Kalk Question

[ThatPhillyReefer]

Hello All, Im wanting to start dosing kalk to help keep my alk and cal more stable as well as raise ph. I will mix up about 10g worth in a container and use a dosing pump (not sure what one yet), run the tubing about a few inches above the bottom and dose/drip into my sump with high flow. I have a few questions. First, should I dose 24/7 or at night? Ive heard mixed things and not sure. I do dose ESV 2-part everyday. I understand to dose at night to raise ph as it drops during the night but how would that affect the alk and cal levels? Secondly, how much to drip? Is there a calculator or a way to determine how much to drip per second? Third, By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro? Thats the part that confuses me. By doing this aren’t you equally dosing for the evaporated water? Lastly, Do you think this is a good idea or let it be?

Thanks Owen

 

[Ron Reefman]

Don't worry about pH levels. It's a fool's errand to chase. Your tank will find a pH and it will be fairly stable. Most long time aquarium keepers never check pH anymore.

Dosing 24 hours a day is best. Dosing less frequently is still perfectly OK. I dose Ca and alk rather than Kalk. But I only do it every morning... that's just once a day. And my 40g AIO is 90% corals (mostly sps and lps). The only others in the tank are snails, hermit crabs, 2 small sea stars, a small sea cucumber and a coral banded shrimp... NO FISH.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Dose at night to bring up the low pH at night.

Dose during the day to most stabilize alk.

Dose 24/7 to do some of each.

The best plan all depends on your needs and goals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Don't worry about pH levels. It's a fool's errand to chase. Your tank will find a pH and it will be fairly stable. Most long time aquarium keepers never check pH anymore.

Dosing 24 hours a day is best. Dosing less frequently is still perfectly OK. I dose Ca and alk rather than Kalk. But I only do it every morning... that's just once a day. And my 40g AIO is 90% corals (mostly sps and lps). The only others in the tank are snails, hermit crabs, 2 small sea stars, a small sea cucumber and a coral banded shrimp... NO FISH.

What is your evidence that most long time reefers no longer measure pH?

 

[Gill the 3rd]

I think many people does kalk based on PH, when really you should be dosing kalk to maintain your desired alk level. The PH boost is just a plus.

I personally dose 24/7 from a vectra pump. I do see a 0.2 swing from night to day, 8.1 to 8.3. I keep my alk between 8-9 dkh. Before I started dosing kalc my PH was in the 7.8 - 8.0 range. I do have to supplement with 2-part since my kalk consumption would surpass my evaporation rate to maintain my alk/calcium levels.

Heres a calculator you could use. I just ended up dosing slow initially and testing my alk daily to dial in my dose rate.

Kalk Contribution Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Estimate the contribution of a kalk solution towards the calcium and alkalinity of a system.

www.hamzasreef.com

Be sure to watch the tip of your dosing line, the kalk solution can build up around the opening and block it eventually. I periodically have to clean mine with a small brush.

 

[John K]

I'll add since I don't think anyone answered this part; "By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro?"

It's usually recommended NOT to use kalk as your total top off because;
- evaporation rates will change with seasons and such, so this won't stay constant.
-If you have kalk as a direct top off, and you lose some water (leak, skimmer overflow, bagging frags, siphon cleaning...) you can spike your PH to dangerous or even devastating levels.

I'd suggest keeping your existing ATO, and separately add the kalk dose on a timer or other controller so the kalk dose will stay constant regardless of evaporation rate or water loss.

 

[Gill the 3rd]

I'll add since I don't think anyone answered this part; "By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro?"

It's usually recommended NOT to use kalk as your total top off because;
- evaporation rates will change with seasons and such, so this won't stay constant.
-If you have kalk as a direct top off, and you lose some water (leak, skimmer overflow, bagging frags, siphon cleaning...) you can spike your PH to dangerous or even devastating levels.

I'd suggest keeping your existing ATO, and separately add the kalk dose on a timer or other controller so the kalk dose will stay constant regardless of evaporation rate or water loss.

Yes very good point. Totally agree.

 

[Grappler]

Hello All, Im wanting to start dosing kalk to help keep my alk and cal more stable as well as raise ph. I will mix up about 10g worth in a container and use a dosing pump (not sure what one yet), run the tubing about a few inches above the bottom and dose/drip into my sump with high flow. I have a few questions. First, should I dose 24/7 or at night? Ive heard mixed things and not sure. I do dose ESV 2-part everyday. I understand to dose at night to raise ph as it drops during the night but how would that affect the alk and cal levels? Secondly, how much to drip? Is there a calculator or a way to determine how much to drip per second? Third, By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro? Thats the part that confuses me. By doing this aren’t you equally dosing for the evaporated water? Lastly, Do you think this is a good idea or let it be?

