Anthony Calfo and kalk

P

pars

New member
I have been reading A LOT of kalk threads on here... so please forgive me if this has already been discussed!

I am almost done with Anthony Calfo's -- Book of Coral Propagation
It's an interesting read.

I have been dealing with alk and ca supplementation via two part using a Bubble Magus dosing pump and it's doing a good job. But I am convinced that I should be using kalk and then augmenting with the two part as needed.

Anyway -- at least in the book, Calfo is a big proponent of the manually dosed kalk slurry. I know most on here are fans of the ATO method -- which looks like it makes things a lot easier in terms of automation.

Does anyone know the inside scoop from Calfo on this? Does he dose that way because there weren't good peristaltic pumps when he first started? Or is it based on the reproducibility of adding a cup of slurry a day and not dependent on variable evaporation rates?

I think that I'll probably go with the same ATO method that most of you do. Any concerns about the dosing variability? Just recently, I've gone from needing 2 gallons a day of top off to 3 gallons. Is there a point where daily evaporation becomes too significant -- can the tank overdose on kalk?

Do any of you top off with partially with saturated kalk and partially with straight up RO?

Matt
 
I have a method that, IMHO, is a "best of both worlds" approach.

I keep a large vat of pre-mixed kalk on hand, saturated. I use a dosing pump to administer a set amount throughout the day. I base this amount on testing of water column parameters.

In addition, I have a "normal" ATO that tops off with RO/DI.

This way, my kalk dose is 100% stable and based on what it takes to get the parameters where I want them, vs. matching evap, which can be highly variable.

If your calcium and alkalinity demand are greater than what you can get by matching evap with kalk dosing, you will need to either increase evap (put a fan on the sump?) or supplement with two part or a Ca reactor anyways.
 
pH spike is only a problem if you dose limewater improperly.

Quite honestly, I think too many people overthink kalkwasser.
Follow the directions and if you use an auto topoff to administer kalkwasser make sure it's a proper system.
You're not going to kill a reef aquarium by using kalkwasser as makeup.
 
So what if the tank evaps more than what is needed to be Kalkwasser?
I'm exploring the kalk idea as well, but am concerned that my system not having a big coral load would be getting dosed more kalk than it could use.
 
Vinny Kreyling said:
Years back I was told by Greg Scheimer that ALL my make up water should be kalkwasser.
Click to expand...

Clearly this works for many people, but IMHO it's a mistake to assume it's always going to be the best option (or even safe) for everyone. I've had systems where evap varies by 100% or more seasonally. 100% swings in kalk dosing rate will definitely lead to swings in calcium and alkalinity, so you might have high pH issues and tons of deposits to clean up (dose too high when evap is higher) or really poor coral growth (dose too low when evap is lower) on and off throughout the year. If you are going to run kalk for ATO, I would be sure to keep a close eye on parameters to watch for seasonal changes.
 
reefboarder said:
So what if the tank evaps more than what is needed to be Kalkwasser?
I'm exploring the kalk idea as well, but am concerned that my system not having a big coral load would be getting dosed more kalk than it could use.
Click to expand...

Why don't you try it and see?
What's the worst thing that could happen? Your calcium alk and pH run high?
If so, stop using kalkwasser for topoff... Or stop using saturated limewater.
 
reefboarder said:
So what if the tank evaps more than what is needed to be Kalkwasser?
I'm exploring the kalk idea as well, but am concerned that my system not having a big coral load would be getting dosed more kalk than it could use.
Click to expand...

Just curious, why are you exploring it if your system doesn't have a high demand for calcium and alkalinity? I wouldn't get into kalkwasser until regular testing reveals that your water change schedule isn't replacing calcium and alkalinity.
 
OK, I read that book about ten years ago twice and still reference it,now and then . There is a lot of good information in it. Dosing klak slurry is not so good. Niethr is running sand in a buckett, but that's another story.

When you dose the slurry you are adding the impurities that precipitate out of the lime( calcium hydroxide mixture) and an unspecified amount of undissolved calcium hydroxide which when it dissolves at teh higher dilution in the tank can spike pH wh to harmful levels and spike calcium and alk too. This often leads to a calcium carbonate precipitation event which leaves the calcium and alk in a useless precipitated state and doesn't jus t stop there as some that was already in the tank may also turn to calcium carbonate ,basically useless sand. All ofthis bunces alkainity and pH around which is bad for many corals.
My approach is similar to dwzms.
I do not use a true ato because I wan't to maintain steady dosing levels independent of evaporation variations. I've always been skittish about trusting solenoids and float switches anyway but that's just me.

I prefer a covered still reservoir( in my case a 32 gallon brute can ) with fully saturated lime water(2 table spoons ofcalcium hydroxice per gallon ) and a little extra on the bottom to pick up any small loss in strength that may occur from CO2 entering the water. Depletion in strength is not a big concern in a lidded still reservoir. The lack ofsurface agitation minimizes any CO2 equilibration from the air.
After manually stirring in the kalk powder with a length of pvc pipe , I wait 90 minutes to 2 hours for the impurities and undissolved kalk to settle to the bottom . Te impuities eill not redisove at the hig pH in limewater ; the undissove kalk will if full sturation levels drop. Now I 'm good to go for another wek, more up to 3 weeks or so if I used a larger reservoir. When I'm ut I just reapeat teh process. No need toclean the can.
A perstaltic pump is used with the intake tube a few inches off the bottom. it delivers only clear limewater to the tank. A liter meter 3 unit manages it's perstaltic pump pump to deliver a preset daily dose and spread it in 150 equal increments over a 24 hour period.
In my case top off is slightly more than 18 liters per day for 650 gallons so the daily dose is set at 18 liters and is the same all the time. The short fall to top off if any is made up with ro water or salt water depending on salinity readings on a particular day. I do this second addition to top off of a quart to a gallon or so off manually
 
reefboarder said:
So what if the tank evaps more than what is needed to be Kalkwasser?
I'm exploring the kalk idea as well, but am concerned that my system not having a big coral load would be getting dosed more kalk than it could use.
Click to expand...



You have more control when the kalk dosing is separate from a true ato. You can alter the amount of kalk you add in either method. Or, you can just reduce the amount of fully sturated limewater you dose daily from the reservoir if demand doesn't require it all. I don't think all top off needs to be limewater ,per se. . Some of mine isn't.
 
Reef border

Since you seem to like to read; I suggest these articles about limewater:


What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser)
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm

The Degradation of Limewater (Kalkwasser) in Air
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-0...ture/index.htm

Magnesium and Strontium in Limewater
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm
 
Good info Tom. I am one who doses Kalk in my ATO, for Ca supplementation and to help keep my PH up. Since float switches can and will stick or fail, make sure you are using a controller to set a time limit on the port. Thereby avoiding any calcium precipitation events.
 
Thanks for your input. Sounds like I need a new Brute can.

I will probably commandeer my current salt mixing bucket to serve as my kalk container.

(little bit of a self hijack here...)
I need to upgrade to a 50 gallon container to do salt mixes in so I can use Reef Crystals bags instead of the buckets. What are people using for 50 gallon containers? My Lowes doesn't have any Brutes that large...
 
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