Kalkwasser dosing help

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Kevin_E, Jun 3, 2014.

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  1. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    I am dosing through my ATO. I am getting a build up of precipitation around my float valve and some precipitation on the floor of the sump. I also noticed a cloudy layer at the surface of the sump water.

    Is the dose too concentrated? My Alkalinity dropped to 2.5 over the course of a week from mostly precipitation, but not all.
     
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  3. rcflyer1388

    rcflyer1388 Bubble Tip Anemone

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    that sounds pretty normal to me. After a while I get the kalk sludge on the bottom of my container. From my understanding, you can only dissolve 2 table spoons of kalk per gallon of water. And as long as your alk isn't rising while you are dosing it, then you are dosing the correct amount to keep your cal and alk stable. I have my kalk set up so to come from a 5 gal bucket that I set up my Apex to dose every 20 min for 25 sec with the OSC function and to cut the function if PH reaches 8.15.
     
  4. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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    yes, I'd be curious what concentration you are dosing at?
     
  5. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    I figured the build up in the bucket was, but I am also getting build up around my float valve, as well as a little precipitation on the bottom of my sump. When I tested my alkalinity and noticed that it was down near 2.5 meq/l in a weeks time, I began to question my methods. It seems like the Kalk is doing the opposite of what I want it to do.

    I put in 2/3rds of a tablespoon per gallon this time, but initially I put in 1/9th of a tablespoon per gallon.

    How do you prevent the bucket buildup from entering the tank?
     
  6. rcflyer1388

    rcflyer1388 Bubble Tip Anemone

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    i know in my sump where i have the line going in, it would build up over time with calcium deposit. i have my pick up line from my bucket about and inch from the bottom of the bucket so it doesn't pick up the sludge.
     
  7. Ashevillian

    Ashevillian Pajama Cardinal

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    to clean when youre done using the bottle / bucket, add a mix of hot water and some white vinegar. the calcium will desolve within a few hours then heavily rinse and reuse :)
     
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  9. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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    that really isn't a lot, I usually use one teaspoon per gallon but I drip by the gallon jug and not in the ATO. sounds like you just need to get the line off of the bottom......
     
  10. vtecintegra

    vtecintegra Fire Worm

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    It tried dosing kalk in ato through float valve. It was a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately the float valve clogged closed instead of sticking open. I got an avast kalk stirrer, placed it in the sump, and split my top off line so one goes to the float valve as usual. The other runs through the kalk stirrer with a dosing pump. I calculated how much evap happens per day (about a gallon) and programmed my apex to run about 90% of that per 24 hours. The float valve makes up the other 10%. No more clogging the line and no more mess in my top off container. Theoretically, another plus is I get full saturation now with the kalk instead of mixing less trying to prevent precip in the container and clogging the float valve. Probably sounds more complicated than it is., but actually it's less work putting the kalk in the stirrer because it mixes itself and goes several weeks before I have to add any. Plus no more cleaning of the ato container.
     
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  11. WhiskyTango

    WhiskyTango Eyelash Blennie

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  12. dowtish

    dowtish Horrid Stonefish

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    This is exactly how I dose kalk in my system as well. Its so nice and ultra convenient. It does however require the purchase of the stirrer and a dosing pump. I also run mine through my APEX. Without having a controller you would just have to dial it in according to the amount your dosing pump is. I use a BRS 50ml pump.