educate me on CALK through ATO

[superchargedgp]

educate me on KALK through ATO

I'm thinking about dossing kalk through ATO instead of your typical 2 part.
is there build up of calcium like I have experienced with BRS 2 part?
how do I mix it, and how much?

 

[sk8elenex92]

I have been using Kalk now for 2 years and so far its been working great to keep my parameters stable and PH up. I do not dose it through my ATO though. I use aqua lifter pump and my reef keeper to dose it every hour for 30 seconds. I use two teaspoons per a gallon. That is the most you can use to have pure saturated kalk water, the rest would just collect at the bottom. I have 5 containers that I switch out. I mix them and use them the next day. Just go to walmart and pick up pickling lime.

 

[superchargedgp]

hmm that sounds easy enough, no deposits left behind?

 

[Sawdonkey]

I dose kalk though ATO. It's easy, but not super stable. Your evaporation rate changes throughout the year and your coral uptake changes to. I just test alk before I mix up 25 gallons of kalk solution and adjust accordingly.

I use BRS kalk because it's way cheaper than even Mrs. Wages. A whole gallon is like $11.

 

[Sawdonkey]

I never use the very last of it because it doesn't all dissolve. I just mix up more in the same ATO container without without rinsing it. I clean it about every six months or so. Super easy

 

[Irsug1]

Dose if you can, instead of using your ato. I had the whole bucket go in at once because my drain was clogged. Lost a lot of coral.

 

[skyon888]

I have been using Kalk now for 2 years and so far its been working great to keep my parameters stable and PH up. I do not dose it through my ATO though. I use aqua lifter pump and my reef keeper to dose it every hour for 30 seconds. I use two teaspoons per a gallon. That is the most you can use to have pure saturated kalk water, the rest would just collect at the bottom. I have 5 containers that I switch out. I mix them and use them the next day. Just go to walmart and pick up pickling lime.

I do this exact same thing except with a single container that I refill and an apex. I prefer to dose independently from my ATO so there is no fluctuation as evaporation rates change, and it allows me to dose just at night when pH levels drop.

 

[superchargedgp]

ok so use controller and separate pump to dose, now how do I know how much should I dose? with 2 part I measured for daily drop and used that number to dose it daily. how does that work with kalk

 

[skyon888]

I just mix up 2 tsp. per gallon (fully saturated) and then test for alk/calcium every so often, adjusting the duration of the dose appropriately. As my corals grow I've had to slowly increase the duration to keep up with the consumption. I haven't reached the point yet where i'm dosing more than what is evaporating. If I ever reach that point I'll start super saturating with vinegar. I'm currently dosing for a total of 10min. per night using the aqualifter. (I dose for 25 seconds currently every 30 minutes from 10pm to Noon)

 

[Volcano1]

Here's a good article about kalk.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm#3

I have a large system, about 500 gallons of actual water volume. I was kalk with my ATO. I have one container of RO/DI water and one of kalk mixed with water.
I use a duel head dosing pump , and dial in the evaporation rate.I can adjust the amount of RO/DI or kalk water volume going in to match my evaporation or kalk demand. More kalk. dial down RO/DI, less dial it up. Same for kalk.I use 2 65 gallon water storage containers, and feed to the dosing pumps. It drips into my sump near my skimmer intake.If you use a dosing pump, and only drip in small amounts, it's hard to over dose.If you use a float valve , etc for ATO it could be a lot more of an issue.
How big is your tank and alk demand? A small system might be able to get away with a pretty simple design , even using a drip system designed for two part. Most times you can keep up with alk with kalk dosing only. I only came close to not meeting my demand when my tank was very full of sps and things were growing like crazy. It could go through around 5 gallons a day of kalk water to match evaporation and keep alk stable.
What ever method you chose, have some way to dose it very slowly, so it is harder to overdose. HTH's.