Questions about Calcium Dispenser

[mwalker]

Roger

I've read some of the previous discussions, and some literature from the Tunze USA site. I'm possibly seeing some minor conflicts in the details, and I just want to make sure of some things.

Currently I have a sparsely stocked 90 gal, but I am going to be adding more and more SPS/LPS corals as time goes by. I currently have no need for a CA reactor, and dripping kalk plus the occasional addition of B Ionic and my calcium is good to go. I'm hoping the Calcium Dispenser can get rid of my need to manually mix the kalk with my top off water, without increasing my use of B Ionic. I do have a fairly high evap rate, about 2 gals a day.

The Tunze catalog that describes the product says...

suitable for up to approx. 500 l aquariums with stone corals.

500 liters being 132 gallons. One of your posts you said...

on it's own it is sufficent for a 30gal aquarium. Up to 60gals it works very well with a weekly regiment of B Ionic or similar additive. Over 60 gals it boosts the fficiency of a calcium reactor by helping mainatin a higher KH and stable pH.

Now I realize that the catalog saying "suitable" and "with stone corals" is a bit subjective so I'm assuming the catalog is more in theory and you are more real world, or since your post is about a year old some efficiencies have been added to the dispenser since that time?

Also how much kalk can be added. The website says 15 - 60 grams which equates to 1 - 5.5 tsp. You had mentioned about 2 -4 tsp. Do you think 5.5 tsp would give too big of a PH swing? Maybe they've tested with more kalk and thus feel the dispenser can handle larger aquariums?

Anyhow, just trying to understand the details so I know what to expect if I choose to purchase it. Thanks for your time.

 

[rvitko]

Kalkwasser is in my opinion a better alkalinity supplement, phosphate remover than it is a calcium supplement. Nothing has changed on the unit since it came out. The specific details in the manual say that it is suitable on it's own for a basic mixed reef tank up to 180L if 10g of powder are added every 10 days. For an aquarium of up to 400L with Leather corals use 10g per week, or use in conjunction with a Calcium Reactor at 10g every 10 days. The same advice applies for an SPS aquarium of up to 180L. For a Leather Coral tank of up to 1000L use 20g of Calcium Hydroxide per week or use 10g every week in conjunction with a calcium reactor.

The manual gives numerous recommendation based on size and inhabitants but for the most part once you pass 180L some other form of supplementation is necessary. The main place we saw for this product was as a compensation method for Calcium Reactors- something to bind the excess CO2 and stabilze the pH. Kalkwasser is just generally too week to work on it's own.

The amount of powder used in the reactor will largely depend on tank volume. I would think for an aquarium of 90gallons I would feel comfortable using 4 teaspoons at most. Otherwise I would have some fear that the kalk could be too strong and raise the pH. I would add more powder every week, it is best to use it with a reservoir of 7gal, it will have to be mounted inside the reservoir as kalkwasser is corrosive and overtime will harden the plastic tubes and cause them to pop off. I would refill the dispenser weekly. I believe if you type 5074 in to the Search at www.tunze.com you can get a PDF of the manual. Every couple months, i remove the reactor and clean it out and allow it to soak in vinegar over night to get it completely clean and free of any deposits.