Mixing Kalk with tank water

[glennemo]

I built a DIY kalk dripper but have a problem. My tank is covered and I have no sump so my water is not evaporating fast enough for a nightly kalk drip. Could I just scoop the water out of my tank, pour it into the kalk dripper and mix in the kalk for the drip? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[ryeguyy84]

Do you have an ato?

[glennemo]

no. really no need for one. I loose about a gallon a week to evap. 36 gallon bow with standard perfecto hood retrofitted with LED's

[owentl]

I am not sure I would do that.. pretty risky to be honest. If you don't have that much evaporation.. you might check into dosing something like Reef Carbonate and Reef Complete or just using a different salt mix. My LFS has the DD salt and I switched to that and I don't have to dose anything. Granted I do not have much SPS so my tank's demands might not be what yours are. You can also add stuff to your salt when you make it to bump the trace elements from the get go too..

[scarface70706]

if i was you id buy a ato any ways. my evap rate is close to yours about 1 to 2 gallons a week. i use kalk and my tanks parameters are all good.

[IslandCrow]

I don't think using tank water for your kalk mix is going to be very effective. First, just with the saturation level of salt water, I wouldn't think you could dissolve that much more kalk into it (certainly not compared to fresh water). There may also be precipitation issues, but I'll leave all that to someone smarter than me in chemistry.

The other issue is that covering your tank is generally not a very good idea as it severely inhibits gas exchange, leading towards high PH (due to high CO2 levels) and low oxygen levels. If you're worried about fish jumping (or some other animal getting in), many people will use "egg crate". . .a.k.a. light diffuser. It's that plastic that looks like a bunch of squares you'll sometimes see in front of fluorescent lights. They sell it at any hardware store, and you can easily cut it to the shape you need.

Otherwise, I'd say kalk just isn't going to work for you, and if you need to bump up your calcium/alkalinity levels, you're best off either upping your water change schedule or adding a two-part supplement.

[glennemo]

Thanks for the replies guys. Crow I think you meant low ph from co2 build up. That is a problem in my tank. My PH is always hovering around 7.8. I've seen add on CO2 filters for protein skimmers but they will not work on my remora since it does not have an air intake. Scarface what pump are you using for your ato and how are you controlling it? Is your ato water kalk mix?

[glennemo]

Well I just removed the front portion of the hood(door). Let's see if that helps evaporation and gass exchange. Maybe it's time for that reef octopus that I was eyeing

[ryeguyy84]

I use a top off from Autotopoff dot com. add to that an aqualifter pump and your good to go. I use a gallon jug for my 29G and that lasts about 3 days because of the MH bulb and an open top.

I have to change the tubing from the pump every 4-6 months because the kalk starts to clog the 1/4 tubing.

[syrinx]

Check out making a kalk reactor instead- and yes you can use tank water just like a ca reactor or kalk reactor does. Obviously less kalk will dissolve in salt mix- because its ca is already elevated!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

and yes you can use tank water just like a ca reactor or kalk reactor does.

No, you cannot!

It is definitely a total no go to mix limewater and tank water, or to run tank water through a calcium hydroxide reactor.. You'll precipitate magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate.

[glennemo]

Wow a post from the man who wrote the book himself. Thanks Randy. While I have you, I just picked up Prestone Driveway heat to make the calcium part of your 2 part. You mentioned it in your article but, you wrote that some time ago. I have seen posts since stating that Dow is no longer removing Bromide from it's pellets. Have you checked up on this, and is it still safe to use?

[scarface70706]

Originally Posted by glennemo

Thanks for the replies guys. Crow I think you meant low ph from co2 build up. That is a problem in my tank. My PH is always hovering around 7.8. I've seen add on CO2 filters for protein skimmers but they will not work on my remora since it does not have an air intake. Scarface what pump are you using for your ato and how are you controlling it? Is your ato water kalk mix?

Tunze osmolater. i just mix brs kalk into my 5 gallon filled with ro/di water. works like a charm. i use tank covers on top of my 90 gallon but my gas exchange is fine. the amount of air my skimmer provides and my sump i dont see any difference in having tops on or not. but thats just my system. every system is different. also if you keep up on your water changes you dont have to worry about gas exchange. people have been using glass tops for who knows how long and they have successful reef tanks. if you have a sump and a decent gap between your tank and the wall its against you will have good gas exchange.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have seen posts since stating that Dow is no longer removing Bromide from it's pellets. Have you checked up on this, and is it still safe to use?

Folks seem to be continuing to use Dow products without a problem from the bromide. Just keep up regular water changes. You can also get lower bromide CaCl2 from companies like BRS.

[IslandCrow]

Originally Posted by glennemo

Thanks for the replies guys. Crow I think you meant low ph from co2 build up. That is a problem in my tank. My PH is always hovering around 7.8. I've seen add on CO2 filters for protein skimmers but they will not work on my remora since it does not have an air intake. Scarface what pump are you using for your ato and how are you controlling it? Is your ato water kalk mix?

Yes, I did mean to say Low PH. . .thank you.