Kalkwasser - Best Method and Container

[jimmypencil]

I have been dosing Kalkwasser from a 5 gallon bucket using a Versa pump for several years. Currently I dose about 5 liters a day to my 125 gallon tank.

I have to refill this 5 gallon bucket every 3 days which is not ideal. Im wondering what people with much larger tanks are doing with kalkwasser? Do i just need to get a much bigger container - and if so, what reservoir do you guys reccomend? Would a kalkstirrer make it so i have to dose less kalk because its more concentrated?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I used kalk for 20 years and think it a good way to go.

I dosed it from 3 x 44 gallon brute cans plumbed together on the bottom to give a reservoir of about 120 gallons that would last me 2-3 months. :)

 

[exnisstech]

Another brute user here. Mine was in an unfinished basement so appearance wasn't a concern.

 

[tzabor10]

I used kalk for 20 years and think it a good way to go.

I dosed it from 3 x 44 gallon brute cans plumbed together on the bottom to give a reservoir of about 120 gallons that would last me 2-3 months. :)

Does your Kalkwasser need frequent stirring? I’m currently using the “ top part” after stirring for a day. Then discarding the bottom part that didn’t go into solution. The top part is in a dosing container.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Does your Kalkwasser need frequent stirring? I’m currently using the “ top part” after stirring for a day. Then discarding the bottom part that didn’t go into solution. The top part is in a dosing container.

A kalk reservoir should NOT be stirred between fillings, unless you add more fresh water. It just speeds reaction of the dissolved calcium and hydroxide with CO2 from the air to form useless calcium carbonate.

As to the discard part of your process, I never did that and don’t see a reason to, but it’s ok to do so.

 

[slingfox]

I have been dosing Kalkwasser from a 5 gallon bucket using a Versa pump for several years. Currently I dose about 5 liters a day to my 125 gallon tank.

I have to refill this 5 gallon bucket every 3 days which is not ideal. Im wondering what people with much larger tanks are doing with kalkwasser? Do i just need to get a much bigger container - and if so, what reservoir do you guys reccomend? Would a kalkstirrer make it so i have to dose less kalk because its more concentrated?

I use a 20g reservoir from Tenecor. It is inside a cabinet sitting next to the main tank stand.

 

[jimmypencil]

I switched to a avast marine kalkstirrer and use my 10g ato container to feed it using a versa pump. It’s worked amazing so far but adding kalk to the stirrer is kind of a pain. Much better than refilling and mixing a 5g bucket of kalk every 3 days.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I switched to a avast marine kalkstirrer and use my 10g ato container to feed it using a versa pump. It’s worked amazing so far but adding kalk to the stirrer is kind of a pain. Much better than refilling and mixing a 5g bucket of kalk every 3 days.

Is it better than filling a 100 gallon reservoir once every 2 months?

Sure, space is the issue for many.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I dose from a 50g drum in my basement

 

[jimmypencil]

Is it better than filling a 100 gallon reservoir once every 2 months?

Sure, space is the issue for many.

Haha that’s a beast setup. Brute can(s) would definitely be the way to go if space affords it.

 

[Blitheran]

I do a K1 stirrer attached to Neptune DOS QD. It draws water from my ATO container

 

[obanarama]

I do a K1 stirrer attached to Neptune DOS QD. It draws water from my ATO container

How often do you have to clean the K1 stirrer? And how much do you dose per day?

 

[Blitheran]

That’s been the trickiest part and still learning.

I don’t clean it out monthly, about every few months but I do roughly 500-700 mls of Kalk per day. I just set it up to dose over 24 hours.

When my alk declines I bump up the dosing.

My ultimate goal is to get up to 1700 mls a day because that would get to roughly 4 gallons of Kalk per week if my math is correct (going off memory). Which is in line with my evaporation, you can’t do more than the tank evaporation.

Kalk has been tricky because I feel like I am having to fine tune often.

Hard to just set and forget. But I know it’s way cheaper than 2 part so as my system grows it will be better long term to have the corals adjusted to it.

There is quite a bit of slurry at the bottom so I just grab the top of it and mix up the slurry into a cloud.

I may try a little less Kalk powder in the container and do a higher dose of ML. I may have too much Kalk powder in mine to where 500-700 is my max.

 

[Pg1]

I have a 250 gallon DT and sumps. I want to use kalk. If I dose , do I start by dosing 2-3 drops per second when lights go out ?keeping track of ph and alkinity

 

[docscorals]

I switched to a avast marine kalkstirrer and use my 10g ato container to feed it using a versa pump. It’s worked amazing so far but adding kalk to the stirrer is kind of a pain. Much better than refilling and mixing a 5g bucket of kalk every 3 days.

Is it better than filling a 100 gallon reservoir once every 2 months?

Sure, space is the issue for many.

That’s why I went with a Kalk stirrer. Unfortunately there is no viable way for me to use a large container. No basement and running water line from outside or the garage to where the tank just isn’t feasible.

Maybe someday though .

 

[docscorals]

I have a 250 gallon DT and sumps. I want to use kalk. If I dose , do I start by dosing 2-3 drops per second when lights go out ?keeping track of ph and alkinity

I set mine to a target ph and just let it go. I did see an increase to a high alkalinity for about a week, but it has slowly started to decline to normal.

Start slow, like maybe use it to replace 1/4 of your evaporation or start at like 250 to 500 ml and then slowly increase it over time to where you are using it to replace your evaporation.

I am newer to it so maybe more experienced users can jump in, like @Randy Holmes-Farley, but that is the advice I was given and what I learned from some well known shops with great blogs and videos.

 

[Pg1]

My lights are off for 14 hours, so should I slowly drip the 250-500ml over the 14 hours ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My lights are off for 14 hours, so should I slowly drip the 250-500ml over the 14 hours ?

IMO, one can dose kalk many ways, and I’d decide when based on how low the pH got at night. If it gets super low, I’d dose then, otherwise, 24/7 is a fine plan.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have a 250 gallon DT and sumps. I want to use kalk. If I dose , do I start by dosing 2-3 drops per second when lights go out ?keeping track of ph and alkinity

I’d focus on alk, IMO. The corals farms that dose based on pH have entirely different issues than many reef tanks.

How much to dose depends on your alk demand.

 

[Pg1]

My pH hovers around 7.8 at the lowest and 7.9 at the highest. I will try the 24/7