Kalk in ATO Q's

alten78

New member
For whatever reason I have not been able to fully grasp and implement adding kalk to my tank. Over the past couple of years Ive tried to drip it into my sump via a small container but with the lack of room it just wasn't feasible and for a few months I would just add the powder straight to my 5 gallon ATO bucket and have it drip over a course of a few hours out of fear of adding too much but the line would get clogged often leaving the sump to get low at times if I didn't catch it.

Since then I have changed my sump slightly, the last chamber where the float switch resides is a little smaller so the water level fluctuates more often but with less volume of course. I use a 5 gallon bucket with an aqualifter pump for my top off which on my 75g evaporates about a gallon a day and turns on 2-3 times a day. So water doesn't just get dumped into the sump but it is a small stream that takes about 3-5 minutes to put back in.

I think Im over thinking it at times but given my setup, going back to adding kalk in my 5 gallon topoff bucket, would adding 1/2-1/3 gallon of kalk water over that time frame of 3-5 minutes be too much? The other question is about degradation of the limewater. I often read that a tight fitting lid is needed for limewater, is that really needed for each 5 gallon used over the course of 4-5 days?
 
A five gallon bucket should have a plenty tight seal. As for the line clogging, that takes weeks for me, and I have basically the exact setup you described. Once a week during my normal tank maintenance, I just squeeze the end of the vinyl tube where the limewater drips out, breaking up the accumulated lime. Once in a while, run some vinegar water through it to get it good and clean.
 
Yep, take a deep breath and relax. You've got the basic idea.

What I'll do to give my ATO reservoir time to settle down after adding kalk or stirring is add some fresh ro/di water that would last several hours before the sump water level got to normal levels.

So my routine is

1. fill back up the ATO container. (ATO may kick on during this time periodically and would be diluted lime water)
2. After ATO container is full add RO/DI water to sump to raise it's water level above normal so the ATO wont kick on for a few hours
3. Stir the kalk solution in and/or what was left over on the bottom from before with a pvc pipe
4. Cover the ATO container back up and let it do it's thing

*note make sure the line that is pulling the ATO water is NOT on the bottom of the container. I have mine up a couple inches as I usually just dump in a bunch of kalk and it settles out to the bottom. You do NOT want to be pulling anything that settles out to the bottom. I've never had my line clog up.
 
Thanks guys, I think mine was clogging too much often because I was cutting the drip rate far to much. I'm sure I have a lid laying around that I can add to it.

*Deep breathing while relaxing* The last time my wife told me that was when she challenged me to do yoga with her, I said how in the hell can I breathe and relax if I can't feel my arms and my legs are about to collapse :)
 
*Deep breathing while relaxing* The last time my wife told me that was when she challenged me to do yoga with her, I said how in the hell can I breathe and relax if I can't feel my arms and my legs are about to collapse :)

Leave the yoga to the wife and go lift something heavy. In fact, both of you should go lift something heavy, it's way better for you than yoga could ever hope to be. Who needs to touch the back of their head to their butt anyway? haha
 
Thanks guys, I think mine was clogging too much often because I was cutting the drip rate far to much. I'm sure I have a lid laying around that I can add to it.

*Deep breathing while relaxing* The last time my wife told me that was when she challenged me to do yoga with her, I said how in the hell can I breathe and relax if I can't feel my arms and my legs are about to collapse :)

Aqualifter would be fine with out cutting the flow rate. Just let it run as it needs. And the 5g with lid would be fine. You can drill a small hole on top to shove the line through.
 
I also used an old 5 gal. bucket with a loose fitting lid, and used a Tunze osmolator. My system would use about 2 gal. a day. I used to make fully saturated lime water in a separate 2 gal. container let it settle overnight, and pour the clear settled lime water into the ATO bucket each day.
 
Leave the yoga to the wife and go lift something heavy. In fact, both of you should go lift something heavy, it's way better for you than yoga could ever hope to be. Who needs to touch the back of their head to their butt anyway? haha

Ha! Exactly my point! I refused to do any twists, turns, and headstands but parts were definitely tough...just give me my deadlifts!

Aqualifter would be fine with out cutting the flow rate. Just let it run as it needs. And the 5g with lid would be fine. You can drill a small hole on top to shove the line through.

Great, that was probably my biggest concern. Especially hearing 'don't add too much' so many times.

I also used an old 5 gal. bucket with a loose fitting lid, and used a Tunze osmolator. My system would use about 2 gal. a day. I used to make fully saturated lime water in a separate 2 gal. container let it settle overnight, and pour the clear settled lime water into the ATO bucket each day.

One day I would like to get something like a Tunze osmolator, but after finally springing for an Apex I would get beat up...and that was only the Jr model :)
 
Ha! Exactly my point! I refused to do any twists, turns, and headstands but parts were definitely tough...just give me my deadlifts!

Now you just have to get the wife into lifting like I did my girlfriend. Squats and deadlifts do wonders for the posterior!

As for the aqualifter pumps, I don't dial mine back at all. Mine flips on, runs for about 5 seconds, then flips off. It'll do this about every half hour or so. Who needs an Osmolator anyway? My Aqualifter hasn't failed me yet.
 
I mix mine in a 5g bucket and allow it to settle for 24 hours. Then I siphon out about 4.5g and leave everything that didn't dissolve at the bottom of the mixing container.
 
I would spring for a dosing pump, or find some way to reduce the flow rate through the AquaLifter, personally. ½ gallon in that time frame probably would spike the pH a lot more than I'd want, personally.

Limewater will be fine for weeks with a loosely-fitting top, or even without a top.
 
I would spring for a dosing pump, or find some way to reduce the flow rate through the AquaLifter, personally. ½ gallon in that time frame probably would spike the pH a lot more than I'd want, personally.

Limewater will be fine for weeks with a loosely-fitting top, or even without a top.

+1. I use a BRS 50ml/Min dosing pump and a 35 gallon Brute with almost saturated kalkwasser. I fill/mix about every 4 weeks. A timer adds about 16 oz. over a 10 minute period several times during the night. Seems to work ok.
 
I would spring for a dosing pump, or find some way to reduce the flow rate through the AquaLifter, personally. ½ gallon in that time frame probably would spike the pH a lot more than I'd want, personally.

Limewater will be fine for weeks with a loosely-fitting top, or even without a top.
Must not be a very sensitive float switch if it's dosing a half gallon at a time. Mine only turns on for a few seconds.
 
Alten78 what are you using to trigger your aqualifter? Are you sure it's only turning on 2-3 times a day and dosing that much at once? That seems off unless you're doing it manually or have a high low switch set pretty far apart.
 
No, its not the most sensitive float switch but after getting home and looking at it again i think i was pretty far off on how much was actually being dosed at a time. Should be less but I will actually pay attention and get an exact amount and go from there. I will definitely look into a more sensitive float switch and/or dosing pump.
 
Alten78 what are you using to trigger your aqualifter? Are you sure it's only turning on 2-3 times a day and dosing that much at once? That seems off unless you're doing it manually or have a high low switch set pretty far apart.

I think my guesstimation was off while at work, its a SpectraPure Power Liquid Level Controller. Ill get a more precise measurement tomorrow.
 
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