS has on it,I'd just get it there,a small container will last a long time

 

[Sasquatch]

Redtop, I am thinking I am going to have to do something similar as to what you did. My 1 gal a day isn't keeping up with demand.

Wow Steve you have quite the setup there, I never knew about it ether...

well I ain't gonna show you the sock drawer lol, for some reason I just like to build tanks, hate keeping them

 

[btkrausen]

the mrs.wagers pickling lime,like I use,is a food grade,the BRS kalk is a pharmaceutical grade,it's supposed to be more pure than the mrs.wagers...they claim it'll mix up better,but I've not tried it yet....I'll buy the BRS brand the next time and try it out

mantis,it's usually where the canning jars are at in Wal-Mart,but at my local store,it's a seasonal thing,they don't always have it in stock....with the price that BRS has on it,I'd just get it there,a small container will last a long time

Yeah, I think that as long as its food grade, it should be fine for the tanks. However, BRS does selling better stuff that I'd rather put in my tank.

 

[skinz78]

well I ain't gonna show you the sock drawer lol, for some reason I just like to build tanks, hate keeping them

LOL speaking of which, how's that little beauty doing now? We need pic's!

 

[redtop03]

Redtop, I am thinking I am going to have to do something similar as to what you did. My 1 gal a day isn't keeping up with demand.

a 5g bucket give you plenty of lime water but if you're dosing 1g a day,you're dosing about what I do,mine last about a week,I skip a week and mix another 5g and dose another week,I don't have a high demand on calcium yet,my PH swing at night time was concerning me though,but kalk as fixed that...it's also holding my calcium at about 450 and my orange cap is loving it,problem is,my GSP is loving it too :D