Up to this point I have not been dosing kalk due to the lack of knowledge. However, I have been watching my ph closely and have noticed larger swings toward the downside. Right now I am topping off manually with fresh water. I believe now is the time for me to learn this process (dont worry my ca and alk are high because I two part regularly). Any suggestions on how to do it (manually in the mean time and perhaps automated later)? Any references?? Thanks!
kalkawasser
- Thread starter titus164
- Start date
There's plenty of info, do a search here on RC. And of course there's always Google.
macawmagic
In Memoriam
i've got a float valve in my sump. then airline hosing going to a 18 gallon rubbermaid container with a hole drilled at almost the bottom. airline hooks up here. I then mix up a teaspoon of kalk per gallon of water. (never really knew if that was the correct mixture but it works for me). pour that into the rubbermaid container. and that'll last like 2 or 3 days. whenever the sump level drops the valve will open. gravity will pull the water down into the sump as long as the container is higher than the float valve. That was the easiest way to do it for me. didn't want to deal with any digital float valves that turned on pumps or anything. its been working for atleast 6 months now...no problems(knock on wood). hope that helps.
That's similar to my original setup. The problem though, is you're putting water into your sump from near the bottom of the kalk container where the stuff is piled up. You want to extract it near the top, below the crusty surface layer. Since the water level in the container fluctuates, I thought of rigging the airline tubing to a float, the end of the tube being a couple of inches below the surface. That way you get clean water with dissolved kalk in the sump and none of the paste which is very caustic.
macawmagic
In Memoriam
well...don't know if this helps, but the exit hole is actually like a half inch off the bottom. I always see after like a month or so a huge amount of "gunk" on the bottom and I take it outside and clean it with the hose. I'm assuming this is the "paste"?
Yeah, you don't really need to throw that out, just stir it up so it goes back into solution. It'll precipitate out after a while. Most Kalkwasser reactors include either a pump or a stirring bar driven by a motor to keep this stuff in solution. You're just throwing your money away rinsing it out.
Husky_1
Premium Member
I think that best way to do it is using a ATO from a reservoir. This will allow for gradual release so you will not get the PH spikes associated with one daily dose. It will also keep your salinity stable, and you wont have to add water every day. It will cost you about $50-60 for an ATO solution using float valves from places like aqua hub. I suggest this kit: ATO with 3 float valves
From here you can decide if you want to use completely saturated Kalk in water, less than saturated or even supersaturated. By supersaturated I mean having a small power head on the bottom of the reservoir that keeps the particles that normally precipitate flowing around in the water.
From here you can decide if you want to use completely saturated Kalk in water, less than saturated or even supersaturated. By supersaturated I mean having a small power head on the bottom of the reservoir that keeps the particles that normally precipitate flowing around in the water.
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