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06/24/2014, 10:33 AM | #1 |
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Dosing Kalwasser
Where is the bast place to dose Kalwasser from between the sump or ato?
I am using a drip tube. Thanks |
06/24/2014, 10:44 AM | #2 |
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Currently I'm mixing Kalk and RO/DI water in my ATO.
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Don Reefing since 1993 Current Tank info: 125 gallon DT , 125 gallon basement sump. Rw 15 & Rw 8. Panworld 150ps return. Reef Octopus 150 skimmer, 3 165w mars aqua led. |
06/24/2014, 10:55 AM | #3 |
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How does the saturation level work out that way?
Still working on my coffee here |
06/24/2014, 11:05 AM | #4 |
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I mix the kalk with my ATO water. I put a small powerhead on a timer to keep it mixed. Once an hour it mixes for 10 minutes. When my PH in the tank starts to drop, I know it is time to add more kalk to the ATO water.
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210 gallon, 75 gal sump/refugium, 3 Tunze 6105 on 7096 controller, AT I Sunpower 8 bulb T5 lighting, Apex controller. 40 gal breeder/20 gal sump frag tank |
06/24/2014, 12:30 PM | #5 |
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ok. to summarize, you guys measure out the correct amount of Kalk for your ATO reservoir, mix it, stir daily, then use the ATO to pump kalk water into DT?
basically it will refill Kalk at water evaporation rate? I heard people putting reactor into ATO reservoir to control Kalk amount.. Is this another method or am I misunderstanding something
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06/24/2014, 01:20 PM | #6 |
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I use it at 1 tablespoon per 2 gallons in my top off. Had a Kalk reactor but I prefer to do it this way. Works better for me.
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06/24/2014, 02:12 PM | #7 | |
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Once you have determined this, just add kalk powder to your ato reservoir and mix. I use an old pump to mix the solution for a few minutes. Once the kalk is suspended in solution it does not drop out. In other words there is no need to continually mix. In fact, it is best to let the mixture settle out so the impurities settle in the bottom of the reservoir and are not added to the tank. I keep my ATO pump suspended a few inches from the bottom so as not to add these impurities to the tank. I use the Tunze Osmolator and it has worked flawlessly so far. You can also add a reactor between your sump (or input to tank) and your ATO reservoir. This keeps the kalk out of the ATO pump and storage tank. I just ran into too many issues with siphoning trying to utilize a reactor between the ATO and the sump. Could work for your set up though. sorry for rambling. -Curtis Edit: For some clarification, you can added more than 2tsp per gallon to your reservoir, but it will not be dissolved into solution unless you add more water. At that point it would be more difficult to determine the concentration of the kalkwasser entering you tank. This is why I added Kalk and refill my ATO reservoir at the same time. |
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06/24/2014, 03:30 PM | #8 | |
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06/24/2014, 03:53 PM | #9 |
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Make sure your ATO adds water slowly. A fast ATO won't be suitable with limewater (kalkwasser).
If you are dosing from a large reservoir (the best way, IMO) you do not stir it except when first mixed. Stirring only speeds the degradation of it by CO2 in the air.
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06/24/2014, 04:03 PM | #10 | |
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06/24/2014, 05:15 PM | #11 |
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Yes, but that 2-3 gallons could go into the tank spread over 4-6 hours as 0.5 gallons per h, which is OK, or in 3 spurts of 1 gallon each in 2 minutes each, which is not.
Adding 1.25% of the tank volume at once boosts pH by 0.6-0.7 pH units instantly, which is too much. The slower the better. That's why many folks use drippers or very slow ATO pumps.
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06/24/2014, 05:45 PM | #12 |
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in your opinion, do you think the Tunze ATO pump is slow enough? Most of times, I only hear it on for 10 seconds at a time.. so I don't think alot is being pumped out. At the end of the day, I would find my 10 gal reservoir short ~2 gallons.
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06/24/2014, 05:52 PM | #13 |
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I've not used it to know the flow rate. I'll leave it to others, but it depends on your tank size as well.
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06/24/2014, 07:02 PM | #14 | |
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I dont know if this is for all models of the osmolator, but if you unscrew the 4 screws holding the face plate on monitor there is a knob and you can turn it one way or the other to increase the amount of water it discharges when the device kicks on. I opened it up and turned my pretty far down and it works great. |
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06/24/2014, 09:46 PM | #15 |
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Does kalk stay in the water after evaporation like salt?
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06/24/2014, 10:30 PM | #16 |
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When water evaporates, everything is left behind. Only pure water evaporates. However, the kalk will not build up by adding more kalk water as it is used in the aquarium in the form of ALK and CA. Using kalk in your ATO is just one of many forms of supplementing ALK and CA levels in proportion.
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The greatest trick the Devil ever played, was to convince the world he did not exist. Current Tank Info: 120 Mixed Reef, 2 Ecotech Radion G3Pros, 2 Ecotech Vortech MP40Ws, Diablo 200X, 30 Custom Sump, Apex Controller, 150 lbs. Live Rock. |
06/25/2014, 04:36 AM | #17 |
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I use kalk stirrer with dosing pump. In my tank ph doesnt stay constantly after it rises almost 0,02 in my tank. 10 min later it goes down where it has been before kalkwasser has been added. It holds my ph between 8.18-8.22 at night 8.38-8.42 at daylight. kH doesnt rise but also doesnt drop from 7 dkh. I have 80 g tank . And I dosee 55 ml saturated kalkwasser every 20 mins at night and every hour at day light. But I dunno if it is right to do , I also dosee Mg (magflake ) before adding kalk into tank .
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06/25/2014, 05:32 AM | #18 |
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Just to be clear, kalkwasser shouldn't be exposed to air for it to evaporate. CO2 will enter it and destroy it. Keep it in a closed container of some sort, such as a trash can with a closed lid. It should not be extensively stirred in the open air.
As mentioned above, the calcium and alkalinity added to aquarium water by any method won't ever evaporate from the seawater.
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06/25/2014, 10:58 AM | #19 | |
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210 gallon, 75 gal sump/refugium, 3 Tunze 6105 on 7096 controller, AT I Sunpower 8 bulb T5 lighting, Apex controller. 40 gal breeder/20 gal sump frag tank |
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06/25/2014, 12:28 PM | #20 | |
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06/25/2014, 01:35 PM | #21 | |
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do you have any way of measuring the amount of water you are adding to your resevoir? for me, if my reservoir is half full its 10 gallons, so if i added another 10 gallons of DI to it to top it off, then i would just added 20tsps of kalk powder and stir it. IF i add more kalk then that if will just settle to the bottom and not dissolve until more water is added. If i do not add enough kalk powder then my alk starts to drop in the tank. Does that make sense? |
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06/25/2014, 02:01 PM | #22 |
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interesting. did not know that extra kalk would settle until new water comes in.
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06/25/2014, 02:19 PM | #23 | |
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06/27/2014, 02:38 PM | #24 |
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I've been using one of these for 9 years — really dependable!
Pumps kalk from a Brute in the basement. Not float switches, no timers. I just keep an eye on the level in the sump and adjust the feed rate once in a while. |
06/27/2014, 10:56 PM | #25 | |
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