Kalkwasser dosing advice

[spedly]

So I want to take my hobby to the next level and start getting into corals. The only coral I have kept in the past is xenia and I never want that in my aquarium ever again!

My alkalinity and calcium is pretty low so I ordered 1 pound of kalk from J&L. I don't have any fancy dosing pumps but I do have a Neptune Apex and a Smart ATO. My top off reservoir is a thin, dark brown potable water container that I bought from Peavy Mart. I drilled a hole in the top of it that was big enough to put the pump from the Smart ATO inside it. The container holds 5.5 gallons but I can't see through it.

I happen to have a second container that is exactly the same as the one I'm using for my ATO reservoir. I haven't made any modifications to it.

I came across a post somewhere where someone suggested mixing kalkwasser in one container, letting it settle for a few hours, and then pouring it into the ATO reservoir reserving the sludge at the bottom. Since that suggestion matched perfectly with what I have today I thought it was a good idea.

I want to socialize that idea with the experts here. What I was thinking was using some tape to hold the pump above any precipitate that might end up in the ATO reservoir. But since then I've read posts and articles about not exposing it to CO2, better to use a kalk reactor, etc. My head is spinning a little.

I don't view this as a long term solution. But if this will work for a couple of months until I can buy a Neptune Dos system, and get me going into the world of corals, then I'll be happy.

Is this a sound idea? Or would it be better to wait?