Kalk make cloudy?

[Flameback Pair]

I dose kalk powder into my ATO reservoir. However this seems to make the water in my display tank cloudy. Is this possible and would adding vinegar to the ATO in addition to the kalk powder help with the cloudiness?

 

[exnisstech]

Do you have a sump? I've dosed kalk before but into a sump and didn't have any cloudiness. Make sure your pump is suspended above the slurry that will build up in the bottom of your ATO container. I could see the water getting cloudy if that slurry is getting pumped in.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How fast are you adding it? It needs to be added slowly.

Initial cloudiness on dosing right where you add it is normal and expected. As it mixes in, the cloud of
Magnesium hydroxide dissolves and the tank should not remain cloudy.

 

[Flameback Pair]

The kalk slurry is on the bottom of the ATO reservoir and from there the solution gets pumped into my sump. However the pump that pumps out of the reservoir sits on the bottom. I have a 25 gallon ATO reservoir so how much kalk powder and how much vinegar every time I fill the reservoir?

 

[X-37B]

Like said above the pump needs to be off the bottom, and it works better when added slowly. Put it on a stand 1/4-1/2 way off the bottom if you continue to use it.
I like and use a peristaltice pump that pumps from a separate reservoir. It allows complete control of your kalk. I run it on my 150. On my new 112, 2 months old, I use a peristaltic pump @ 1mlm 24/7. It holds alk at 8. Easy to adjust when demand increases.
I have done the ato way but prefer this method.
This way your ato does its thing and makes it simple to run kalk.
Some use a kalk stirrer but I never have.
This is on my 150. 6g container with the Kamoer. Same setup on the 112.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The kalk slurry is on the bottom of the ATO reservoir and from there the solution gets pumped into my sump. However the pump that pumps out of the reservoir sits on the bottom. I have a 25 gallon ATO reservoir so how much kalk powder and how much vinegar every time I fill the reservoir?

I don’t see vinegar as an answer to sucking up sludge. You need to get the intake off the bottom. That will be much kkeasier than messing with vinegar.

The sludge will be extremely potent if it contains undissolved calcium hydroxide, with or without vinegar.

People dosing kalk with vinegar still saturate the water.

It is a problem to add so much vinegar that the pH drops considerably since bacteria will grow in it, producing CO2 and precipitating calcium carbonate.

 

[Project1004]

The kalk slurry is on the bottom of the ATO reservoir and from there the solution gets pumped into my sump. However the pump that pumps out of the reservoir sits on the bottom. I have a 25 gallon ATO reservoir so how much kalk powder and how much vinegar every time I fill the reservoir?

Sounds like you are just dumping the powder into your ATO reservoir without mixing it to full saturation??? Makes perfect sense with it would be cloudy.

You need to mix your RODI with the kalk powder to fully dissolved. And that clear solution is what is being dosed. You can see from @X-37B ‘s photo how clear the solution is.

Full saturation is 3Gram to a gallon of RODI… You can max out beyond 3G/Gal by adding carbon source to the mix…
So just adding the vinegar into your ATO won’t work…. You have to mix it with kalk. And you shouldn’t disturb your mix once mixed once. Which means you need to add the carbon and the kalk at the same time when mixing. And need it to settle for over night before you should use the solution. And slow drip is the best way. I also use the same kamore pump @X-37B uses.

I made a mistake of using 7Gram/Gallon. But because I mixed it completely , it didn’t make it cloudy though. But realized there were thick slurry at the bottom of the ATO reservoir. Corals weren’t affected but I wasted alots of kalk. Probably for a year or so before realizing I thought it was 6Gram per gallon. Idk why… smh…

Now I use 3.5/Gal with carbon source.

 

[exnisstech]

Aa mentioned I found kalk works better from its own container. My evap rate varied too much to get it dialed in adding it to the ATO. I used a brs drews dosers pump on a cheap digital timer. I used the 50ml minute doser since I was dosing a bit more than 7 liters a day.