help with the whole kalk thing?

[saltlife2010]

im setting up a 90 gallon sps tank and would like to build a diy kalk drip so i dont have to hand dose calcium every day. so when the kalk builds up in the bottom o the jug where do you drip the kalk from since you cant get the bottom sludge in your tank?

 

[sfexplicit]

I used to drip from a jug. Just had the tube a couple inches from the bottom so I didn't get the stuff that settled at the bottom.

 

[ihavtats29]

get some iv tubing it comes with everything you need plus the piece that inserts into a iv bag will avoid the bottom sludge i used a 2 liter bottle , cut the bottom off and drilled a hole in the cap just smaller than the insert of the iv a little coral glue and it was water tight

 

[02REDZ28]

Do you want to passive drip or use a dosing pump?

I always used passive drip because I'm a member of the KISS (keep it simple stupid) army...

I took a 200 gallon RC salt bucket and drilled and tapped a hole in the bottom of the bucket about and inch off the bottom. I went to the hardware store and picked up some of the water line and pressure clamps they use for refrigerators. I super glued and then siliconed both sides.

This setup gave me 5 to 6 gallons of kalk mix at a go. I only mixed 1 tbsp per gallon so there isnt a concern about the sludge. Not to mention, with only 5 gallons of the stuff, even if the whole thing dumped into my 150, it wouldn't destroy my tank. This is the advantage of this system over a Nilsen reactors.

 

[saltlife2010]

i want to drip it. so i need to find like a 1 gallon jug , put a hole above where the sludge settles and get iv tubing and a drip thing. ? but when the kalk settles do i just leave it?

 

[saltlife2010]

where do you get iv tubing and the dripper at
?

 

[n8rad]

do a kalk stirrer set with a top off switch but have a 2 gallon resevoir incase something gets tripped on and drips all your kalk. it wont be enough to damage anything.

Here is the video of the one i built. If you want one let me know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1TGfPLaUmw

 

[fishguy597]

If you are using a calcium reactor or manual dosing what are the benifits to using kalk? Is it that the kalk helps stabilize the ph at night? If so what else will it do?

 

[Darkstar22]

I recommend checking out autotopoff.com. I have the sump model, and it has been working flawlessly for over a year. My Kalk is in a 10 gallon aquarium on the floor behind the DT. Check it out!

 

[pbnj]

If you are using a calcium reactor or manual dosing what are the benifits to using kalk? Is it that the kalk helps stabilize the ph at night? If so what else will it do?

Kalk's also a cheaper way to maintain calcium & alkalinity.