Kalkwasser what is the best way to dose?

[nereefpat]

does that mean the bigger the reservoir the better, no matter the size of total system water vol?

If you're not using a stirrer, then a bigger reservoir means that you have to mix up your solution of kalk less often. Does that help?

Edit: grammar

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

It is not. A reservoir is easier to unsure saturation just by adding enough. A stirrer may not saturate the water, and if I was using one, I'd certainly measure the potency. Many folks are surprised when they do measure it to find it is not saturated.

A reservoir in a Brute trash can with a closed lid stays saturated for weeks.

If you're not using a stirrer, then a bigger reservoir means that you have to mix up your solution of kalk less often. Does that help?

Edit: grammar

Yes, I thought I heard somewhere for drip not to make more than a days evap worth, I don't like the ato method (my evap swings to much) and then I guess with a doser having a large supply, but then again do you really put kalk on a doser..? So seems to me kalk stirrer or for small tanks any kalk and bigger tanks need 2 part with a little help from kalk

 

[Deep]

All good you did bring up a good point. Just because my apex says my PH is xx it does not mean it is 100% accurate. I never Thought to second guess my gear which can hurt me in the long run.

Apex is good for a lot of things but their probes are only slightly better than useless. The salinity probes are never accurate, the PH probes go bad quite quickly. I calibrated them every 2 weeks and did not realise how bad it was until I used another PH kit to measure PH. Apex PH probe was atleast 0.3 off in my case.

 

[nereefpat]

Yes, I thought I heard somewhere for drip not to make more than a days evap worth

Hmm. That could be for safety reasons, in case the whole thing empties into your display. With a dosing system instead of a gravity drip, this isn't a concern.

I don't like the ato method (my evap swings to much)

I agree, dosing is better than ATO

but then again do you really put kalk on a doser..? So seems to me kalk stirrer or for small tanks any kalk and bigger tanks need 2 part with a little help from kalk

I think a doser is the *best way. I just use a really small pump on a light timer the runs for a couple minutes every couple hours. I mix up a 6 gallon bucket of kalk about once a week.

 

[shred5]

Yes, I thought I heard somewhere for drip not to make more than a days evap worth, I don't like the ato method (my evap swings to much) and then I guess with a doser having a large supply, but then again do you really put kalk on a doser..? So seems to me kalk stirrer or for small tanks any kalk and bigger tanks need 2 part with a little help from kalk

I run my stirrer on a doser because my evaporation swings to much.
Overdosing Kalk can be very bad.

 

[Devaji]

OK guys help me understand this.
I want to start down the road dosing kalk for a newish system.

I was thinking of a Kalk stirrer but now leaning towards I res. with kalk and a small dosing pump.

here is my plan and feel free to cirque please.
tank info:
RS650P mostly LPS with some softies and SPS here and there.
ATO res will be in the basement ( one of a few reason a kakl res. might be the better way to go over a stirrer no need to pump RODI into the stirrer )

so I have the ATO res that came with the tank 5-8 gallon I think. it would sit above the sump with a small doing pump. bad idea? I am worried about somehow the whole thing gets dumped in...

another option is I do have one unused RODI tube coming from the basement that I could do a 20 or 29H tank with glass lid down there and and pump it up t the tank. just not sure the dosing pump I was gonna get will work for that or not.
the kamoer X1 pro.

 

[Crashjack]

OK guys help me understand this.
I want to start down the road dosing kalk for a newish system.

I was thinking of a Kalk stirrer but now leaning towards I res. with kalk and a small dosing pump.

here is my plan and feel free to cirque please.
tank info:
RS650P mostly LPS with some softies and SPS here and there.
ATO res will be in the basement ( one of a few reason a kakl res. might be the better way to go over a stirrer no need to pump RODI into the stirrer )

so I have the ATO res that came with the tank 5-8 gallon I think. it would sit above the sump with a small doing pump. bad idea? I am worried about somehow the whole thing gets dumped in...

another option is I do have one unused RODI tube coming from the basement that I could do a 20 or 29H tank with glass lid down there and and pump it up t the tank. just not sure the dosing pump I was gonna get will work for that or not.
the kamoer X1 pro.

First, I would never dose kalk without using a time delay relay on my dosing pump. I had a couple of close calls where I could have run my entire RO reservoir through my stirrer due to my dosing pump turning on for no reason. Luckily, I caught it the first time before it became an issue, and the second time my time delay relay shut it off. Second, I have a split off my RO reservoir to where I use one dosing pump for my normal ATO (straight RO water) and then another dosing pump pulls from the same reservoir and feeds my kalk stirrer. This makes everything pretty clean, and I only use one reservoir to run it all. I dose via my stirrer evening through late morning on the hour, and I can vary the dosing time through my controller. This method has worked for me, but there are a lot of ways to skin this cat.

 

[JCM]

Maybe I'm too simple but I just put the kalk in my ATO. If my ALK creeps up too high, I lower the amount I put in the ATO. After a few weeks it was easy to dial in. It may bounce a little from changing evaporation rates but I've never noticed that having a negative effect on anything.

