Stopping Kalk

[Randrew215]

Hello all!
I've been topping off with kalk since I started keeping a tank. In the past six months I started dosing Ca, Alk, and Mg and now I have a bubble magus dialed in and life is good. Because of the way my ATO is set up, I end up sucking precipitate through the pump and sending it into the sump where it clogs up my return pump. BRS 2 part is pretty inexpensive, so I've decided to just dose that exclusively and stop with the kalkwasser.

Is there any disadvantage to exclusively dosing 2 part (besides the fact that I'll have to test my parameters more often to adjust my dosing)?
Thanks,
Andy

 

[oneradtek202]

I totally understand this post. Had the same issue, was using kalk and it clogged everything up and ruined my return pumps and everything in my sump. I stopped using kalk and got me some dosing pumps with two part and my pump issues have stopped and life is good with me too now. but the kalk is a great way to maintain ph, but if you have the two part under control there's no point imo

 

[cuse1]

+1,, just killed my return pump as well

 

[becon776]

Wonder if.having the ato output routed to filter sock would help.that.

 

[talon4x4]

Wonder if.having the ato output routed to filter sock would help.that.

In my case it did not. Still had a white coating inside my return pump and the pump I use on the canister with carbon.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I'm not sure why your testing schedule would change. Your tank should be using the same (hopefully increasing) need for Ca, Alk, Mg no matter which dosing method is used (Ca Rx, Lime water, 2-part). Yes evaporation rates change, but over a months time frame is it that much??? Lime top off needs to be adjusted the same as two part needs adjusting. This is either by changing the concentration in solution, or changing the amount of fully saturated solution added. ALk level will likely be the limiting factor in either method, fortunately its test is somewhat cheap. Excess fouling by precipitation indicates to me something is out of balance (ph, ca, alk). The sludge for the most part contains the impurities (heavy metals) precipitated out, and shouldn't ever be dosed. IDK what the most cost efficient method is, none of the materials are very expensive, brs lime $12 per 4.5#, dow flakes $15 25#, A&H ~$3 2#, I haven't priced arm material. My tank asks for more than a 1/2 tsp baking soda and a shot of RHF Ca on top of the gallon fully saturated lime water each day. What lime does is add a balanced amount of carbonate and bicarbonate, but I don't know if that helps make fragile aquarium skeletal growth stronger, faster, or not.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

never drip limewater into a pump's intake....

are you guys spiking the kalk with vinegar?

 

[oneradtek202]

Never did gary, and my drip was 4ft away from the return pump and it still gunked mine up. What vinegar do to the kalk

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

some folks

some folks

spike limewater with vinegar so they can super saturate it.

I don't and never did.

 

[Randrew215]

Soooounds good. Mr. Maroonsalty- test schedule only has to change to quantify and accomodate the change in ca and alk due to stopping kalk. Their parameters are 450 and 9.0 right now, respectively. Beside small fluctuations in alk (~.3), they are stable. Mag is 1350.
I'll keep an eye on pH to see if moves over the course of a 24 hour cycle or over a longer time frame. Many thanks.
Andy

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

still trying to understand what was happening

still trying to understand what was happening

ATO was sucking up precip from bottom of the limewater container?

 

[Randrew215]

Yup. It's a sub-optimal setup as I'm constrained by space. My reservoir therefore exists as a 10 gallon tank aside the stand (underneath a table). I would need to have the pump ~2 inches off the bottom to prevent sucking precipitate, but I don't really want to trade the reservoir volume.
My fish and I have a 2 year plan for total system upgrade. At that point, I'd like to have a bigger tank and a dedicated room for tank maintenance that I can design from the ground up. Until then, I'm a man of minimization, so the easiest way to deal with this challenge is to just stop adding kalk to the ato reservoir.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I see. Thanks for clarifying :smurf:

 

[SkiFletch]

Perhaps a comprimise is in order? IME saturated kalkwasser via auto topoff can't handle the demands of most reef aquaria by itself. And dosing saturated kalkwasser has all kinds of problems if you don't have a proper reactor and peristaltic pump. It also tends to lean your system towards "bonus" calcification of pumps, skimmers, and other equipment, and in your case, straight up dosing of the solids. But as mentioned, dosing kalkwasser is very nice for keeping the pH of your system high which has a beneficial effect on a lot of chemistry issues.

So, I have a setup identical to yours. 10g next to my tank with a float-switch designed system and a maxijet 900. Instead of using saturated limewater, I use half the reccomended volume of powder to achieve saturation. I mix it in a container in the basement, then bring it upstairs and put it in the topoff tank without any solid particulate. The pH of the solution is still high, but not crazy high, it tends to keep my system pH higher, CO2 lower, and everything is happy. For the rest of my calc/alk demands I dose BRS calcium and baking soda from wegmans/tops/wherever. Minimalist, yet functional and I get some of the benefits of kalkwasser without all the hassle

 

[Randrew215]

Good thinking!

 

[tmz]

A few things:

No real disadvantage to 2 part vs kalk except the added chlorides(not a big deal) and the ph bumping effects of limewater. Clear limewater probably has less impurities or trace elements since everything precipitates out. Good stuff like magnesium precipitates out too.

I'm not a fan of ato setups for kalk . The ongoing water movement tends to make consistent dosing of the calcium hydroxide without undissolved kalk or impurities touchy and unpredictable dosing levels at a given time are a frequent consequence.

I've used a still reservoir with a peristaltic pump to dose it to a high flow area of the sump for years now without any clogs.I'm careful to insure the input line for the pump is several inches off the bottom and turn it off when mixing in new kalk for about 2 hours settle out time.

I don't add vinegar to the limewater. Contrary to common commentary and expectations , full saturation at 2 tsps per gallon handles my alk and calcium needs quite well( consistent dkh at 9.6 and calcium at 480ppm plus) in a system very heavily stocked with growing sps. Every 2 weeks or so I dose a tablespoon of baking soda to the 550 gallon system to tweak alk up a bit to make up for times the limewater dosing pump is off.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Contrary to common commentary and expectations , full saturation at 2 tsps per gallon handles my alk and calcium needs quite well( consistent dkh at 9.6 and calcium at 480ppm plus) in a system very heavily stocked with growing sps.

this has been my experience as well. I've grown many very large Acropora in the past with just regular partial water changes and limewater.

 

[tmz]

Good to know Gary. I wonder if everyone who says you can't maintain alk in an sps tank with limewater has actually tried with consistent dosing and testing over a period of time. Sometimes less is more since overdosing alk can lead to precipitation which in the end actually keeps it low. I have not seen any precipitation even on pumps and heaters in years. I do regular small water changes as well ,totaling about 40% per month.

 

[PR_Reefers]

I just started dosing kalk to help counteract the low ph at night mainly due to my Ca reactor! But now I'm thinking about sticking with kalk only, sine the Ca reactor by itself would give me a 7.8 ph at night and 8.3 during day...

 

[tmz]

I ran both a Ca reactor and dripped kalk at night for a long time. My Ca reactor has been on the shelf for the last two years and things have never looked better.