Kalkwasser help needed

[Dj City]

I need some help please.

I've never used kalk before but I need to start using it.

I have a 180gal SPS dominate reef.
I dose B-ionic 2 part and I'm happy with it but I need that extra boost in ph and want to balance out 2 part use with kalk.

I don't want to use my ATO for kalk.
I don't have a kalk reactor.
I want to just use a container and a dosing pump.

Does the mixed kalk need to have a lid after it's mixed to saturation?

How much kalk should I dose to the reef?
How often should I have the doser dose kalk and how many ml per dose?

I'm mostly looking to boost ph and maybe tone down the 2 part a little bit.

 

[Montiman]

Your container does not need a lid but I like one because it stops stuff from falling in. As far as how much kalk you need. I would use a dosing calculator. BRS has a free one as well as some other places. Find out what your current consumption is and the calculator can get you in the ball park. I would dose as much kalk as possible which for an SPS tank will be limited by your evaporation rate then make up the rest with Bionic.

It is best to dose kalk as slow and continuously as possible. I would split up the dose as much as you can with your dosing pump of choice.

 

[Dj City]

I'm thinking of using a 5 gallon jug.
I understand it should be 2 teaspoons per gallon to get to max saturation.

How far will a 5 gallon jug get me? How long should it last?

 

[Dj City]

Bump...

I still need some help with this.
I just got a 6 gallon space saving jug from Walmart.

I plan on filling that with saturated kalkwasser water and dosing directly from that jug to the sump via my dosing pump (jeabo wifi 3.4 doser)

Will this work?
How much a day should I dose?
How spread out should the doses be?
How long will a 6 gallon jug of saturated kalkwasser last?
Any particular time I should be dosing?

 

[Garf]

Bump...

I still need some help with this.
I just got a 6 gallon space saving jug from Walmart.

I plan on filling that with saturated kalkwasser water and dosing directly from that jug to the sump via my dosing pump (jeabo wifi 3.4 doser)

Will this work?
How much a day should I dose?
How spread out should the doses be?
How long will a 6 gallon jug of saturated kalkwasser last?
Any particular time I should be dosing?

I’m guessing your evaporating at least a Gallon a day. However, you can dose much less than this initially, then ramp it up. Keep your eye on the Alk, and reduce 2 part as necessary. Spread it out throughout the day and night and take precautions to minimize chances of overdose.

 

[DrMMI]

I just recently switched to this method. I was previously dosing via my ato. I have a 260 gallon tank with mostly lps. I felt like it was tough to hone in my alk. So I started using 3tsp/gal in the ato and then supplementing with 2 part via a doser. However, my pH sucks so I decided to switch to dosing kalk via a doser. I mix 10 tsp in a 5g jug. Shake for 30 seconds and let it sit for at least 30 mins. Since doing that, I've had a hard time narrowing my alk swings. I'm anywhere from 8.81 to 9.2 throughout the day. I'm also going through 5g of kalk solution every 3 days or so. I think I'm going back to dosing in my ato and supplementing with two part. It was much less maintenance and it allowed better control of my kalk and better pH.

 

[ZoWhat]

What's your plan of testing then dosing?

Cant dose until you have a firm grasp of your calc and alk consumption rates...

Unless you prefer stumbling around in a dark room clueless where the light switch is located.... just sayin

 

[outhouse]

I don't want to use my ATO for kalk.
I don't have a kalk reactor.

Step up!! it will be the best money you have ever spent. My kalk reactor set up with a aqualifter from my ATO. When ATO kicks in the aqualifter feeds the reactor which gravity flows in the sump in a high current area. I use a 10 G res as to where you want 5. I used a 20G tank and mixed kalk in it like you plan, and im telling you 5g will be a pain in the *** that way. I have my 10g trash bucket hooked up to my ro/di with float and pressure switches and a timer so its fed an hour a day. fool proof and no labor at all required. I have a 210g tank with a 100g sump. When demand is high I use a ca reactor as well.

 

[Dj City]

I measured my evaporation and it looks like between the skimmer and evaporation, I go through roughly 3 gallons a day.

Knowing this, how much kalk water a day should I be using?

 

[Dj City]

What's your plan of testing then dosing?

Cant dose until you have a firm grasp of your calc and alk consumption rates...

