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Kalk
- Thread starter mgonz
- Start date
I have a pretty sensitive ATO so I dose my ATO water with it.
Recent Kalkwasser doser (again) here too. It brings pH up, and adds Calcium to the water. I use it to supplement my Calcium reactor since the effluent of that is a bit acidic, and the kalkwasser gets it back up a little. I only dose a little at a time, and do not have a kalk stirrer-reactor. Also, there was something I read a while ago which may or may not hold true, but it had something to do with aqueous Calcium Hydroxide (CaOH aq) binding with phosphates which helps control HA outbreaks (of course, when I had my HA outbreak, my kalk drip was stored in the attic.
My auto top off isn't as sensitive. So i wanted to put it on a slow drip. I heard to put it in a faked container but i hadn't spoke to anyone who is or has actually done it so i was hopin i could find someone who drips it and could help out with it. Don't have space to do a kalk Reactor. Thats reason i was lookin to dog it on a steady drip.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...altwater_Aquarium_Supplies~vendor~~tab~2.html
here's a link to what I use, you can find them cheap used if you're lucky-
otherwise, a stiffer gallon container (other than a milk jug) with a fitting and a hose and a pinch attached to it works too., but is rather unsightly if you can't hide it.
here's a link to what I use, you can find them cheap used if you're lucky-
otherwise, a stiffer gallon container (other than a milk jug) with a fitting and a hose and a pinch attached to it works too., but is rather unsightly if you can't hide it.
I use this:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_Aquar...edic_SP_3000_sp3000_niveaumat_reef_doser.html
The pump and the bucket stay in the basement and 1/4" airline tube runs through the wall to the tank. A digital light timer from HD turns it on for 10 minutes per hour. Works great.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_Aquar...edic_SP_3000_sp3000_niveaumat_reef_doser.html
The pump and the bucket stay in the basement and 1/4" airline tube runs through the wall to the tank. A digital light timer from HD turns it on for 10 minutes per hour. Works great.
When mixing kalk in my top off water would I add the kalk in ratio to the amount of water I am using as my top off or do I add it according to my total tank volume? For example if I were using a gallon jug would I add enough kalk for that gallon on top of water or would I add 75 gallon worth of kalk in that gallon jug? Sorry if I seem lost just don't want to mess this up. This is why I never got into kalk. I use bionic two part as my daily supplement, if that helps. Thanks for all the info again.
2 tablespoons per gallon for a fully saturated mix. Only so much of the powder will mix with 1 gallon of water, so make sure you mix it up good and let it sit for a few hours. You'll see the powder that didn't mix settle at the bottom. You'll want to siphon the limewater at a point above where the powder settles, otherwise you'll be pulling the powder along with the water, and you don't want to do that. It's not an exact science to make limewater...after you finish dripping into your tank, just add another +/- tbs of powder and mix it up. Like I said only so much is dissolved anyway, no worries 
How big is your tank anyway? I drip 1 gallon every night into my 75. I just use a 1 gallon container, mix up the kalk, and start a drip using an airline tubing and valve at the end. I make sure the tubing is about an inch above the bottom of my container to be sure it doesn't siphon out any of the unmixed powder.
How big is your tank anyway? I drip 1 gallon every night into my 75. I just use a 1 gallon container, mix up the kalk, and start a drip using an airline tubing and valve at the end. I make sure the tubing is about an inch above the bottom of my container to be sure it doesn't siphon out any of the unmixed powder.
I've got a 75 gal reef ready tank. 8x54 t5 current extreme light 30 gal sump with uv sterilizer, asm gx1 skimmer refugim with cheota and a man grove in it. Mag 12 pushing back. I also have phos reactor running phosban and tunzi auto top off. I'll get some pictures up have to figure out the photo bucket thing. Why do you only drip at night? Is it bad to drip during the day?
I use my Aquacontroller Jr and an Aqualifter pump to dose. I'm currently running 1 minute on and 14 off throughout the day. I tweak the timing from time to time as the evaporation rate changes.
I have a lovely Autotopoff.com float switch to use as an upper limit to shutoff the Aqualifter if not needed, but its still sitting on my desk. ;D
I have a lovely Autotopoff.com float switch to use as an upper limit to shutoff the Aqualifter if not needed, but its still sitting on my desk. ;D
My drip rate is pretty fast, about 5 drops/sec. I drip into my sump, not into my display. Limewater has really high Ph; a lot of people usually see a Ph drop in their systems at night when lights go out, so they would drip Kalk at night to counteract the drop in Ph. Don't drip the kalk into any chamber where you have sensors,probes, etc, cause it'll mess them up. Drip in in a high-flow area so it's dispersed quickly.
Before you start Kalk though, I suggest you measure you Alk, Ph, and Calcium. Measure it daily when you're starting out so you know what affect it has on your parameters. You don't want to overshoot any of these values by dripping too much Kalk daily (depending on your livestock). Especially Alk.
My tank is mostly SPS, and I couldn't drip enough kalk in every day to keep up with the demand. I lose about 2gallons a day and topping it off with limewater wasn't cutting it. I use 2-part for my main method of keeping Alk and calcium.
Before you start Kalk though, I suggest you measure you Alk, Ph, and Calcium. Measure it daily when you're starting out so you know what affect it has on your parameters. You don't want to overshoot any of these values by dripping too much Kalk daily (depending on your livestock). Especially Alk.
My tank is mostly SPS, and I couldn't drip enough kalk in every day to keep up with the demand. I lose about 2gallons a day and topping it off with limewater wasn't cutting it. I use 2-part for my main method of keeping Alk and calcium.
I use bionic two part as my main supplement but I want to drip the brightwell kalk because it also adds magnisium such I a sure my mangrove is sucking out. My alk is 10 and cal is 410. Ph between 8.20 and 8.30 at night it drops to 8 even. On occasionit will go up to 8.45. I drip it in my chamber where my mag 12 is. I will post a picture.
