Kalkwasser on a doser in nano

[Brad Coughlan]

I am looking into giving kalkwasser a shot in a 20g, I know the most common method is putting it in an ATO but I can't understand how that would be stable in summer months with more evaporation, so I am wondering if I can hook it up to a dosing pump. If I can do this, would it lower salinity since more RODI would be going into the tank?

 

[Garf]

I am looking into giving kalkwasser a shot in a 20g, I know the most common method is putting it in an ATO but I can't understand how that would be stable in summer months with more evaporation, so I am wondering if I can hook it up to a dosing pump. If I can do this, would it lower salinity since more RODI would be going into the tank?

Dosing kalk through a pump depending upon alkalinity demand (taking into account evaporation) is my staple.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Dosing kalk through a pump depending upon alkalinity demand (taking into account evaporation) is my staple.

Would this decrease salinity at a certain point? If you were for example losing 1dKH per day, and dosing loads of kalk, which needs RODI water

 

[Garf]

Would this decrease salinity at a certain point? If you were for example losing 1dKH per day, and dosing loads of kalk, which needs RODI water

Just dose slightly less than the system evaporates. You gotta watch your alkalinity though. If your adding more than you are consuming, back off, make it thinner or dose less.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Ok that makes sense.
Is there a recommended initial dosage for kalk? Or a dosage to KH increase calculator?

 

[Garf]

Ok that makes sense.
Is there a recommended initial dosage for kalk? Or a dosage to KH increase calculator?

You gotta do some calculating, lol;

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/KalkContribution.php

 

[Brad Coughlan]

You gotta do some calculating, lol;

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/KalkContribution.php

Ok there's a decent amount of values I need to input lol
thanks

 

[Garf]

Ok there's a decent amount of values I need to input lol
thanks

Start with your daily alkalinity consumption, you may need to test this.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Start with your daily alkalinity consumption, you may need to test this.

All I can say that currently it is very low, to the point that I have had to pause dosing AFR.
Also quick question, I have a fear that a lot of people share, a dosing pump failing. If this were to happen when running kalk, I want to avoid flooding my house because it dumps 10gallons of RODI + kalkwasser in the tank, could I run a float switch to just shut off the pump if this occurs?

 

[Garf]

All I can say that currently it is very low, to the point that I have had to pause dosing AFR.
Also quick question, I have a fear that a lot of people share, a dosing pump failing. If this were to happen when running kalk, I want to avoid flooding my house because it dumps 10gallons of RODI + kalkwasser in the tank, could I run a float switch to just shut off the pump if this occurs?

I have enough kalk available to the pump for a week(ish). I've not had a dosing pump stick "on".

 

[Brad Coughlan]

I have enough kalk available to the pump for a week(ish). I've not had a dosing pump stick "on".

Ah, not sure why I didn't think of that. So basically, the amount of kalk you have available isn't enough to cause a flood? I will do this, I'd rather top off a container every few days than flood my room. I do this with my ATO, flood proof it.

 

[Garf]

Ah, not sure why I didn't think of that. So basically, the amount of kalk you have available isn't enough to cause a flood? I will do this, I'd rather top off a container every few days than flood my room. I do this with my ATO, flood proof it.

Happy reefing mate. It's a heck of a journey :)

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Happy reefing mate. It's a heck of a journey :)

Happy reefing to you too! Been in this nearly 2 years and can confirm I am here to stay

 

[rishma]

@Brad Coughlan I have used kalkwasser on many tanks, including my current nano that is just a little bigger than yours. I have mixed kalk into top off on larger systems. On smaller systems I use a dosing pump. You’ve gotten good advice above.

Regarding the irrational fear of a dosing pump getting stuck on, I have the same fear, though I have never had it happen. In the past, I would use a float switch to shut down all dosers if the water level got too high, the same way an ATO works. I never once triggered that float switch in many years. On my current set up, I didn’t have room for this float switch so I just rely on my programming timer to turn it off. So far so good. The idea of starting with a smaller volume in the dosing container is a good one.

In your current system, 60ml of saturated kalkwasser will dose about 0.1 dKH. You can start with a small dosing volume, measuring alkalinity and watch the trend. Kalk works well in low demand systems because it takes a large volume to add a large amount of alkalinity.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

@Brad Coughlan I have used kalkwasser on many tanks, including my current nano that is just a little bigger than yours. I have mixed kalk into top off on larger systems. On smaller systems I use a dosing pump. You’ve gotten good advice above.

Regarding the irrational fear of a dosing pump getting stuck on, I have the same fear, though I have never had it happen. In the past, I would use a float switch to shut down all dosers if the water level got too high, the same way an ATO works. I never once triggered that float switch in many years. On my current set up, I didn’t have room for this float switch so I just rely on my programming timer to turn it off. So far so good. The idea of starting with a smaller volume in the dosing container is a good one.

