How to dose kalk?

OP
OP
J

Jaybeastin

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2021
Messages
639
Reaction score
299
Location
94203
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Depends on your coral load.. I dose well top off with fully saturated kalk and still dose 200ml daily of all for reef
Yeah I have a small load. I’m only dosing 14ml of AFR but 200 ml of AFR? How big is your tank lol
 

Troylee

all about the diy!!!!!
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Messages
22,206
Reaction score
23,365
Location
Vegas baby!!!!
Rating - 0%
0   0   0

PPBlimpy

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2025
Messages
1,692
Reaction score
2,102
Location
Cumberland
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am just getting back into Kalk finally after my tank move. I was doing 2800ml daily into a 125 using a dosing head spread out 24hrs. mixed a gallon jug daily for it, used it the next day. mixed at half stregth.

This did 3/4 of my daily evap and my ATO took up the rest.

I don't like dosing Via ATO because my evap rates is greatly different between summer and winter months.

This time around I am setting up a 50G barrel, tired of mixing daily and dosing from it using apex DOS, new tank is 260G and have it programmed to dose more at night then during the day at a 1.5X ratio to try to level out PH. Haven't got it online yet but at least in my head it will work. Once I get it going I will test to see what my usage is and adjust accordingly. This 50G barrel will be mixed at saturation
 

ChrisfromBrick

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 29, 2024
Messages
3,267
Reaction score
4,539
Location
Brick, NJ
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Nice ! Will it make a difference if I dose for example 20ml all at once every hour? Or it has to be a slow drip
nope- that will work just fine. I do 80ml every 2 hours. Coraline algae sure loves Kalkwasser and I feel like my acropora have sped up in growth. Cheap way to add Alk and Ca. I am not convinced you need a kalk stirrer. I dont use one and get great results.
 

exnisstech

Grumpy old man
View Badges
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
Messages
18,933
Reaction score
30,390
Location
Ashland Ohio
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I think I’m just going to get a versa single doser for kalk.
If you decide to dose kalk a brs 50ml a minute doser on a cheap digital timer worked perfect for the 6 years I used mine and is about 1/2 the cost of the versa. I was dosing 7200ml a day over 24hrs when I changed tanks.
 

Sargeeq

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 23, 2022
Messages
382
Reaction score
411
Location
Albany, GA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hello everyone!

Now that I have more SPS in my tank, I want to try dosing Kalk again. The reason I stop dosing was because my tube line keeps getting clogged. I was using a drip system and it was and the drip was inconsistent. I do have a redsea doser
Kalk Stirrer. That way you're only running RODI water through your dosing pumps.
 

p1u5h13r4m24

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 2, 2015
Messages
1,538
Reaction score
2,155
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
I’m not sure how everyone else does it, but I use a kalk stirrer and than I only auto dose at night. In the morning I try to dose slightly larger amounts to get a good ph boost when lights come on
 

Pi-314

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 27, 2025
Messages
31
Reaction score
30
Location
SE US
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am confused how people are using timers on auto dosers and i must not be clear about how they operate. If an auto doser spreads a amount (entered by the user) across 24 hrs, what is the purpose of the timer? Unless, for example, you double the amount entered and use the timer across 12 hrs instead of 24.
I go low-tech to dose kalk and use a container with a float valve.
 

KStatefan

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 24, 2015
Messages
5,589
Reaction score
5,014
Location
MHK
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am confused how people are using timers on auto dosers and i must not be clear about how they operate. If an auto doser spreads a amount (entered by the user) across 24 hrs, what is the purpose of the timer? Unless, for example, you double the amount entered and use the timer across 12 hrs instead of 24.
I go low-tech to dose kalk and use a container with a float valve.

Timer tells the doser when to run like your example of dosing kalk at night. My doser can be set automatically or manually enter each dosing period.
 

PPBlimpy

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2025
Messages
1,692
Reaction score
2,102
Location
Cumberland
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am confused how people are using timers on auto dosers and i must not be clear about how they operate. If an auto doser spreads a amount (entered by the user) across 24 hrs, what is the purpose of the timer? Unless, for example, you double the amount entered and use the timer across 12 hrs instead of 24.
I go low-tech to dose kalk and use a container with a float valve.
Some dosers don't have timers built in, they run at a single speed when power is applied. Setting it on a timer of some sort for "X" amount of minutes at a flow rate of "Y" gets you the desired amount per doser and then set the timier when you want it to dose and how many times in 24hrs
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

Reef Chemist
View Badges
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
89,260
Reaction score
92,298
Location
Massachusetts, United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I use BRS dosers on timers for all sorts of things, such as automatic water change, AFR dosing, phyto dosing, and ammonium bicarbonate dosing.

I'm not a super fan of kalk stirrers. They often do not provide saturated kalkwasser. It's a tricky thing to get the clear water about the solids saturated without getting solids into the effluent. I prefer dosing from a settled kalk reservoir. I used that method for 20 years.
 

TOP 10 Trending Threads

WHAT AMOUNT OF LIVE ROCK AND SAND SHOULD BE PRIORITIZED FOR OPTIMAL BIODIVERSITY/FILTRATION?

  • 100% live rock + bagged sand

    Votes: 37 27.4%
  • 100% dry rock + 100% live sand

    Votes: 46 34.1%
  • 50/50 live/dry rock, 50/50 live/bagged sand

    Votes: 30 22.2%
  • 75% live rock, 25% live sand

    Votes: 12 8.9%
  • 25% live rock, 75% live sand

    Votes: 10 7.4%
Back
Top