ATO w/ Kalk set up. Please Help!

[stricknine]

I got a lot of mixed reviews in another forum so Im trying it here. I am going to try to keep it as short as possible. Thanks for any help!

setting up an ATO and plan on dosing Kalk in the TO water. Heres the plan (and I have more questions than ideas);

- tee on my RODI unit with two shut offs: one line to wc water, one to ATO water. [not worried about head loss with the ATO bucket 40' away with water pressure?]

- I have to pump 15' up so I got a gigantic 700GPH pond pump. Plan on toning that down with a flow valve headed up to the tank.

- Putting the pump on a 6" stand to avoid pumping sediment. [is that high enough?]

As for the Kalk, I have no idea. I hear there are some cheap pickling products around, what is the recommended dose? Am I better buying a reef kalk instead of going cheap?

Thanks for any help and suggestions, always have to check prior to adding anything new to the tank!

 

[96p993]

Dont go crazy and start putting this everywhere... ;o} You are getting some good replies on the other thread...I think you are over thinking this one.

 

[stricknine]

96, thanks again. Call it what you will but it is impatience more than anything. All components waiting to be set up but I dont know how. I have got a few posts in the other, but no answers (and all my posts seem to die in a hurry!).

In the end, after the research here on RC, this is what I found to be a good solution to replenish the trace elements in my system. Now posting it is telling me otherwise. Just looking for more thought on the matter, I thought prior this was the way to go!

Thanks all.

 

[mille239]

Lets see if I can sort your ideas from your questions.

A) Your RO/DI should have no problem pumping 40 ft. to your ATO tank... (Mine runs about 50, up into the celing and back down)

B) What brand is your pond pump? you want to make sure it is saltwater compatible. and at 700gph, with 15 ft of head, you may be suprised how little it can actually pump that high. All depends on the type of pump, but I'd check first and foremost that it is saltwater safe.

C) 6" stand shouldn't be a problem, but prob. not necessary (I tend to want the sediment i.e. detritus) to be continuously circulated and kept in the water column, so the skimmer can remove it)

D) Many reefers (myself included) use Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime (available at most grocery stores). But kalk sold at the LFS will work fine (Same stuff, just more expensive because it is sold as Kalkwasser)

As for amount, I use a Kalk reactor, so I'm not positive, but I believe it was 1/2 tsp per gallon of water = saturation. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong. Nothing wrong with putting more in the ATO reservoir, and letting it settle on the bottom. just besure your evaporation replacement is from the top of the tank then.

Hope this helps.

 

[stricknine]

Thanks mille,
Appreciated. The pump is freshwater/marine so Im ok there. I know it sounds large, but I agree with you that once you have it pumping max head that flow slows it down a lot. Stand was to avoid getting kalk sediment in to the tank. I heard you do not want the solid form to touch anything. I'll have to look around for the no name pickling lime. No difference between that and the brand name?

Thanks.

 

[jerryreefrigger]

If you're only pumping fresh water, you won't need a special saltwater pump.

But, you don't want to pump kalk water directly into the tank. It would be too much, too fast. Ideally, you want to drip kalk water in at the rate of evaporation.

I would pump fresh (non kalk) water up to another bucket near the tank with the kalk in it. Then, drip it into the tank or use a small dosing pump.

 

[mille239]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14777140#post14777140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stricknine
Thanks mille,
Appreciated. The pump is freshwater/marine so Im ok there. I know it sounds large, but I agree with you that once you have it pumping max head that flow slows it down a lot. Stand was to avoid getting kalk sediment in to the tank. I heard you do not want the solid form to touch anything. I'll have to look around for the no name pickling lime. No difference between that and the brand name?

Thanks.

Ah, I apologize for the confusion... For some reason I was thinking the pond pump was going to be your SUMP pump, not the ATO pump. Yes I agree with the stand idea in that case, so as not to get the kalk in the pump, but I also agree with jerryreefrigger, that you don't want lage amounts of kalk water being dumped into your tank at one time...