I think this works if your tank consumes more Kalk than the ATO can deliver then augmented by another source..but if you are less than that level, i dont see how someone could control Kalk levels by ensuring that 100% of evaporation is replaced by kalk.
Apex DOS head set to run from 10:00 pm to 2:00pm the next day. You can use any pump that doses, just figure out your evaporation in 24hrs and push that through Alk reactor reverse light schedule, instead of using kalk in the ATO reservoir.
Before Apex DOS, I Used a tunze pump on a timer.
Replacement Metering Pump for Tunze Osmolator 5000.02
Easily replace the low voltage metering pump for your Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 auto top off system.www.bulkreefsupply.com
RODI Water from my 50 gallon RO drum.
I am struggling for tank stability and burning tips on my SPS. all of the feedback I have been given is keep your alk in the 8s as mine was too high..i have no clue how well that works or if this makes any sense..but willing to try.
Agree with Randy, I keep the kalk reactor as saturated as possible by 24 hour stirring , & never letting it settle by pushing 6 gallons a day through the Kalk reactor. I have an advantage because my sump is in the garage 50 feet away form my reef and my total water volume is 850 gallons. So I never worry about the idea of the slurry unmixed Kalwasser powder reaching the reef tank. I would not use this method in a 100 gallon system with under tank sump without worrying about the Kalk Powder reaching the reef.
I have been doing this over 20 years, and back when I was on a shoestring budget I've killed tanks with Kalk on the ATO. I had a gravity float clog and dump in 30 gallons of Kalk all at once. I've forgotten to shut off topoff as I drain water and had a 100GPH pump dumping kalk in about as fast as it drained, luckily I was there so I saved most of it. I've had a skimmer overflow and Kalk in a topoff try and compensate,.. not helpful,...
That helps for sure,.. I use a parasitotic pump on my ATO so it would take a very long time to overflow. I still don't trust my Kalk to it though.
@Wiskey ........ I wander if you played with reverse photo period Kalk dosing if you could flatten out your PH and peg it at 8.25 or possibly 8.3 24/7 after a little adjusting.That one is me,.. not the OP. My PH is between 8.2 and 8.4 - defiantly not low, I'm also pulling outside air for my skimmer, and dose a gallon of Kalk per day.
Yeah..i have my kalk on a dosing pump as well...just independent to my auto top off pump. I was contemplating did i want to run my ATO through my kalk stirrer and repurpose my peristaltic pump for other stuff but am probably going to stick with my current set up. I would love to have my alk levels a little more constant..but i figure if I can keep it within a reasonable band with my current method, I should be good to go. As of now, my kalk gets added slowly regardless of evaporation and the ATO kicks in the rest.
You know? I thought about this,.. but here's my ALK:
That's the thing, I was dosing 300+ ML of 2 part per day, and that makes 600ML + of the TM Part C. Not only did this cause a crazy Salinity Rise but my 2000 ML DOS containers didn't last nearly long enough. Plus I was spending way over 2K per year on 2 part, more when I was doing Core 7, and that number kept going up,.. The ROI for the Capital investment of a CA reactor comes pretty fast at that rate.
That’s a lot of 2 part! You could split the difference and try the homemade recipes like Randy’s. $10 in baking soda goes a long way.
Just bough a small ice cap yesterday and plan on doing the same- 1. do you find the media lasting longer with the closed loop? 2. Do you still need to put the rodi water in the bottom if you are running this way?It will help maintain ph. The battle is getting ph up. I have had the best results using an IceCap Co2 reactor, set up as a closed loop system with my protein skimmer. Here is where my ph sits now.
