Putting Kalk in the ATO?

[SteveConn]

I am having that problem with the kalk/vinegar mix I am using because it makes Ca and CO3 far more available than just kalk in water alone. I found with just kalk in water, I couldnt keep up with the needs of the corals in a small tank with SPS

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by Myka

When you guys add Kalk to the top off water don't you find that the addition of Kalk varies as the evaporation changes? I know my tank is hardly going through any top off water right now, and in the summer it was about 3 gallons per day. That could wreck havoc...?

That has been my concern as well, but I'm going to try it at a low kalk concentration (0.5tsp/gallon) and adjust it accordingly like you would with two-part. I'm going to keep the kalk on the low side and use two part less frequently to dial it in. If I could get two-part down to every other day that'd be enough for me.

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by Myka

When you guys add Kalk to the top off water don't you find that the addition of Kalk varies as the evaporation changes? I know my tank is hardly going through any top off water right now, and in the summer it was about 3 gallons per day. That could wreck havoc...?

Things just grow more in the summer.

Did you have fans going in the summer to create more evaporation? I seem to remember evaporation higher in the winter when humidity was less.

[Myka]

Nothing has changed in my tank as far as equipment goes, but the humidity in the house is a tad higher, not much though.

I'm going to add Kalk+vinegar to my reef in the next while here because I'm dosing quite a lot and think Kalk would help keep the ions in balance a bit better, particularly keeping chloride down a bit. I'm going to dose as much Kalk as I can while keeping an eye on the pH and use the calcium and alkalinity dosing where the Kalk falls short. I'm going to use a doser for the Kalk.

[Rogue951]

What's this Kalk and vinegar business? never heard of that. Although I understand the vinegar would help the kalk dissolve.

I'm using a TLF kalk reactor rigged up to the tunze ATO pump. It's a bit much for the pump but it works for now. I figure if the pump burns out I'll switch to the relay socket and put in a more powerful pump.

my red moni cap coral is growing in leaps and bounds now with the extra calcium. haven't seen too much improvement in my acro's or clams yet. but it's only been about a month.

[SteveConn]

Here is the article I have used as a reference for kalk/vinegar

http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/b...alkwasser.html

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Rogue951

What's this Kalk and vinegar business? never heard of that. Although I understand the vinegar would help the kalk dissolve.

Along with allowing more Kalk to dissolve vinegar also lowers the pH a bit without precipitating. Albeit, all that crap that doesn't dissolve is impurities in the Kalk that have precipitated out. Using vinegar allows some of those impurities to be dissolved. Kalk is pretty cool stuff, I haven't dosed it in years, but I'm going to start up again.

[makana]

I dosed kalk in my ato for quite a while. I have the JBJ ATO with an aqualifter pump. I set my resevior at a hight that allows it to drip once per second. That way it can't swing particularly fast. Obviously won't work if your evaporation is higher than that. But even you should still be able to find a speed that works for you but isn't too fast.

I have had the float valve stick but its not really an issue. At the speed the pump runs at it times out after 20 minutes which is before it can over dose the tank. Of course then the ATO is dead until I get home and discover it but at least there is no tragedy.

Kalk does build up in the water line and pump but that just requires a bit of maintenance to keep things clean. The pump is cheap enough as it is but when mine quit it only needed to be flushed out.

[Son Of Skyline]

I also use a JBJ ato which automatically stops running after a few minutes if the float valve gets stuck. This prevents kalk disaster. I do get varying evap rates throughout the seasons but I find that I don't get any KH changes using a lower concentration of kalk. My ca reactor is doing most of the work anyways and the kalk is just keeping my levels rock solid.

I just dump the kalk in and forget about it.

I have been useing Kalk in my ato water for about 1.5 years I have a JBJ ato conected to one of those table top pond pumps it does not clog the aqua lifter I had at first would clog up after a few months and had to be taken apart and cleaned. I have been running this pump for over 1 year now with no troubles. I was useing 1 heeped table soop for 5gallons added my mag and supliments also to the ATO works fine. My sps grow slow but have a nice thick skeliton. I am fine with this method and will continue.

Bill