Kalk Dosing 100%

[bckane]

Ok I been dosing Kalk with my top off water for 3 days now....Waiting of my reactor I riged up a 5 gallon bucket with 1-2 teaspoons of Kalk per gallon...set my doser to replace evap water 24 hours and use the float switch as a backup. Ive seen 100% improvement in my zoos, mushrooms, xenia, and whatever else I have in my tank....One big Happy Family...

pH 8.26
Calcium 430
KH/ALK 10.6 dkh, 3.77 meg/l

 

[thesaent14]

i tink i am overdosing my tank with kalk do you have any info on it how to doit cus i am in to bilive i am doing it wrong

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8389525#post8389525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thesaent14
i tink i am overdosing my tank with kalk do you have any info on it how to doit cus i am in to bilive i am doing it wrong

Are you dosing kalk with your topoff water.?
I just have my kalk dripping with topoff water as the water evap.
I mixed up 5 gallons of RO/DI and added 1 teaspoon per gallon....so I put about 5 teaspoon of kalk to 5 gallons of RO/DI and stir a bit....turns to clear water, and then start your drip to equal your evap. I evaporate about 1 1/2 gallons a day
Hope this helps
Brian

 

[jdieck]

When your Alkalinity consumption matches the amount of Kalk saturtes water needed to replace evaporation like in the case of bckane, everything is OK
If replacing your evaporation with saturated Kalk increases your Alkalinity then you need to find out by trial and error how much Kalk powder you need to add to the top off container to reduce the strenght of the Kalk mix to match your evaporation and your Alkalinity consumption.
On the oposite side, if you find that after replacing your evaporation with saturated Kalk mix your Alkalinity consumption still drops you have a couple of options. a) You can have fans installed to increase your evaporation. b) You can supplement the shortage of Alkalinity (and Calcium) manually with a two part supplement or c) Add a Calcium Reactor. d) Try to increase the concentration of the Kalk mix by adding Vinager to the top off water before mixing in the Kalk powder.

 

[thesaent14]

well my alkalynity is really hi is at 3.6 or more is this bad

in the other hand i have fans,kalk reactor,and calcium reactor my kalk reactor is conected to my top off water and is a magnetic stire what you tink about that whats wrong in that pic

 

[bckane]

jdieck...When adding Vinager to your Kalk mix..doesn't it lower your pH.?

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8389655#post8389655 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thesaent14
well my alkalynity is really hi is at 3.6 or more is this bad

in the other hand i have fans,kalk reactor,and calcium reactor my kalk reactor is conected to my top off water and is a magnetic stire what you tink about that whats wrong in that pic

Why do you think your overdosing your tank.?
I dont think 3.6 is high
Recommend KH/ALk
2.5-4 meq/L
7-11 dKH

 

[thesaent14]

i guest i have a reatarit red sea test kit for alkalinity and it give me a hi reading of hi its start from low is 0 to 1.6 normal is 1.7 to 2.8 and high is 2.9 to 3.6 now tomorow i will go and get a difrent test kit i really don,t like this pis of you know

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8389703#post8389703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thesaent14
i guest i have a reatarit red sea test kit for alkalinity and it give me a hi reading of hi its start from low is 0 to 1.6 normal is 1.7 to 2.8 and high is 2.9 to 3.6 now tomorow i will go and get a difrent test kit i really don,t like this pis of you know

I seen pictures of your tank....looks Healthy to me....

 

[thesaent14]

yea but my birstnest just got compleate bleach and all the other test are really good but this one don't convince me i just did a water change today and i am planing to do one more tomorow to see if it gets lower

 

[bckane]

Manny Ive seen some of your work....I was thinking about asking you to build me a Kalk Reactor..brefore I bought one...I went ahead and picked one up at retek...bet you could have did a better job
Brian

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8389655#post8389655 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thesaent14
well my alkalynity is really hi is at 3.6 or more is this bad

in the other hand i have fans,kalk reactor,and calcium reactor my kalk reactor is conected to my top off water and is a magnetic stire what you tink about that whats wrong in that pic

I see nothing wrong if the alkalinity is at 3.6 meq/lt. your plan for a new kit and verification is good.
If you find out it is higher than that you can always stop the Calcium reactor CO2 for a while and it will slowly drop.

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8389657#post8389657 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bckane
jdieck...When adding Vinegar to your Kalk mix..doesn't it lower your pH.?

Actually it will not as it is neutralized by the additional Kalk dissolved. Now the organics in the Vinegar will be digested by the bacteria so the bacteria will somehow multiply to take the additional food.
I do not remember how much vinegar you need but I think it is rather a small quantity, something like one or two spoons per gallon of Kalk water.

 

[bckane]

I also heard it would make the kalk disolve better

 

[NanoKat]

You know, that vinegar trick sounds like a good idea...I always have a hard time getting the kalk to completely dissolve in the r/o. But I did wonder if vinegar would be safe in small amounts in the tank, as I clean my pumps with it and sometimes I don't think I get it completely rinsed off.

I'm also wondering if I can convert a very old "nitrate reducer" to a calcium reactor. The structure looks the same...maybe I'll have a little project to do.

 

[bckane]

KAt the vinegar will make your Kalk stronger.....I just mix 1 teaspoon of Kalk to one gallon of RO/DI and almost completely dissolves....how much are your mixing....?

 

[thesaent14]

hey guys i was tinking using my kalk with a dosing pump insted of the auto topoff because every time my skimmer gets out of control my auto top off start pumping and thats why i tink i have the problem with the alkalinity

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8390708#post8390708 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thesaent14
hey guys i was tinking using my kalk with a dosing pump insted of the auto topoff because every time my skimmer gets out of control my auto top off start pumping and thats why i tink i have the problem with the alkalinity

Manny what I did was setup my doser pump to drip 24/7 its also hooked up to the float switch but only if I over drip...it trial and error.....you have to find the sweet spot to where it drips to replace your evap water....if you look at my photo I have my doser set to 100 mL per hour....Ive kept a eye on it for a couple of days and the water level in my sump has never changed and the float switch has never shut the doser pump off ......Now when I get my reactor I will have to find the drip rate again.....but no biggy
Brian

 

[thesaent14]

so having my kal reactor conected to the top off is bad

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8390959#post8390959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thesaent14
so having my kal reactor conected to the top off is bad

No...just connect your doser between the top off supply and your reactor....your topoff water will drip into the reactor and then mix with kalk and then overflow to your sump....you can still dose 24/7 you just have to have a timer on your reactor when it mixes...so you dont dump power into your sump.....Im hearing mix 4 times a day for a minute