Is Kalk all it’s cracked up to be?

[Jakemac]

Just started dosing kalk in my ATO calc was super high ~550s and alk was about 1-2DKH, i dosed quick to get it to be 12DKH and 500ppm for calc. Phew... Started the kalk yesterday at 1tsp/5 gal (29 gal tank ~25gal with rock and sand included) 5 tsp of kalk in my 5 gal freshwater reservoir. I cant wait to see where its at and hopefully that will lower my WC immensely.

 

[TheSaint216]

Can the Tunze 5074 be placed next to the sump with the drain line into the sump? I had a hard time reading the directions on their website. I'm assuming I can run my ATO line to the Tunze reactor then have it drain the KALK water into my sump? Has anyone had both the Tunze and TLF reactors and have a preference? The problem I always had with Kalk and Vinegar from my ATO was Kalk deposits clogging the tubing and the aqualifter, any advice on that?

 

[mcarroll]

Can the Tunze 5074 be placed next to the sump with the drain line into the sump? I had a hard time reading the directions on their website. I'm assuming I can run my ATO line to the Tunze reactor then have it drain the KALK water into my sump? Has anyone had both the Tunze and TLF reactors and have a preference? The problem I always had with Kalk and Vinegar from my ATO was Kalk deposits clogging the tubing and the aqualifter, any advice on that?

One of the beauties of a reactor like the 5074 - it puts the whole kalk mess downstream of your pump. I'm running the same pump and tubing that I set the reactor up with about 3 years ago - certainly doesn't look new but it's in no danger of clogging.

And yes, the reactor is water tight, so could be placed just about anywhere with due consideration. The intention, FWIW, is that the 5074 reside inside the ATO reservoir so it takes up no "extra" space at all. Mine is clamped to the lip of my ATO bucket, hanging on the inside. You could position it in your sump the same way. The hanger bracket could also be bolted or siliconed in place for a more permanent mount. I've seen the 5074 deployed externally too though.

The effluent does come out the top, so draining via tubing into the sump or even up to the display tank is easy.

-Matt

 

[NanaReefer]

After 3yrs of manual dosing, I too just started adding Kalk to my ATO. So far I'm loving it!


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[TheSaint216]

One of the beauties of a reactor like the 5074 - it puts the whole kalk mess downstream of your pump. I'm running the same pump and tubing that I set the reactor up with about 3 years ago - certainly doesn't look new but it's in no danger of clogging.

And yes, the reactor is water tight, so could be placed just about anywhere with due consideration. The intention, FWIW, is that the 5074 reside inside the ATO reservoir so it takes up no "extra" space at all. Mine is clamped to the lip of my ATO bucket, hanging on the inside. You could position it in your sump the same way. The hanger bracket could also be bolted or siliconed in place for a more permanent mount. I've seen the 5074 deployed externally too though.

The effluent does come out the top, so draining via tubing into the sump or even up to the display tank is easy.

-Matt

Thanks for the reply, Ill have to give one of these a shot.

 

[zemuss]

Question instead of putting the KALK in line with the ATO, does anyone drip KALK?

I am concerned that because I don't let the ATO turn on until I am home that will cause swings and want to drip kalk instead.

I bought a DIY Kalk reactor but never hooked it up because I don't trust my ATO. My reason is I had another ATO get stuck in the on position which caused SG Calk and Alk to drastically drop.

If anyone has another ATO they recommend great but for now I am using the Avast DIY ATO: AVAST Marine Works - Top-off Kit - Product Details without the mechanical float.

"Z"

 

[leemajors]

subscribed :tongue::tongue::tongue:

 

[mcarroll]

Question instead of putting the KALK in line with the ATO, does anyone drip KALK?

I am concerned that because I don't let the ATO turn on until I am home that will cause swings and want to drip kalk instead.

I bought a DIY Kalk reactor but never hooked it up because I don't trust my ATO. My reason is I had another ATO get stuck in the on position which caused SG Calk and Alk to drastically drop.

If anyone has another ATO they recommend great but for now I am using the Avast DIY ATO: AVAST Marine Works - Top-off Kit - Product Details without the mechanical float.

Well, trusting automation always carries a certain amount of risk. There's no getting away from this.

