Kalkwasser â€“ Feeding Your Tank What It Desires

skinz78 · Nov 24, 2011

Great write up!

I dose Kalk via ATO with an Aqulifter pump fed off of a 20g resivor and it works really well for me.

I have two questions though, I have heard that it is good to have a tight lid on your ATO resivor because if too much oxygen gets to it the Kalk looses potency, is this correct?

Also I have heard of people adding vinegar to help break the Kalk down further and extend it's potency, is this true?

creefer · Nov 24, 2011

skinz78 said:
Great write up!

I dose Kalk via ATO with an Aqulifter pump fed off of a 20g resivor and it works really well for me.

I have two questions though, I have heard that it is good to have a tight lid on your ATO resivor because if too much oxygen gets to it the Kalk looses potency, is this correct?

Also I have heard of people adding vinegar to help break the Kalk down further and extend it's potency, is this true?

I do the same thing as you however my reservoir is covered. I cut a piece of acrylic to fit in the frame of the 10g tank I use and cut holes in it as required for the tubing. It has worked well.

Vinegar in your kalk mix will allow you to supersaturate the mixture. You can only really dissolve 2 tsp of kalk in h2o, but if you add vinegar, more will dissolve. This has two potential outcomes. One is that it's kind of like carbon dosing. The other is that the addition of the vinegar reduces the pH gains that are typically realized with kalk. For me this is bad as one of the primary reasons I chose the kalk route is for the benefit of increased pH.

Now, I'm toying with the idea of a kalk stirrer for the new system I'm planning.

btkrausen · Nov 24, 2011

Great write up!

Thanks

I dose Kalk via ATO with an Aqulifter pump fed off of a 20g resivor and it works really well for me.

I use a Aqualifter as well with the reactor. Works great and is cheap to replace.

I have two questions though, I have heard that it is good to have a tight lid on your ATO resivor because if too much oxygen gets to it the Kalk looses potency, is this correct?

I have also heard this, but I haven't run into it using the two ways that I've ever dosed, reactor and drip container, both of which are air tight.

Also I have heard of people adding vinegar to help break the Kalk down further and extend it's potency, is this true?

Never tried it, but like above poster said, you might be getting into carbon dosing with adding vinegar, so it might be getting into something more than you wanted.

denverjon · Nov 24, 2011

I have a question...I used to run my ato through my kalk stirrer. The problem was that I lose a lot of water through evaporation each day, so my ato was running often and, as a result, i was adding too much kalk into my system. I stopped using it about six months ago but would like to start using it again. One idea I had was to have a dedicated reservoir of ro water separeate from my ato that I could run to my kalk stirrer. That way I could run it on a timer. is this a good idea? Any other suggestions?

btkrausen · Nov 24, 2011

Yes, this is what I did during the summer. Same RO reservoir, but two different pumps, one going through the kalk reactor and one going straight to the tank. This was I could dose what I wanted through the reactor, and then supplement with regular RO to keep the desired sump level.

If I move back to reef on this tank, I'll do the same thing. I'll run the Aqualifter through the kalk reactor, and leave the Tunze Ozmolator intact to keep the sump topped off if I'm not pushing enough through the reactor.

denverjon · Nov 24, 2011

Thanks for the great suggestion. I was thinking a separate reservoir. It didn't even dawn on me to just use two different pumps.

GR808 · Nov 25, 2011

Great write up. Really beneficial for the beginners.
Do you think the Kalk would replace using Randy's 2-part recipe?

skinz78 · Nov 25, 2011

GR808 said:
Great write up. Really beneficial for the beginners.
Do you think the Kalk would replace using Randy's 2-part recipe?

My Kalk dosing keeps my Cal levels up fairly well but my tank is an alkaholic so I do still have to dose the DIY Alk.

JR's Reef · Nov 25, 2011

skinz78 said:
Great write up!

I dose Kalk via ATO with an Aqulifter pump fed off of a 20g resivor and it works really well for me.

I have two questions though, I have heard that it is good to have a tight lid on your ATO resivor because if too much oxygen gets to it the Kalk looses potency, is this correct?

Also I have heard of people adding vinegar to help break the Kalk down further and extend it's potency, is this true?

If mixing in a bucket and not using a reactor the crust that forms on top will pretty much keep it air tight which in turn it should last 2 weeks.
Vinegar does let water absorb more cal/alk and can be only used if mixing is done in a bucket it cant be used with a reactor. As said it also will be carbon dosing also.

Aquaph8 · Nov 25, 2011

Here you go Skinz, Randy covers both of your questions in this article.

The Degradation of Limewater in Air by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

skinz78 · Nov 25, 2011

Oh cool thanks, I'll give it a read!

GR808 · Nov 25, 2011

skinz78 said:
My Kalk dosing keeps my Cal levels up fairly well but my tank is an alkaholic so I do still have to dose the DIY Alk.

Thanks for the tip Chris. May think about dosing kalk instead of 2 part.

jverna1 · Nov 28, 2011

I have a Geo Reactor running through my ATO and I regulate my pH with an Apex controller with pH probe. When I notice my pH falls I usually just take some water out of the reactor and put a couple shakes of Mrs. Wages and pour it back in the reactor. I dont measure. Should I only be putting 2 tsp per gallon of my reactor or the whole system or does it not matter?

skinz78 · Nov 28, 2011

You can put as much as you wish in but your water generally will only absorb 2tsp per gallon so the excess is going to waste, or that is at least my take on it?

btkrausen · Nov 28, 2011

skinz78 said:
You can put as much as you wish in but your water generally will only absorb 2tsp per gallon so the excess is going to waste, or that is at least my take on it?

It won't waste the kalk in a reactor per say, but will allow all water going through the reactor to continue to be at maximum strength. I used to have enough kalk in my reactor to go a month or two without having to add more.

jverna1 · Nov 29, 2011

So it is safe for me to just dump some in because water can only be saturated so much. I got it. Thanks

btkrausen · Nov 29, 2011

I'd still start small and work up. The more kalk you put in will still affect your pH, so start with a little and add as you go along. When you get to the point of having a bunch in the reactor you can generally go for a while without having to refill.