Can I dose my ATO reservoir?

Jakepen · Mar 19, 2016

Down the road, if I have to dose alk and calcium, can I add a certain amount to my ATO reservoir? Or will that be to hard to regulate, be inconsistent maybe?

hybridazn · Mar 19, 2016

You can add kalk to your ato but not 2 part. That will need to be dosed directly to the system.

Jakepen · Mar 19, 2016

hybridazn said:
You can add kalk to your ato but not 2 part. That will need to be dosed directly to the system.

Oh alright, think I heard or read that somewhere. Know of any good threads off hand? Would like to look a bit more into that..

Lonny · Mar 20, 2016

Check out the BRS video on YouTube. They cover using kalkwaser in your ATO. They even have a calculator to tell you how much to use!

cmcoker · Mar 20, 2016

Lots more in the stickies in the chemistry forum, this is a good one on kalk
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

Lonny · Mar 20, 2016

cmcoker said:
Lots more in the stickies in the chemistry forum, this is a good one on kalk
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

Great article!

Ryengoth · Mar 20, 2016

I also toss in a little bit of salt mix (maybe 3 TBSP) per 5G ATO fill up for the skimmer loss.

reefwiser · Mar 20, 2016

I don't dose the ATO water found out years ago Kalk messes with your water pump or if you use a float valve it will clog that too.
If you use a 2 or 3 part dosing method you want to dose those directly into your sump or tank separately as they will combine and fall out of solution.
In other words they need to be dosed an different times into your sump or tank.

Jakepen · Mar 20, 2016

Ryengoth said:
I also toss in a little bit of salt mix (maybe 3 TBSP) per 5G ATO fill up for the skimmer loss.

Hmm, that's a thought. Will definitely consider that. I only have a ghost midsize skimmer, so it won't pull a whole lot.

cmcoker · Mar 20, 2016

reefwiser said:
I don't dose the ATO water found out years ago Kalk messes with your water pump or if you use a float valve it will clog that too.
If you use a 2 or 3 part dosing method you want to dose those directly into your sump or tank separately as they will combine and fall out of solution.
In other words they need to be dosed an different times into your sump or tank.

Depends on your setup I guess, I expect an impeller pump sitting in kalk would effect the life of the pump.

I use a aqualifter with a pre-filter on it and the water is taken about an inch from the bottom. Been using the same pump about 3 years, for $15 bucks that seems pretty good to me, and a rebuild kit is like $5 so I'll try that when it eventually fails.
The aqualifter is cheaper than peristaltic dosing pumps, though that would be an alternative as well for an ATO using kalk.

briancarterkc · Mar 20, 2016

cmcoker said:
Depends on your setup I guess, I expect an impeller pump sitting in kalk would effect the life of the pump.

I use a aqualifter with a pre-filter on it and the water is taken about an inch from the bottom. Been using the same pump about 3 years, for $15 bucks that seems pretty good to me, and a rebuild kit is like $5 so I'll try that when it eventually fails.
The aqualifter is cheaper than peristaltic dosing pumps, though that would be an alternative as well for an ATO using kalk.

I don't do this myself, but have read about several people that keep their impeller pump perched on a stand a couple/three inches off the bottom to keep the pump out of the slurry on the bottom (good for the pump, also good not to pump that slurry into your tank).

Ryengoth · Mar 20, 2016

The slurry will only go into solution as needed, so it doesn't really matter where it is. I don't pump ATO into my DT. I pump into the skimmer chamber so there's time for dissolving, temp change and salinity adjustment before it gets into the middle/refug section. I put 1 heaping tsp of kalkwasser in with every 10G of fill-up on my ATO and my calc and alk have stayed level with major growth in all calciferous critters. I have 2 small Halimeda plants in my refug. I would not dose anything unless you have monitored a loss of calcium ions alone and not along with magnesium ions too. Then, a little kalkwasser in your ATO will help. You could also put a big bunch of Halimeda in your sump and decent light. Your kalkwasser dosing levels should go down as the "leaves" grow and die making an automatic calcium "doser" without disturbing your ion balances.

FlyinBryan · Mar 20, 2016

No you cannot. If you add alk & ca to top off these elements will bind immediately at precipitate out.
However, if you add the right amount of Kalk your tank will help maintain levels of alk, Ca, and keep ph elevated.
I have for years and those elements are very stable. It burns up Mg faster, but I test that weekly and dose appropriately.
No you can't dose Mg in top off either. Its a common question.

Ryengoth · Mar 20, 2016

FlyinBryan said:
No you cannot. If you add alk & ca to top off these elements will bind immediately at precipitate out.
However, if you add the right amount of Kalk your tank will help maintain levels of alk, Ca, and keep ph elevated.
I have for years and those elements are very stable. It burns up Mg faster, but I test that weekly and dose appropriately.
No you can't dose Mg in top off either. Its a common question.

Have you ever thought about using a flow siphon setup to suck mg and calcium bicarb from a jug as the main ATO flows? Dosers are overpriced for me considering I rarely dose. Low concentration 2 part could be pulled in with the ATO as it flows.

cmcoker · Mar 20, 2016

Ill add on my biocube 14, I put alk in my topoff and dose calcium once or twice a week by hand. It's a softie tank though and they aren't as demanding

Bunnee911 · Mar 20, 2016

I use lime in my ato. But, not much yet. Tank is less than a year old. Very few hard corals yet.

briancarterkc · Mar 20, 2016

I use up alk faster than anything else. I dose carbon (vodka) which uses it up faster than the rest. So, I do put the alk part of a two-part in my ATO reservoir. Then just add calc to the sump as needed. So if your tank uses one part more than the other, you can add it to your ATO. Just not both.

Bunnee911 · Mar 20, 2016

briancarterkc said:
I use up alk faster than anything else. I dose carbon (vodka) which uses it up faster than the rest. So, I do put the alk part of a two-part in my ATO reservoir. Then just add calc to the sump as needed. So if your tank uses one part more than the other, you can add it to your ATO. Just not both.

Groovy

john.m.cole3 · Mar 20, 2016

Actually, you can run kalk in your ATO and not damage the pump one bit with this product.
http://www.amazon.com/Tunze-USA-507...TF8&qid=1458524632&sr=8-1&keywords=tunze+5074
If you already own the Tunze Osmolator, this Tunze 5074 calcium dispenser was made to work with it. You don't have to measure your kalk out or worry about it messing up your pump. I bought one but haven't installed it on my new build yet.

FlyinBryan · Mar 21, 2016

Ryengoth said:
Have you ever thought about using a flow siphon setup to suck mg and calcium bicarb from a jug as the main ATO flows? Dosers are overpriced for me considering I rarely dose. Low concentration 2 part could be pulled in with the ATO as it flows.

No. You generally don't use the much Mg unless, don't quote me on this, you have a massive load of corals.

Unless you have a a total sps dominated tank with just large mature coals sucking up Ca & Alk. Running kalk in your ato will work just fine.

I like the thought processes. Don't over think it. Just test Mg once a week and dose appropriately.

Test ca & alk for 3 days to see what your tank needs are. Sometimes it's just not a lot.

Ps there's nothing cheap in this hobby. Save now..pay later. No 2 ways about it.