Adding Kalk through top off questions

[saturn13]

Hi Everyone,

So I want to add Kalk through my ato, I have an 14 gallon barrel that I have to refill every 10-11 days. Do I have to worry about a kalk mix not being effective the longer it sits? Right now I have the top of the barrel lightly on with the fill line coming out, I can always drill a hole and run the line through and se/secure the lid so air is not getting in. I want to get a Kalk Stirrer but rather not spend the money now.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

You will be beter off with lid. Make sure it's not vacuum tight. In addition the kalk will also make a skimm coat on top that naturally protects the mixture.

 

[saturn13]

You will be beter off with lid. Make sure it's not vacuum tight. In addition the kalk will also make a skimm coat on top that naturally protects the mixture.

Do you think I can throw a power head in to stir up the mixture initially , take it out, close everything up and wait about an hour before turning back on the ato?

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

Do you think I can throw a power head in to stir up the mixture initially , take it out, close everything up and wait about an hour before turning back on the ato?

Yes. Make sure your ATO pump is about an inch off the bottom of the container or it will pick up the sludge. You will need to clean everything regularly too. But be aware. If you have an ATO failure in the on position it will be putting extremely high ph water into your tank. Make sure you have an excellent ATO system or you could run into problems.

 

[saturn13]

Yes. Make sure your ATO pump is about an inch off the bottom of the container or it will pick up the sludge. You will need to clean everything regularly too. But be aware. If you have an ATO failure in the on position it will be putting extremely high ph water into your tank. Make sure you have an excellent ATO system or you could run into problems.

ok thanks

 

[saturn13]

Yes. Make sure your ATO pump is about an inch off the bottom of the container or it will pick up the sludge. You will need to clean everything regularly too. But be aware. If you have an ATO failure in the on position it will be putting extremely high ph water into your tank. Make sure you have an excellent ATO system or you could run into problems.

So I added alk and so far parameters are pretty good, but my alk is staedily raising more than I thought, .2 daily which I don't like that this is the method which is raising the alk this way because it's fast and will get too high. So any suggestions? I added 1 teaspoon of alk per gallon to a 14 gallon ATO. Should i empty the ATO and remix at 1/2 or 3/4 teaspoon? or Should I dilute the current mixture with some fresgwater?

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

Both of those solutions would help. I would always start with less and work my way up to the proper dosage. Make sure you test alk at the same time every day. You could easily get a .2 difference by testing at different times of the day.