In your current system, 60ml of saturated kalkwasser will dose about 0.1 dKH. You can start with a small dosing volume, measuring alkalinity and watch the trend. Kalk works well in low demand systems because it takes a large volume to add a large amount of alkalinity.

Thanks, appreciate the response. In that case I'd likely start with the 60ml per day dose, or maybe less. I had a po4 spike which reduced growth causing my alk to spike to 10dkH because I never adjusted AFR dosing.

What kind of float switch are you using? I have done some looking around but struggled to find a suitable one, although I saw D-D make a skimmer shutoff which uses a float switch, of which I could plug the doser in. I don't have a doser yet but I am getting one soon.

Do you notice kalk bumps your pH too? I have always struggled with low pH, and it being winter here and having windows shut, it's gone to 7.5 which is very low. So my my action plan is kalk and co2 scrubber.

 

[rishma]

Thanks, appreciate the response. In that case I'd likely start with the 60ml per day dose, or maybe less. I had a po4 spike which reduced growth causing my alk to spike to 10dkH because I never adjusted AFR dosing.

What kind of float switch are you using? I have done some looking around but struggled to find a suitable one, although I saw D-D make a skimmer shutoff which uses a float switch, of which I could plug the doser in. I don't have a doser yet but I am getting one soon.

Do you notice kalk bumps your pH too? I have always struggled with low pH, and it being winter here and having windows shut, it's gone to 7.5 which is very low. So my my action plan is kalk and co2 scrubber.

I have used a couple different float switches. For a long time I used a reef-fanatic switch but don’t think they are made anymore. It was a float switch tied to an outlet, it shut off power if the switch was triggered. I’m sure similar stand alone types are available. More recently I used switches tied to my APEX.

Yes, kalkwasser helps elevate pH. With high indoor CO2 it won’t make a huge difference unless demand (and dose) are very high, but it will help at smaller doses. I always dose kalkwasser at night to help mitigate the pH drop.

Outdoor air routed to your skimmer or an airstone can help a lot. Scrubbers work too. People’s results vary a bit. I currently use a strong air pump to get higher and stable pH. Good discussion in this thread..
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/m...-outdoor-aeration-ph-boost-stability.1084802/

 

[Brad Coughlan]

I have used a couple different float switches. For a long time I used a reef-fanatic switch but don’t think they are made anymore. It was a float switch tied to an outlet, it shut off power if the switch was triggered. I’m sure similar stand alone types are available. More recently I used switches tied to my APEX.

Yes, kalkwasser helps elevate pH. With high indoor CO2 it won’t make a huge difference unless demand (and dose) are very high, but it will help at smaller doses. I always dose kalkwasser at night to help mitigate the pH drop.

Outdoor air routed to your skimmer or an airstone can help a lot. Scrubbers work too. People’s results vary a bit. I currently use a strong air pump to get higher and stable pH. Good discussion in this thread..
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/m...-outdoor-aeration-ph-boost-stability.1084802/

Thank you!!

 

[Brad Coughlan]

I have used a couple different float switches. For a long time I used a reef-fanatic switch but don’t think they are made anymore. It was a float switch tied to an outlet, it shut off power if the switch was triggered. I’m sure similar stand alone types are available. More recently I used switches tied to my APEX.

Yes, kalkwasser helps elevate pH. With high indoor CO2 it won’t make a huge difference unless demand (and dose) are very high, but it will help at smaller doses. I always dose kalkwasser at night to help mitigate the pH drop.

Outdoor air routed to your skimmer or an airstone can help a lot. Scrubbers work too. People’s results vary a bit. I currently use a strong air pump to get higher and stable pH. Good discussion in this thread..
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/m...-outdoor-aeration-ph-boost-stability.1084802/

Quick question. I am looking into the Seachem kalkwasser, which states the following mixing ratio: "Add 3 g (1 teaspoon) to 4 L (1 US gallon) of water and mix to dissolve. If using pure water, a fully saturated solution is prepared by adding 6 g (2 teaspoons) to 4 L (1 US gallon)."

Would you go for the 3g or 6g per 4 litres?

 

[exnisstech]

Start with your daily alkalinity consumption, you may need to test this.

"All I can say that currently it is very low, to the point that I have had to pause dosing AFR."

I'm sorry but I don't understand ^this^ statement. If your using AFR and your alk is low you need to increase the AFR not pause it.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

"All I can say that currently it is very low, to the point that I have had to pause dosing AFR."

I'm sorry but I don't understand ^this^ statement. If your using AFR and your alk is low you need to increase the AFR not pause it.

Sorry, meant to say that ALK consumption is low, so the need to replenish it is very minmal currently