Thanks Owen

I use Kalk in my ATO to keep my calk and PH up. so yes I have a 12 gallon doser running 24/7
this can tend to clog your ato tubing over time though, so watch for that.
I use my doser for alkalinity once a day.

 

[Dom]

Hello All, Im wanting to start dosing kalk to help keep my alk and cal more stable as well as raise ph. I will mix up about 10g worth in a container and use a dosing pump (not sure what one yet), run the tubing about a few inches above the bottom and dose/drip into my sump with high flow. I have a few questions. First, should I dose 24/7 or at night? Ive heard mixed things and not sure. I do dose ESV 2-part everyday. I understand to dose at night to raise ph as it drops during the night but how would that affect the alk and cal levels? Secondly, how much to drip? Is there a calculator or a way to determine how much to drip per second? Third, By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro? Thats the part that confuses me. By doing this aren’t you equally dosing for the evaporated water? Lastly, Do you think this is a good idea or let it be?

Thanks Owen

Hello Owen.

I once incorporated a Kalk drip into a 125 gallon system. Weekly water changes on larger tanks aren't practical. And I've always relied on weekly, 20% water changes to to keep my chemistry stable and elements replenished.

I made quite a mess out of things, to the point where I moved everything into several smaller tanks and did a complete strip and rebuild of the 125 under the guidance of @Reefer Matt.

Things are much better now, but I am monitoring alkalinity and calcium and dosing manually based on my results. This isn't ideal, but the tank is much improved.

I'm following along to see what advice you receive and how you implement. I feel Kalk is a good choice for maintaining stable alkalinity and calcium. But my first attempt was a disaster.

Dom

 

[TheSheff]

Hello All, Im wanting to start dosing kalk to help keep my alk and cal more stable as well as raise ph. I will mix up about 10g worth in a container and use a dosing pump (not sure what one yet), run the tubing about a few inches above the bottom and dose/drip into my sump with high flow. I have a few questions. First, should I dose 24/7 or at night? Ive heard mixed things and not sure. I do dose ESV 2-part everyday. I understand to dose at night to raise ph as it drops during the night but how would that affect the alk and cal levels? Secondly, how much to drip? Is there a calculator or a way to determine how much to drip per second? Third, By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro? Thats the part that confuses me. By doing this aren’t you equally dosing for the evaporated water? Lastly, Do you think this is a good idea or let it be?

Thanks Owen

You can pretty much dose kalk whenever , I dose during the day because that's just what i've always done for some reason lol. It doesn't really matter how fast the drip is from your doser, just how much total mL you are dosing per day. It just cant be dosed all at once because it would raise the ph too much. Kalkwasser is mixed with RO water so it pretty much lowers the amount that the ATO adds per day. The thing about kalkwasser is because it isn't very potent, it had to be dosed in large amounts. For example, I dose 850 mL/day in my 40 gallon tank. The only caveat to kalk is that you cannot exceed your total daily tank evaporation per day in dosage. IMO Kalkwasser is one of the easiest things to dose and really seems magical, everything seems to love it and looks much better when I am dosing it.

 

[ThatPhillyReefer]

I'll add since I don't think anyone answered this part; "By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro?"

It's usually recommended NOT to use kalk as your total top off because;
- evaporation rates will change with seasons and such, so this won't stay constant.
-If you have kalk as a direct top off, and you lose some water (leak, skimmer overflow, bagging frags, siphon cleaning...) you can spike your PH to dangerous or even devastating levels.

I'd suggest keeping your existing ATO, and separately add the kalk dose on a timer or other controller so the kalk dose will stay constant regardless of evaporation rate or water loss.

Thats why I asked because Ive watched so many videos and read articles saying its not good to use kalk as an ATO. I was still kinda confused that's why I asked. Thank You!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thats why I asked because Ive watched so many videos and read articles saying its not good to use kalk as an ATO. I was still kinda confused that's why I asked. Thank You!!

IMO, the idea to not use limewater (kalkwasser) in an ATO is a valid thought, but its importance is a bit overblown for what happens when one does so.

I used kalkwasser in my ATO for 20 years without any apparent issue that I could blame on it that related to evaporation changes.

That said, if I were to do it again, I’d likely set it in a dosing pump at just under the typical evaporation rate.