Unless you prefer stumbling around in a dark room clueless where the light switch is located.... just sayin

I have the Neptune Trident to test the big 3 (alk, cal, mag)
I use the reefbot to test the rest and back it up with Hanna checkers.

 

[Dj City]

Step up!! it will be the best money you have ever spent. My kalk reactor set up with a aqualifter from my ATO. When ATO kicks in the aqualifter feeds the reactor which gravity flows in the sump in a high current area. I use a 10 G res as to where you want 5. I used a 20G tank and mixed kalk in it like you plan, and im telling you 5g will be a pain in the *** that way. I have my 10g trash bucket hooked up to my ro/di with float and pressure switches and a timer so its fed an hour a day. fool proof and no labor at all required. I have a 210g tank with a 100g sump. When demand is high I use a ca reactor as well.

I thought about using a kalk reactor but I don't think I have the space to conveniently use one.
Is still an idea though if using a 6 gallon jug proves to be too much of a hassle.
My plan is for a controlled dose so using the ATO and depending on my evaporation rate is kinda iffy. I'm sure my evaporation rate changes from day to day depending on the weather and what my skimmer is doing on any given day.

 

[Vyper]

Be careful using plastic jugs. I read several times of it eating through it or it just becomes so brittle quickly that it leaks. I bought a 5 gallon glass brewing jug and continuous dos with kaemor pump. I don’t need anywhere close to evaporation rate yet and have a trident measuring 3 times a day. I do 1 1/2 teaspoons per gallon and mix in separate jug and let sit for 24hrs then add to my brewing jug leaving the undissolved in the bottom of mixing jug.

 

[Dj City]

Be careful using plastic jugs. I read several times of it eating through it or it just becomes so brittle quickly that it leaks. I bought a 5 gallon glass brewing jug and continuous dos with kaemor pump. I don’t need anywhere close to evaporation rate yet and have a trident measuring 3 times a day. I do 1 1/2 teaspoons per gallon and mix in separate jug and let sit for 24hrs then add to my brewing jug leaving the undissolved in the bottom of mixing jug.

Thank you for the warning! I appreciate that and I will keep an eye out.

I plan on doing the same kind of dosing using the kamoer x1 dosing pump hooked to my Apex so I can have the pump shut down if Ph goes above 8.6

How large is your reef and how much kalk do you dose a day?
Do you have a high demand reef?
SPS dominate?
How long does the 5 gallon jug last you?

 

[Dj City]

I just got off the phone with BRS. The guy I was speaking to said that using the kamoer x1 pro would not work well.
He said that it doses too fast and I would have high ph peaks every hour which would drop back to normal levels pretty rapidly.

He said I need a slow doser like the Neptune Dos or the continuous duty kamoer pump.

I "can" use my Neptune Dos. I would just have to move one thing off of it and have my other doser pick up it's duties.

He also said the 6gal container will not last long at all. Only about a week at the most.

So...
I still need advice and help from those of you that do this.

 

[Dj City]

So after debating with myself and just ONE time of shaking/mixing a 6 gallon jug of kalk and ro/di, I bit the bullet and ordered the larger Avast Marine K2 kalk stirrer.

I'm going to have my neptune dos run it.

Telling the truth...
I'm never going to try to mix kalk in a container again.
That was a real workout!
I would rather have the kalk stirrer do it for me and just add more kalk when needed.

Only good thing about doing the kalk in the 6gal jug is it will let me know about how much to dose once the kalk stirrer arrives.

 

[CKinLA]

X1 will probably be fine for dosing. Plenty of people have great success with doing it as part of their ATO, myself included. The X1 would be significantly more controlled than the ATO.

With that being said, I am currently running the Avast reactor with the Kamoer FX-STP on my new tank. Primary reasons are that the Kamoer was ordered for the calcium reactor and the tank is mostly frags right now so consumption is too low to run off of the ATO. Eventually, I may put it back on the ATO when the reactor get hooked up. I will say the doser is nice as it gives you much more control.

If you’re doing it off a doser, start low let it go 24 hours then check readings, adjust and repeat.

I dump a cup or two of kalk in the reactor and it stirs 10 minutes ever 4 hours. Im assuming the water in the reactor is saturated, but it may not be when stirring this little. Once the demand gets higher I’ll stick a pH probe in it to give me an idea if I need to up the stirring interval. If you stir too little the kalk will compact and the top will rotate because the stirrer can’t move.

 

[Dj City]

I have a pH probe in the kalk stirrer.