Dosing/dripping manually, of course, carries the risk that you'll forget or otherwise won't dose. Also inescapable.

:xd:

But with good setup and planning (at least for the foreseeable risks), an ATO with a reed-stye float switch (or better, such as the optical system on the Tunze ATO) is usually pretty bulletproof. I've been very pleased with my Ultralife ATO, for one example.

Hopefully you can set up a system that won't require extras (KISS wherever possible), but things like splash guards or snail guards for the level sensors can be necessary options to assure maximum safety if your environment calls for it.

I just run my sensor zip-tied to a piece of vertical plumbing in my open sump....it even ran without issue through the massive precipitation event I had a while back.

TIP: Something I did for the first few years to reassure myself was to leave a floor lamp switched ON and connected to the same outlet as the ATO pump. This way it is painfully obvious when the ATO system was running.

Hope this helps!

-Matt

 

[kristofferzen]

Ok, I'm in the same boat. I have been researching Mrs. Wages and the use of other DIY type Kalk dosing vs. something like BRS Kalk. Which then lead me to wonder about using the KiSS method mentioned above. I have the tunze 3155. I have a 6 gallon water reservoir for my ATO. It is correct to assume I can just mix the Kalk solution with (depending on the product, I might go with BRS Kalk), 1tsp per gallon to start in a separate container. Mix and with til precipitate forms then drain off clear Kalk solution and put into my ATO reservoir? Would there be much more in the form of precipitate forming if the solution of Kalk I then use in my ATO is not mixed occasionally or should it be fine sitting mixed with some vinegar (previously mixed with vinegar). I'm using this for a 40 breeder mixed reef.

Thanks

 

[Beradd]

+1 Kalk for class prez

 

[mcarroll]

Ok, I'm in the same boat. I have been researching Mrs. Wages and the use of other DIY type Kalk dosing vs. something like BRS Kalk. Which then lead me to wonder about using the KiSS method mentioned above. I have the tunze 3155. I have a 6 gallon water reservoir for my ATO. It is correct to assume I can just mix the Kalk solution with (depending on the product, I might go with BRS Kalk), 1tsp per gallon to start in a separate container. Mix and with til precipitate forms then drain off clear Kalk solution and put into my ATO reservoir? Would there be much more in the form of precipitate forming if the solution of Kalk I then use in my ATO is not mixed occasionally or should it be fine sitting mixed with some vinegar (previously mixed with vinegar). I'm using this for a 40 breeder mixed reef.

Which Kalk?
With very minor differences, kalk is kalk - calcium hydroxide along with some interesting "polutants" like magnesium and strontium in trace amounts. (If that combo of ingredients sounds familiar, it's no coincidence - consider the source of lime. )

I'm not suggesting you try this, but your could even buy gardening lime (aka dolomitic lime) and it would be a pretty close approximation to kalk. Usable, in theory. Typically it's made from a limestone source with a higher magnesium content, and typically it's not processed into powder so that it won't dissolve so fast...so not nearly as ideal as pickling lime or kalk that has been prepared for aquarium use.

Using Lime
In terms of your process of using lime, once you mix the dry product into water, you really want to agitate it as little as possible. Precipitation is purely due to exposure to atmospheric CO2, which will happen at the surface of your mixed limewater anyway, but pouring the mixed product just aerates the whole solution, introducing more CO2 to react with your calcium. So at most, mix once and use from the settling container directly.

Certainly it'd be fine and easy to start off dosing kalk just by manually mixing and dosing the clear limewater, but in the long run I can't see using any other method than the Tunze 5074 reactor or something very similar. It eliminates pretty much 100% of the gotchas that usually are associated with mixing and dosing kalkwasser.

Vinegar
Another option to consider in addition to, or instead of, a reactor, is to mix your lime with vinegar before dosing. This reacts all the lime into stable calcium acetate, which doesn't precipitate and has little to no immediate effect on pH, so it can literally be dumped in the water. (Tropic Marin's Bio Calcium is an excellent powdered version of this, or very similar, and it can be dosed by sprinkling it right into the tank.)

If you use a reactor, you can just mix the vinegar into the reservoir water and it works just as well as premixing with the lime directly for manual dosing (no reactor).

