Kalk question....sorry

[Kona26]

I have touched on this in the past but my attempt failed when I was unable to control the flow. I do not have a dosing pump. My mag .. kh...and ph are lower then I want....kh.7.5 ph 7.8 mag 1240 .. ca 360 ... I do bi weekly water changes on a 125g long. 55g sump...15 g water change...instant ocean sea salt. but am unable to bring up these numbers. I did in the past have spikes of mag and ph but they lowered within a week...ca has always been around 360-380 I have kalk (powder) and would like to dose to see if I can get these back up...but putting it into my ato I have a 5g plastic container with a small pump it is rated for something like 360gph...its a small power head style pump from petco. I have been looking into an aqua lifter or another pump that is slower for this. what are your thoughts about putting 2 teaspoons into my ato container and letting it pump into my sump for top offs..? I have been told that the pump may be to fast.

I have also tried to put it into a container and pour it into my tank...but it took about 2 weeks for the water to turn clear...i was not sure if I should put it in with the water still white. and also was un sure how much to put in. I thought about getting a milk jug and mixing the kalk and gravity feed it into my sump. but then again I am unsure of how much and what params dose the calk affect and how much...I got this mix from a lfs...it is not from brs...i will next time after I get the hang of doing this .... thank you for the info and sorry for the mixed info...please let me know if i am leaving anything out.

 

[Sk8r]

Kalk cannot RAISE these things. You need to dose a supplement to get your tank to the desired levels, THEN start kalk running. The supplements I use to adjust the balances are Kent Turbo Calcium, Kent DKH Alkalinity Buffer, and Kent Tech-M.

Once that is done, prepare your topoff tank with 2 tsp kalk per gallon, stir it once, and let it settle with a lid on. Thereafter, topoff only with the relatively clear water: whatever falls to the bottom can be activated by pouring in more fresh water. Keep it lidded. Use only the surface water (dip it up) and keep adding more fresh water and another 2 tsp of kalk powder per gallon at need. I use a large vessel, and usually have to reset my levels with dosing only about 2-3 x a year.

 

[Kona26]

very helpful thank you...so my question now is my small pump that I have in my container to much..? I will be getting the supplements you suggested...I would assume it is better to do one at a time untill desired lvl is reached..? thank you sk8r for your info...I get lost sometimes when I over think.