Dosing Kalk via ATO?

The top off solution should be clear to almost clear after settling for over 24 hours. Try not to disturb the solution to avoid stirring the sediment up again. Pour off as much of the clear solution as you can, either add more water and allow it to settle out again or just let what solution you have left settle out again. Why are you considering kalk?

 

I use kalk in my ATO, I use toms aqualifter and his prefilter I use the same 1/4" tubing you would use on your RO filter, it adds the kalk in really slow so that with my small tank it isn't a huge swing in the tank every time the ATO turns on. I mix my kalk 2tsp per 5 gallons right now because my need for calcium is low and its main use is to help with ph fluctuation. Also being that there is only 25 gallons in the entire system I don't want it to burn everything out so I keep the amount I use down.

 

It won't all dissolve, impurities settle to the bottom too.

 

I use ATO water to feed my kalk reactor which overflows into the sump. I have a valve to vary the amount entering.

 

I am using the two little fishies kalkwasser stirrer/reactor 300. For the money 1 of the best investments.. $65.00

What is nice about this is your ATO feeds directly into the reactor and utilizes the water to spin the stirrer and your tank is fed from that. So your ATO pump is not subjected to the kalk. Without a sump you will need to hang on back of tank which is what I did and by no means is it an eye sore.

My ATO is Tunze 3155 which has an adjustable flow control.

Something for you to look into.

 

I came across a good deal on a calcium reactor, so I went with that option. Plus, I always had a crusty film on the water below the drip.

 

Hi there Cheryl,
If you put 2 tsp's in a gallon, then mix with another 4g, that's not much in solution. Is that what you had meant?

I've been using Kalwasser for a few years- but not in my ATO.
I don't use any pumps, etc, for my ATO- but- my ATO is just a trickle at best whenever thruout the day. It can be and is anytime adding a bit of water back in- as it is used/evaporates.
NO pumps, sensors, etc. It keeps my volume and more importantly my SG very stable.
I did try it once- and noticed for me that it caked up some on my float valve line, etc.

So I was dripping a gallon of RO/DI with 25ml/cc (tsp=5ml/cc) and 60ml/cc of vinegar over a few hours into my sump. That worked great.
The vinegar reduces the Ph swing from the kalwasser- a Randy H/F suggestion.

NOw:
The last few weeks, I've been mixing ~10oz cup of sump water with the same mixture
(25ml/cc kalwasser + 60ml/cc vinegar) in the cup- it's thick like paint- and
dump/pout that slowly (less than a minute) into my sump! Works out the same as my drip.
** remember- my sump volume alone is about 110g- so it's plenty dilute before it hits the RP and the DT/FT.

 

I just completed my first year of keeping a reef tank( after 40+ years of fresh water fish keeping).. in October, I started dosing kalk after my alkalinity ( as low as 7.2), calcium ( under 350) and mag( around 1100).. all got out of whack... I have been using IO Reef crystals( mixed with R/O/D/I water)since day one and assumed( incorrectly of coarse) that my bi monthly water changes would provide everything my growing tank needed ... I lost some corals and nothing was growing ( except my leathers and mushrooms) but I had been in it long enough to realize something was wrong beyond sub par lighting.. ... also coralline algae was conspicuously absent.. after running the tests, and doing a lot of research.. I decided to dose kalk to help my problem ( after increasing My mag... dkh then cal.) I bought a 2 little fishies reactor and made a float system for my sump, I utilized a 5 gallon waste basket and a 350gph pump I had "laying around" to make an ATO... I mix the kalk in a 5 gallon bucket ( 2tsp per gallon) allow it to sit covered overnight.. then pour it into the ATO bucket through a sock filter to keep the solids out of the pump and small orfice on the reactor)...once a month I clean the existing reside( but there are no solids) from inside the reactor, pump and bucket... today my PH stays at 8.4...my dkh runs right around 9...Calcium stays between 400 -420 and the mag seems to be the only thing I need to dose (4 tsp. a week)... to keep it around 1400+... My corals grow and my back glass is covered with coralline ( I have to scape the sides and front almost weekly now).. as are most of my rocks.. no doubt in my mind the kalk stabilized my tank and made my life a lot simpler...and my tank is thanking me for it..

 

Nice write up Roccus!

 

Todd, I comment on this only because I've helped in the past set up your kalk drip. I know what you mean when you say your sump has 125g in it, but it also has a frag section. If you keep doing that, I'd be checking the water near your frag section a couple minutes after you dose your slurry and see what the pH is reading.

My second and IMO the more important point is you were doing a slow addition of kalk over a period of a "few hours" and that was slooooooooowly raising your alk.

Now,you say you're dumping a slurry in all at once? Is that raising your alk too fast compared to what your tank was used to? Alk swings piss my coral off more than anything else in my tank. When I have problems, that's the first place I look.

Just a thought from my perspective.