Question about topping off w/ Kalk

[itzafugasi]

Right now i have an auto top off set up w a 5 gal bucket filled w/ water and i add baking soda for alk supplementation. I dose calcium manually.

The unit is hooked up to a float switch in my sump that is on a timer that comes on once every 12 hrs. I have a maxijet 1200 pulling water from the bucket to fill my sump.

i lose about 1/2 gal to 3/4 gal per day (55 gal tank, 20gal sump) so figure my auto top off fills my sump about .25 gal to .38 gal per 12 hrs.

My question is: can i add kalk to the 5 gal bucket instead of the baking soda? will adding kalk in this manner shoot my ph up too fast when the top off pumps water to my sump? i dont have the equipment to drip kalk slowly.

thanks.

 

[Billybeau1]

After doing some calculations, it appears that 1/4 of a gallon at one time in your tank may be too much too quick. Even if you mix 1 tsp per gallon it may be a bit much.

That said, you could mix up a 1/4 gallon with 1/4 tsp and see how much your pH rises.

More of a concern is watching your fish when you do this. If they act unaffected, you may be OK. I have an overly sensitive butterfly that really gets mad if I dose too much limewater at one time.

 

[itzafugasi]

thanks for your response..
if u dont mind me asking, how did u come up with your calculations that it may be too much? what i mean is, how do u know how much is too much?

i thought of my fish as well, but since it's being dosed in the sump at the opposite side of the return, i think they should be ok.

 

[Billybeau1]

Give this a read and if you still have questions, shout back

What your grandmother never told you about lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

 

[DrBegalke]

.25 gal to .38 gal per 12 hrs of lime water should be fine.

 

[Tang Salad]

You do need to be careful about how quickly the kalkwasser is added.

So, although what DrBegalke said is true, you still want to avoid dumping that amount in all at once every 12 hours.

 

[Tang Salad]

Sorry, maybe that wasn't too clear.

What I mean is that you're better off dripping that amount of kalk slowly into your tank, slowly over many hours. You don't want to have it all get pumped in at once.

You can add a valve to the end of the line that pumps the kalk in, and slow down the flow that way.

 

[itzafugasi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8317504#post8317504 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tang Salad
Sorry, maybe that wasn't too clear.

What I mean is that you're better off dripping that amount of kalk slowly into your tank, slowly over many hours. You don't want to have it all get pumped in at once.

You can add a valve to the end of the line that pumps the kalk in, and slow down the flow that way.

the valve idea sounds good...do u mean a ball valve to reduce the flow?

i have another idea i can do.. what about if i add two more on/off cycles to the timer the pump is on?
so it comes on every 6 hrs, so it minimizes even further the amt of kalk being added to the sump?
so the most added at one time would be about .18 gallons.

 

[seattlerob]

itzafugasi: I'm a little confused on your setup. You mention a float switch and a timer. So does that mean that the timer is set to only be on 12 hrs a day, or only on for a short period of time every 12 hrs?

FWIW, I have almost the identical setup. I have a 5g bucket filled with fully saturated limewater (2 tsp/g). I use an aquadoser pump (pretty low flow) which gets activated by a float switch. I don't use a timer at all. My float switch will turn on my pump when the sump water drops approx 1/4 inch. The limewater tops off until the float switch turns off. Using this method, the rate of limewater topoff at any given time is not very much. The limewater is dosed into my sump at the same location where the overflow enters, so the flow there is pretty good which helps mix the limewater in with the rest.

I could see a timer integrated into the solution if you wanted to only topoff at night, since that's generally when pH drops. Dosing at night only would conceivably keep pH more consistant between day/night.

In any case, the advice above is good....after you start using kalk, keep an eye on your pH & your livestock. I think dosing kalkwasser makes much more sense than dosing alk only for topoff, since kalkwasser is balanced for both Alk and Ca.

One more point....even with 100% kalkwasser topoff, I still have to dose Alk and Ca on a daily basis to keep up with my tanks demands. Your results may vary

hth,
rob

 

[Billybeau1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8318105#post8318105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by itzafugasi
i have another idea i can do.. what about if i add two more on/off cycles to the timer the pump is on?
so it comes on every 6 hrs, so it minimizes even further the amt of kalk being added to the sump?
so the most added at one time would be about .18 gallons.

Much better IMO.

 

[cristhiam]

I use a similar set up I have a 5G bucket with kalk mix in there, I use a mag 250 pump connected to a float switch, it runs 24/7, no problems. Small additions thorout the day is fine. Just check your ph and see how your tank does for a few days. The mag is redured to a 1/4 inch tubing line. When it fill's just runs for about 1 minute at the time this happens a few times a day and at night. Forget the timer.

 

[itzafugasi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8318389#post8318389 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seattlerob
itzafugasi: I'm a little confused on your setup. You mention a float switch and a timer. So does that mean that the timer is set to only be on 12 hrs a day, or only on for a short period of time every 12 hrs?

sorry for the confusion...the timer comes on twice a day for a short period of time (few minutes).

the reason i use a timer is to minimize the constant on/off switching since float valves are sensitive.

thanks for the replies everyone, i see that i shouldnt have much to worry about!