This method is also handy because it lets you dissolve as much calcium into the water as you want....this means it can scale up the amount of calcium and alkalinity in your kalkwasser to support a lot more stony corals than just dosing plain kalk alone could.


Hope this helps!

-Matt

 

[lilmonster]

Great Article!

I've started adding kalk manually lately after given some from my lfs, and i wanted to find some locally.
i was looking at the mrs. wages pickling lime, but on their site it says it has 30% calcium and 2% iron, and i thought iron wasn't good for a tank.
link Mrs. Wages® - Your source for canning mixes, pickle mixes, fruit pectin, instant salsa mixes and more!

I also found this on another thread, would this work?

 

[kristofferzen]

How much vinegar with your kalk

Thanks for the reply and information. Should I do the vinegar route
How many ml of vinegar should I mix with the kalk solution?
Thanks!

 

[DM1975]

I would like some critique on what I may be doing wrong please. I currently drip calk from a five gallon container above my sump. I put in 10 tsp's of kalk and fill with RODI water. I allow it to settle and drip roughly one drop per second. When it's empty I clean the container, re fill with kalk and RODI.

My issue is I am having to add. 40ml each two part solution per day to maintain my calcium and alkalinity. My tank is 125g with a 55g sump mixed reef, some SPS and quite a few LPS and two clams.

Am I doing this right or should I do something else? I keep dripping kalk just to keep my levels stable as they will flux daily with just the two part. Here is a photo of the kalk drip. It isn't perfect but it works well to drip.

 

[mcarroll]

[...]Should I do the vinegar route [...]How many ml of vinegar should I mix with the kalk solution?[...]

Whether you should or not has to be up to you. I would make sure I grokked that article start to finish - there's a lot of crucial info in there! - before deciding.

When you are ready, there are specific mixing instructions in the article, as well as suggested starting points.

I would like some [...]My issue is I am having to add. 40ml each two part solution per day to maintain my calcium and alkalinity.[...]

Well, there are definite limits on how much calcium and alkalinity you can add per mL of water using regular saturated limewater. About 6 grams of lime is all that will dissolve per gallon of water at room temperature.*

If you aren't already dissolving that much when you make up your dripping solution, then gradually increase the amount of lime you use, increasing the strength of what you are dripping, until you are up to about 6-7 grams/gallon or until you are meeting your tank's demand - whichever comes first.

If you get to 6-7 grams/gallon but still haven't fully met your tank's demands, you will need to add vinegar (see the link in earlier post) to get more lime to dissolve in water, which theoretically is an unlimited strategy.

* Might be of further interest: http://www.lime.org/documents/lime_basics/lime-physical-chemical.pdf

 

[DM1975]

Ok. I'll have to check for sure but I'm sure that two tsp's is at or in excess of 7 grams. Am I doing right by cleaning out the kalk from the bottom of the container and replacing it with fresh kalk after each batch has dripped through? I see that some people are just adding kalk periodically to their reactors. Is this just something to be done to a reactor or should I be leaving the left over slurry in my jug, adding fresh RODI, and a little extra kalk?

Thanks for the help and info.

 

[mcarroll]

Depends how much in excess of 6-7g/gallon you've been adding. The quantity of leftover precipitate that you DON'T want is very small.

If you want to mix multiple batches from the leftover powder, you can verify potency to some degree by testing pH of your mix water. Fully saturated lime water should have a pH of 12.3.

-Matt

 

[chefb_5]

Just kind of confused if i'm already dosing cal and alk and i use kalk that will maintain? So I won't have to use as much, or will I beable to lower the amount i dose (cal,alk)?

 

[mcarroll]

IIRC, plain limewater can add up to 100ppm of calcium and a corresponding amount of alkalinity.

So, if you're dosing at the maximum rate (about 6-7g+ per gallon) this is what you "don't need to dose" in two-part anymore.

If you mix your lime with vinegar (as linked in post #191) you can boost the amount of lime (i.e. calcium and alkalinity) that will dissolve, further decreasing the amount of two-part you need to dose.

Hope this helps!

-Matt

 

[DM1975]

Ok cool. I checked my parameters and began dosing kalk with vinegar. I'll check every three days to measure how well it holds up. Thanks for all the help and info.