 

[tcwoodrn]

You can pretty much dose kalk whenever , I dose during the day because that's just what i've always done for some reason lol. It doesn't really matter how fast the drip is from your doser, just how much total mL you are dosing per day. It just cant be dosed all at once because it would raise the ph too much. Kalkwasser is mixed with RO water so it pretty much lowers the amount that the ATO adds per day. The thing about kalkwasser is because it isn't very potent, it had to be dosed in large amounts. For example, I dose 850 mL/day in my 40 gallon tank. The only caveat to kalk is that you cannot exceed your total daily tank evaporation per day in dosage. IMO Kalkwasser is one of the easiest things to dose and really seems magical, everything seems to love it and looks much better when I am dosing it.

How do you choose a starting dose? I have the reactor and dosing pump but I’m not sure how much to dose. I lost 0.3-0.5 dkh per day

 

[14 foot reef]

Hello All, Im wanting to start dosing kalk to help keep my alk and cal more stable as well as raise ph. I will mix up about 10g worth in a container and use a dosing pump (not sure what one yet), run the tubing about a few inches above the bottom and dose/drip into my sump with high flow. I have a few questions. First, should I dose 24/7 or at night? Ive heard mixed things and not sure. I do dose ESV 2-part everyday. I understand to dose at night to raise ph as it drops during the night but how would that affect the alk and cal levels? Secondly, how much to drip? Is there a calculator or a way to determine how much to drip per second? Third, By doing it this way should that eliminate me having to top off with ro? Thats the part that confuses me. By doing this aren’t you equally dosing for the evaporated water? Lastly, Do you think this is a good idea or let it be?

Thanks Owen

Owen,
What is your total system volume ? I ask for the reason of the method and the amount of precise measuring I believe is very important on small systems and less important on large systems. Not that it doesn't matter, but if your system is over 150 or 200 gallons, the preciseness of your dosing is less worrisome and stressful. If your system is on the larger side, you could PM me for my procedure that has served my system well for a very long time if you would like. I don't like posting it in an open thread because it will turn into a battle of the processes with lots of different opinions and you may never get to where you want. If I can give any sure advice in this open post, you could follow @Randy Holmes-Farley 's advice and for sure & never go wrong. He has been dosing Kalk since he was a kid. He knows what he's doing.

 

[exnisstech]

I switched from esv 2 part to kalk on my 180g. It took some trial and error to get it dialed in. Alkalinity and calcium are very stable dosing 7200ml daily over 24 hours. This is the most I can dose and stay under my evaporation rate. I still run an ATO. I'm dosing with a brs 50ml minute pump on a cheap digital timer using a brute container to hold the kalk. The hose drips into the return chamber and is not placed below the water surface.
Dosing kalk did zero for pH in my tank. I don't monitor but I was curious so I tested my tanks a few times and the tank getting kalk was identical to my other two tanks that get two part. I feel the same as @Ron Reefman about chasing pH tho I do not have his experience.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How do you choose a starting dose? I have the reactor and dosing pump but I’m not sure how much to dose. I lost 0.3-0.5 dkh per day

If you know your alk need and system volume, you can use this calculator:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[IntrinsicReef]

IMO, the idea to not use limewater (kalkwasser) in an ATO is a valid thought, but its importance is a bit overblown for what happens when one does so.

I used kalkwasser in my ATO for 20 years without any apparent issue that I could blame on it that related to evaporation changes.

That said, if I were to do it again, I’d likely set it in a dosing pump at just under the typical evaporation rate.

I stopped dosing Kalk through ATO because I had pumps sieze up from deposits on the impellers. Since you haven't had an issue with it, I wonder if my experience is caused by targeting higher alkalinity. The sudden influx of kalkwasser is more likely to cause precipitates?
I started dripping Kalkwasser straight into the tank from a doser and don't have the pump issues now.

 

[ThatPhillyReefer]

Owen,
What is your total system volume ? I ask for the reason of the method and the amount of precise measuring I believe is very important on small systems and less important on large systems. Not that it doesn't matter, but if your system is over 150 or 200 gallons, the preciseness of your dosing is less worrisome and stressful. If your system is on the larger side, you could PM me for my procedure that has served my system well for a very long time if you would like. I don't like posting it in an open thread because it will turn into a battle of the processes with lots of different opinions and you may never get to where you want. If I can give any sure advice in this open post, you could follow @Randy Holmes-Farley 's advice and for sure & never go wrong. He has been dosing Kalk since he was a kid. He knows what he's doing.

Total id say 120 gallons with sump

 

[Troylee]

IMO, the idea to not use limewater (kalkwasser) in an ATO is a valid thought, but its importance is a bit overblown for what happens when one does so.

I used kalkwasser in my ATO for 20 years without any apparent issue that I could blame on it that related to evaporation changes.

That said, if I were to do it again, I’d likely set it in a dosing pump at just under the typical evaporation rate.

I’ve always used it in my top off and I still do.. when seasons change I just change my 2 part dosing to accommodate or as of today I change my all for reef dosage.