Neptune DOS and Kalkwasser

dangles

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
939
Reaction score
932
Location
Ohio
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
I'm making the switch from BRS 2-part to kalkwasser and wanted to run some questions by you all...

I'll be running a Neptune DOS on a light consumption tank. When I set up the 2-part I calculated my daily alk consumption to be around 0.2-0.3 dKH (like I said, light :) )

When I plug my numbers into the Reef Chemistry Calculator, it spits out 460 mL/day of fully saturated lime water.

Reviewing my pH data, I'd like to dose the Kalk between 00:00 and 12:00 to balance out my pH swings.

When I plug that data in to the Fusion DOS settings, it give me the following:

Amount to dose: 460 mL
Time allotted: 720 min
Time used: 100%
Number of doses: 51
Dose every: 14 min
Volume per dose: 9 mL
Volume of last dose: 0.0 mL
Unused time remaining: 0 min
Pump speed: 7 mL/min

For clarification, does that mean that every 14 minutes it will "dump" 9 mL then nothing for the remaining minutes? Or 9 mL spread out over that 14 minute window?

If all at once, is that normal? I thought Kalk was supposed to be spread out, not in little "spurts" like that.

Is there a better way to program it?

Thanks! :)
 
Last edited:

dwest

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
4,513
Reaction score
9,475
Location
Northern KY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm making the switch from BRS 2-part to kalkwasser and wanted to run some questions by you all...

I'll be running a Neptune DOS on a light consumption tank. When I set up the 2-part I calculated my daily alk consumption to be around 0.2-0.3 dKH (like I said, light :) )

When I plug my numbers into the Reef Chemistry Calculator, it spits out 460 mL/day of fully saturated lime water.

Reviewing my pH data, I'd like to dose the Kalk between 00:00 and 12:00 to balance out my pH swings.

When I plug that data in to the Fusion DOS settings, it give me the following:

Amount to dose: 500 mL
Time allotted: 720 min
Time used: 100%
Number of doses: 72
Dose every: 10 min
Volume per dose: 6.9 mL
Volume of last dose: 0.0 mL
Unused time remaining: 0 min
Pump speed: 7 mL/min

For clarification, does that mean that every 10 minutes it will "dump" 6.9 mL over a minute then nothing for 9 minutes? Or 6.9 mL spread out over that 10 minute window?

If all at once, is that normal? I thought Kalk was supposed to be spread out, not in little "spurts" like that.

Is there a better way to program it?

Thanks! :)
I don’t use a dos. But I’ve used kalk for a long time. If it spits out some periodically like you stated, that would be fine.
 

Wiskey

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Messages
735
Reaction score
916
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yeah, it's going to put out 6.9 ML every 10 min basically. I do use a DOS for Kalk, but I use it to push the fresh water in, not pull saturated water out. I don't know that the saturated Kalk will wear the tube faster, but I have a feeling that it will.

Whiskey
 

SpSDrew

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
636
Reaction score
814
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
It’s fine being spread out over that timeframe. The dos will not dose continuously unless you are pushing serious volumes. This is my dos pump dosing kalk.


Second is my pH. Every dose a slight increase for me.
IMG_2838.png
IMG_2839.png
 

Sisterlimonpot

Effortless Perfection
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
3,940
Reaction score
7,984
Location
Litchfield Park
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm making the switch from BRS 2-part to kalkwasser and wanted to run some questions by you all...

I'll be running a Neptune DOS on a light consumption tank. When I set up the 2-part I calculated my daily alk consumption to be around 0.2-0.3 dKH (like I said, light :) )

When I plug my numbers into the Reef Chemistry Calculator, it spits out 460 mL/day of fully saturated lime water.

Reviewing my pH data, I'd like to dose the Kalk between 00:00 and 12:00 to balance out my pH swings.

When I plug that data in to the Fusion DOS settings, it give me the following:

Amount to dose: 460 mL
Time allotted: 720 min
Time used: 100%
Number of doses: 51
Dose every: 14 min
Volume per dose: 9 mL
Volume of last dose: 0.0 mL
Unused time remaining: 0 min
Pump speed: 7 mL/min

For clarification, does that mean that every 14 minutes it will "dump" 9 mL then nothing for the remaining minutes? Or 9 mL spread out over that 14 minute window?

If all at once, is that normal? I thought Kalk was supposed to be spread out, not in little "spurts" like that.

Is there a better way to program it?

Thanks! :)
That schedule means its going to dose as you described 7ml ever 14 minutes at 9ml/min.

However this calculates to 1440 minutes (24h) which means you're not achieving your goal of only dosing from midnight to noon.

You'll want to set time limits in the DOS wizard to get it to only dose for those 12 hours.
 
OP
OP
dangles

dangles

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
939
Reaction score
932
Location
Ohio
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
That schedule means its going to dose as you described 7ml ever 14 minutes at 9ml/min.

However this calculates to 1440 minutes (24h) which means you're not achieving your goal of only dosing from midnight to noon.

You'll want to set time limits in the DOS wizard to get it to only dose for those 12 hours.

I did use the wizard to set the time limits (midnight to noon).

9 mL every 14 min x51 = 459 mL over 12 hours
 

SpSDrew

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
636
Reaction score
814
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
That's what I like to see!

:)

Thanks everybody for confirming I did it properly
Aside from that I do have dos settings to turn off my kalk if:

If pH > 8.38 Then OFF
If Cax11 > 475 Then OFF
If Alkx11 > 9.70 Then OFF
If SumpHT > 7.5 Then OFF

Then my 2 part dos pumps can kick in if AlK or CAL drop too low. pH usually stays between 8.3 and 8.4
 
OP
OP
dangles

dangles

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
939
Reaction score
932
Location
Ohio
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Aside from that I do have dos settings to turn off my kalk if:

If pH > 8.38 Then OFF
If Cax11 > 475 Then OFF
If Alkx11 > 9.70 Then OFF
If SumpHT > 7.5 Then OFF

Then my 2 part dos pumps can kick in if AlK or CAL drop too low. pH usually stays between 8.3 and 8.4

Yes in the advanced settings I added an OFF command if pH exceeds 8.4, if the return pump is off, or if the water level gets too high (meaning kalk dosing has exceeded my evap rate)
 

SpSDrew

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
636
Reaction score
814
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
Yes in the advanced settings I added an OFF command if pH exceeds 8.4, if the return pump is off, or if the water level gets too high (meaning kalk dosing has exceeded my evap rate)
Good! I try not to let it overdose more than my evaporation a day to prevent salinity swings.
 

Good trouble: Have mushrooms ever become pests in your aquarium?

  • Mushrooms would never be pests even if they kept replicating.

    Votes: 22 17.1%
  • Mushrooms have not become a pest for me.

    Votes: 55 42.6%
  • Mushroom have become overgrown, but not to the point of becoming pests.

    Votes: 17 13.2%
  • Mushrooms have become pests in my aquarium.

    Votes: 28 21.7%
  • Other.

    Votes: 7 5.4%
Back
Top