 

[Devaji]

First, I would never dose kalk without using a time delay relay on my dosing pump. I had a couple of close calls where I could have run my entire RO reservoir through my stirrer due to my dosing pump turning on for no reason. Luckily, I caught it the first time before it became an issue, and the second time my time delay relay shut it off. Second, I have a split off my RO reservoir to where I use one dosing pump for my normal ATO (straight RO water) and then another dosing pump pulls from the same reservoir and feeds my kalk stirrer. This makes everything pretty clean, and I only use one reservoir to run it all. I dose via my stirrer evening through late morning on the hour, and I can vary the dosing time through my controller. This method has worked for me, but there are a lot of ways to skin this cat.

thanks for the replay i thing I am gonna make a kalk slurry in a 5gal bucket or 20gal tank then dose off that vai a dosing pump. for the pump I am still up in the air but leaning towards the ecoTech versa.
I do have an apex so I would stop the pump with the Ph probe if something happened.

 

[nereefpat]

thanks for the replay i thing I am gonna make a kalk slurry in a 5gal bucket or 20gal tank then dose off that vai a dosing pump. for the pump I am still up in the air but leaning towards the ecoTech versa.

An aqua lifter and a light timer is really cheap and works pretty darn well. People tend to over complicate kalk...my opinion.

 

[Crashjack]

thanks for the replay i thing I am gonna make a kalk slurry in a 5gal bucket or 20gal tank then dose off that vai a dosing pump. for the pump I am still up in the air but leaning towards the ecoTech versa.
I do have an apex so I would stop the pump with the Ph probe if something happened.

I use a SpectraPure Liter Meter pump (the basic pump, not the one you can program), and it works well. Programming failsafes have limitations because they don't necessarily stop a problem with the controller or with the program, which is why I also use a time delay relay. A programming failsafe based on pH is even more limited because your pH will vary between daylight hours and nighttime hours. Therefore, late in your daylight cycle a pH failsafe might get triggered quickly, while at night you might do a whole lot of dumping before the failsafe would trigger.

An aqua lifter and a light timer is really cheap and works pretty darn well. People tend to over complicate kalk...my opinion.

My biggest issue with an Aqua Lifter pump is that they allow for siphoning/back siphoning. Dosing pumps do not.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

A very simple failsafe is to just use a dosing pump on an ATO that cannot deliver much more than the daily evaporation anyway, even if the pump got stuck on somehow.

 

[nereefpat]

My biggest issue with an Aqua Lifter pump is that they allow for siphoning/back siphoning. Dosing pumps do not.

The tubing where the kalk comes out needs to not be submerged in the sump, and it also has to be above grade from the kalk reservoir.

You're right that peristaltic pumps are more dummy proof.

 

[Crashjack]

A very simple failsafe is to just use a dosing pump on an ATO that cannot deliver much more than the daily evaporation anyway, even if the pump got stuck on somehow.

You could probably do that with something like a Kamoer pump unless maybe you had a really big tank with a lot of evaporation and then you could use something cheaper.

 

[BiggestE222]

I prefer a stirrer.
It is just easier plane and simple. No mess in my ATO container, no messed up pumps, no stirring or mixing. I just add a spoon full of kalk every once in a while. Some are sealed so less chance of air getting to it.

There are many ways of doing it and they all work. The other way I used to do it was drip it in.

I use kalk because it help maintain PH but also alk and calcium and is one of the cheaper ways to do it.

A doser is easiest and cheapest

 

[BiggestE222]

pH 7.3? I strongly expect that is an error.

He would not get coral growth at 7.3

 

[Devaji]

An aqua lifter and a light timer is really cheap and works pretty darn well. People tend to over complicate kalk...my opinion.

in my case the kalk slurry will be in the basement I would say 10' of head not sure the aqua lifter could do that.

 

[Devaji]

A very simple failsafe is to just use a dosing pump on an ATO that cannot deliver much more than the daily evaporation anyway, even if the pump got stuck on somehow.

thanks for the suggest Randy I have the avast ATO with there pump talked them and they do not recommend kalk through there ato + I evap. 2 gallon a day.
so I am thinking a dedicated kalk res. would work best for me.

 

[nereefpat]

in my case the kalk slurry will be in the basement I would say 10' of head not sure the aqua lifter could do that.

You're right. Max head on those is only a few feet. You would have to have the kalk container and pump near either the sump or the display.

Is the sump in the basement too? If so, just pump kalk into the sump. If the sump is by the display, then that works too. You just need room for the container.

 

[Devaji]

You're right. Max head on those is only a few feet. You would have to have the kalk container and pump near either the sump or the display.

Is the sump in the basement too? If so, just pump kalk into the sump. If the sump is by the display, then that works too. You just need room for the container.

unfortunately not I have 4 RODI tubes running through the floor for AWC/ ATO and I have one left. so I was thinking it would be the cleanest and best to have it in the basement fish room.
for a dosing pump I am thinking of the eco tech versa, DOS or BRS 50 mil. thoughts?

any one know how long a 5 gal bucket would last on a mixed reef? RS650P mostly LPS.
I know it will very from tank to tank. but on a average.