Kalkwasser in Ato

[lowtek]

Hello all. So I started using Kalk and decided my ato us the best way to deliver it. I understand that you want to keep the pump off of the bottom 2 or so inches to prevent the superconcentrated slurry to enter system. My question is once the kalk mix reaches the bottom 2 inches, do I dump it all out and start a new mix? Or can I utilize the bottom slurry in new mix.

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[homer1475]

Just add more RO/DI once in a while. When I used to dose Kalk it's what I did to use up that slurry.



About once a month I would just fill up my 5G ATO container with just plain old RO/DI and shake well. After about a month I would have about 2 inches of slurry, and the 5G would mix it up so nothing was left.

 

[nereefpat]

Agree. You can add new water to the top. The slurry is just undissolved kalk, along with some calcium carbonate and some impurities.

 

[d0ughb0y]

the better way to dose kalk is pump the ato water to a kalk stirrer then to your sump.
The kalk stirrer does not have to be fancy with magnetic stirrer, a simple diy plastic bottle with input going down a rigid tube to close to the bottom and an output hose closer to the top will work. This keeps the kalk solution separate from your fresh water reservoir.

 

[lowtek]

Just add more RO/DI once in a while. When I used to dose Kalk it's what I did to use up that slurry.



About once a month I would just fill up my 5G ATO container with just plain old RO/DI and shake well. After about a month I would have about 2 inches of slurry, and the 5G would mix it up so nothing was left.

Thanks for the reply. So when you add fresh water, do you add the same amount of kalk powder? Or go a bit less. Right now I'm going a tad shy of .5 tsp/gal. I'll give you my coral list:
1 trachy
1 favia
1 birds nest frag
1 monti frag
3 mushrooms
1 frogspawn
2 acan frags
160 gal tank
Approx 52 gal sump
Was using red sea pro. Recently switched back to IO

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[homer1475]

I use to let it go for about a month. In that month I would just keep adding my normal mixture. After the month, or when the slurry got thick, I would just add plain RO/DI with no kalk mixed in.

 

[lowtek]

I use to let it go for about a month. In that month I would just keep adding my normal mixture. After the month, or when the slurry got thick, I would just add plain RO/DI with no kalk mixed in.

Awesome. I will definitely give that a try. Thanks for your input

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