Dosing Kalkwasser ?

bckane

Premium Member
Ok I need to know how the whole process works....For my top-off I have a 30 gal tank filled with ro/di (in the other room) with a float switch to my sump......Now If I wanted to add kalkwasser Do I have to have a rector,,,,I have a doser that can dose up it 4,5 gallons a day


Someone let me know what else I need
Brian
 
Since you like to be high tech get the reactor. But you can do without it.

Kalkwasser needs to be mixed daily (24hr settling time is how is do it) unless you have a lid for the container. Lets say a 1g jug can last me anywhere from 1-3 days, so I mix 2-4 1g jugs a week so I have enough for one week.

I would say the doser should be great for something like this but keep in mind it might not keep up with the evaporation rate. Some people run an auto top off with the kalkwasser that way the tank would be topped off with kalkwasser and not just fresh water which can and will lower your calcium, alk, and pH.

Since my tank is small, it don't use a ATO anymore because it takes up too much room. Whenever I see that my "top off system" isn't keeping up I add some freshwater but it isn't much that it will bring down my levels.
 
Brian, Ideally what you want is to replace ALL your evaporated water with calcium saturated water (Kalkwasser/limewater) this will hopefully kill a few birds in one shot, it will top off your water, provide it with the depleted calcium, maintain your ph stable and other things that are beneficial to the tank.

In most cases (lightly to medium stocked tanks) kalkwasser will be sufficient to keep up with the calcium demand, however when you get into heavy SPS's, lots of coraline etc, you may need to supplement further by means of a calcium reactor or manually.

The drawback with Kalkwasser is that at saturated levels it has a ph of 12, the good news is that your tank natural buffer system can stabilize this high ph, the key is to dose slow to avoid sudden rises in your tank ph, usually a slow drip from a container works fine but it is high maintenace cause it clogs often and you need to mix and refill daily. (not for me)

One of the easiest ways to dose Kalkwasser is through a Nielsen reactor or Kalk reactor, this is simply a container that mixes your kalkwasser powder with the ro/di water before is dose to your tank.

I usually can fill my reactor with the powder and forget about it for a couple months, the reason for this is that kalkwasser does not dissolves further inside the reactor when the water has achived saturation level (PH 12)

Your current setup is fine to integrate a reactor but you can not use a float switch at the end because with time it is likely to accumulate calcium deposits at the seal and leak.
switch
 
Brian I just re-did my entire ATO system and this time included a (Kalk Stirrer, the one I was selling) a 12g 12x12x24" resevoir and the Aqua Medic Niveaumat ATO. Now I can go 2 weeks without topping off!!! Also my PH is now between 8.1-8.3. Kick a$$ system as before I was re-filling my ATO container every day and a half which really sucked!!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8334342#post8334342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by compulou
Brian I just re-did my entire ATO system and this time included a (Kalk Stirrer, the one I was selling) a 12g 12x12x24" resevoir and the Aqua Medic Niveaumat ATO. Now I can go 2 weeks without topping off!!! Also my PH is now between 8.1-8.3. Kick a$$ system as before I was re-filling my ATO container every day and a half which really sucked!!!

Cool thats the way Im going...right after I finish my 2 part
 
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