Kalkwasser dosing speed?

Koen Vervaeke · Jan 11, 2021

I see such large variety in kalkwasser dosing speed. Using a stirrer, some swear by low speeds such as 1 ml/min, while others dose much faster at 40-60 ml/min. I reckon that those who dose via the ATO also dose at higher speeds. How fast do you dose kalk and what factors should I take into consideration?

Montiman · Jan 11, 2021

I use a Milwaukee dosing pump that is rated at 17ml per minute. This works well as does an ATO pump. I dose every hour.

Ultimately with kalk just like in all reefkeeping nothing good happens fast. The slower the better when it comes to promoting stability. I have even thought of using a continuous duty pump to make the dose very gradual.

If you are new to kalk just stop worrying about such details. There is so much success to be had without being concerned about such things. If you are an advanced reefer than it can be fun to think about but there are so many examples of kalk dosed in a wide variety of ways that you kind of have to acknowledge that there are many ways to be successful.

Some other reasons why dosing slower could be better.
1. Less precipitation
2. Safer (If a dosing pump sticks on it will take longer to overdose the tank.)

blasterman · Jan 11, 2021

Biggest consideration with kalk is you dose it in a high velocity current to keep local precipitation down.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 12, 2021

Slower is never worse, and fold dosing faster are usually doing so because they already have a faster pump. Spreading out the dose as much as possible is desirable to prevent local precipitation.

ATO does not necessarily mean faster, it all depends on the pump used and how much you want to deliver in a day.

Obviously the rate on a small tank will need to be much slower than on a big tank, and as noted, the larger the liquid volume where the limewater hits tank water, and the more turbulent it is, the faster you can add it without rising local precipitation.

Boxofpurplerocks · Jan 18, 2021

Montiman said:
Ultimately with kalk just like in all reefkeeping nothing good happens fast. The slower the better when it comes to promoting stability. I have even thought of using a continuous duty pump to make the dose very gradual.

If you are new to kalk just stop worrying about such details. There is so much success to be had without being concerned about such things. If you are an advanced reefer than it can be fun to think about but there are so many examples of kalk dosed in a wide variety of ways that you kind of have to acknowledge that there are many ways to be successful.

Some other reasons why dosing slower could be better.
1. Less precipitation
2. Safer (If a dosing pump sticks on it will take longer to overdose the tank.)

Can you link which milwaukee pump you use? I’ve been looking for a new pump to dose kalk in my tank and this sounds like it is exactly what I’m looking for!

Montiman · Jan 18, 2021

Boxofpurplerocks said:
Can you link which milwaukee pump you use? I’ve been looking for a new pump to dose kalk in my tank and this sounds like it is exactly what I’m looking for!

Milwaukee Instruments MP810 Dosing Pump

With the Milwaukee Instruments MP810 Dosing Pump Easily you can easily automate your two part dosing.

www.marineandreef.com

Here is the pump I use. It is a dumb pump so you need to control the dose amount with a timer, or you could use it with your ATO. I use mine with my apex and have it run once per hour.

I have found this pump to be much more durable than the BRS pumps I tried. It has lasted way longer. It is a bit noisy but because it only runs for a few minutes each hour it is no big deal to me. The pump is rated at just over 10ml per minute but mine does 17.

Boxofpurplerocks · Jan 18, 2021

Montiman said:
Milwaukee Instruments MP810 Dosing Pump

With the Milwaukee Instruments MP810 Dosing Pump Easily you can easily automate your two part dosing.

www.marineandreef.com

Here is the pump I use. It is a dumb pump so you need to control the dose amount with a timer, or you could use it with your ATO. I use mine with my apex and have it run once per hour.

I have found this pump to be much more durable than the BRS pumps I tried. It has lasted way longer. It is a bit noisy but because it only runs for a few minutes each hour it is no big deal to me. The pump is rated at just over 10ml per minute but mine does 17.

That is great to hear. You are a savior! I literally posted a thread last night looking for a new dosing pump because my demands increased more than my BRS 1.1 pump could dose in an hour. This looks exactly it.. more durable and doses a bit faster. I ran my brs pump off an apex outlet and just had it go on and off every hour like you said. This just has a normal plug that will go into an outlet correct?

Montiman · Jan 18, 2021

Boxofpurplerocks said:
That is great to hear. You are a savior! I literally posted a thread last night looking for a new dosing pump because my demands increased more than my BRS 1.1 pump could dose in an hour. This looks exactly it.. more durable and doses a bit faster. I ran my brs pump off an apex outlet and just had it go on and off every hour like you said. This just has a normal plug that will go into an outlet correct?

It is just a regular outlet plug. You just plug it right into the energy bar and program.