Kalkwasser

[justjes45]

So I have been trying the technique I heard of for dosing Kalkwasser by using a 5 gal bucket, and a ATO unit.
I understand that by doing this the ATO unit will wear down sooner...
I am noticing that the powder I add to he bucket ( and stir in throughly ) seems to settle. This CAN NOT be a stable dosing amount...
Should I also aerate the bucket?
Feeling frustrated...

 

[datBme150]

Yes. What settles will not dissolve at all. Best to let it dissolve in another container then pour off the liquid and disguard the undissolved

 

[justjes45]

Yes. What settles will not dissolve at all. Best to let it dissolve in another container then pour off the liquid and disguard the undissolved

So the remaining water will be enough to help the tank Ph?

 

[datBme150]

Yes. Use a calculator from the BRS site to know how much should be mixing to maintain the level you want and to factor in for the daily consumption by your tank.

 

[Ryan115]

So the remaining water will be enough to help the tank Ph?

The clear water at the top is the saturated solution that you want to dose.
Kalk reactors mix the water and settled kalk periodically, but then allow time for the solution to settle before dosing the clear water at the top.

 

[DangerDave]

I was doing it that way until I recently purchased a Kalk Stirrer, well worth it...

 

[dwest]

So I have been trying the technique I heard of for dosing Kalkwasser by using a 5 gal bucket, and a ATO unit.
I understand that by doing this the ATO unit will wear down sooner...
I am noticing that the powder I add to he bucket ( and stir in throughly ) seems to settle. This CAN NOT be a stable dosing amount...
Should I also aerate the bucket?
Feeling frustrated...

As mentioned above, the solution above the settled material is saturated calcium hydroxide and that’s what you want to add to your tank. The stuff on the bottom is likely mostly both undissolved calcium hydroxide and solid calcium carbonate. You don’t want to add an air bubbler as the carbon dioxide in the air will react with the solution to form more solid calcium carbonate. Periodically, you’ll want to dump the stuff on the bottom.

Also agree that a kalk stirrer is nice. I added one about 6 months ago after dosing kalk for about 20 years.

 

[justjes45]

As mentioned above, the solution above the settled material is saturated calcium hydroxide and that’s what you want to add to your tank. The stuff on the bottom is likely mostly both undissolved calcium hydroxide and solid calcium carbonate. You don’t want to add an air bubbler as the carbon dioxide in the air will react with the solution to form more solid calcium carbonate. Periodically, you’ll want to dump the stuff on the bottom.

Also agree that a kalk stirrer is nice. I added one about 6 months ago after dosing kalk for about 20 years.

But if you stir it up, then you ARE getting the bottom sediment- that is not bad for the tank then?

 

[dwest]

But if you stir it up, then you ARE getting the bottom sediment- that is not bad for the tank then?

In general, if you stir it up, it is best to let it settle before dosing to the tank. The stirred solids, if dosed to your tank, could increase your alkalinity too fast (depends how quickly it’s dosed certainly). There also some contamination in the solids you may not want in your tank.

 

[dwest]

But if you stir it up, then you ARE getting the bottom sediment- that is not bad for the tank then?

I may have misinterpreted your question...Are talking about a kalk stirrer here?

 

[justjes45]

In general, if you stir it up, it is best to let it settle before dosing to the tank. The stirred solids, if dosed to your tank, could increase your alkalinity too fast (depends how quickly it’s dosed certainly). There also some contamination in the solids you may not want in your tank.

Ahhhh ..... would this buy any chance explain My algae
Outbreak?

 

[Popeye]

I've been doing this method for over a year and it works great. I use a 5 gal Culligan water jug, drill hole in lid big enough to drop a 1\4" hard line down. Keep line 1" off bottom so you don't suck up the kalk that settles(wich is normal). I set my dosing pump to dose 100ml every half hour from 10:00pm to 9:00am.(just a number i picked from trial and error. enough to make up for daily evaporation) every 5 or 6 days I empty, rinse and repeat. I bought the cheap Jeabo doser with 4 pumps. my first pump just recently took a crap after over a year. But easy enough, i just switched the lines to next pump. 1 down 3 to go

 

[Popeye]

also make sure you mix at least 1 hour before your pump goes to work to allow kalk mix to do its thing and start to settle.

 

[dwest]

Ahhhh ..... would this buy any chance explain My algae
Outbreak?

Honestly, probably not...

 

[justjes45]

I may have misinterpreted your question...Are talking about a kalk stirrer here?

No- there were two other people on this thread that said they had one.
Mine just separates
And I thought I HAD to keep it stirred...
Thanks for all the help! [emoji1303]

 

[Popeye]

I was doing it that way until I recently purchased a Kalk Stirrer, well worth it...

What kind did you buy? I'm building a new setup and was thinking of going this route instead due to not having room for 5 gal jug

 

[DangerDave]

I bought the avast marine K2. If you decide to go this way, it’s easy. I dose it out below the evaporation rate of my tank, and let the ato keep the level.

 

[Daniel 123]

The kalkwasser when mixed will go into solution, dramatically raising the pH of your ATO to, if I remember correctly about 12(not sure about other parameters bare with me).. as time progresses it will begin to fall out of solution, you will see particles sink to the bottom, at this point in time the solution of your ATO will dramatically decrease from 12 as it is no longer saturated, your pH once out of solution in the ATO will probably hoover around 9 or there about, it is now dilute(out of solution = waste). The point of these kalkwasser units stirring the bottom of their tanks is to keep the kalkwasser in solution or at a pH of 12, helping to hopefully keep your alk, calcium, and pH relatively stable with small additions of water from your ATO reserve.
Sorry for the brief explanation, hopefully its all correct..
A power head would do a good job keeping it in solution. You will want to find/determine the maximum amount of teaspoons of Kalk to saturate your given ATO size.

 

[Ryan115]

Here is more information than you ever wanted to know about kalkwasser and methods for dosing...
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php