Dosing Kalk

wrfreeman · May 6, 2014

How many of you dose kalk and how do you do it? I currently dose in small increments 24/7 with my ATO. I premix it in a 7 gallon container that has a small powerhead in it to try and keep it mixed up. Because I dose throughout the day, I have noticed that the pH rises to around 8.5 by the end of the day. I've read that many dose just once a day in the morning when the pH is lowest. The mix it the night before to let it settle out and then drip it into the sump. Is it important to let it settle before adding it to the tank? My concern is dosing 2 gallons at once will cause a pH spike, an alkalinity spike, and a salinity swing. How do you all do it?

Rickyrooz · May 6, 2014

Tagging along as I am looking into dosing Kalkwasser well. 2 gallons all at once seems like too much. The pH should spike more than 8.5. I use a Kalkwasser paste to "burn" coral that are growing into one another and it raises my pH from 8.2 to 8.5 in a 120 gallon tank.

CoryC · May 7, 2014

you're getting a more significant ph rise because you're dosing the sediment as well. with kalkwasser you want to mix it for a bit, let it settle out, then dose the the clear top liquid. most add it to their ATOs, but you can drip it as well.

HiddenUser · May 7, 2014

I add a approximately a teaspoon of kalk per gallon to my ATO water and let my ATO handle adding the Kalk for me.

Occasionally I'll keep an eye on things to make sure that when my ATO is running that my PH doesn't jump more than .02.

wrfreeman · May 7, 2014

OK, so no more powerhead in the jug. Easy fix there. If I was going to mix it ahead of time and let it settle before I add to the ATO, how do you get the clear liquid out without stirring up cloudy again? Do you just siphon it out and into your ATO jug?

HiddenUser · May 7, 2014

wrfreeman said:
OK, so no more powerhead in the jug. Easy fix there. If I was going to mix it ahead of time and let it settle before I add to the ATO, how do you get the clear liquid out without stirring up cloudy again? Do you just siphon it out and into your ATO jug?

I just mix the Kalk and RO/DI in my ATO container and let it settle there for a few hours, then I put my ATO pump back into the container.

I keep my ATO pump about an inch or two from the bottom of the ATO container to avoid pulling out the kalk concentration...I also rinse out my ATO container about once a month or so to get out the sludge that's collected on the bottom.

Here's a helpful Mr. Saltwater Tank video on Kalk.

wrfreeman · May 7, 2014

Cool. Thanks man.

TwistedTiger · May 7, 2014

ChukeeR said:
I just mix the Kalk and RO/DI in my ATO container and let it settle there for a few hours, then I put my ATO pump back into the container.

I keep my ATO pump about an inch or two from the bottom of the ATO container to avoid pulling out the kalk concentration...I also rinse out my ATO container about once a month or so to get out the sludge that's collected on the bottom.

Here's a helpful Mr. Saltwater Tank video on Kalk.

Yes, that's about what I do.

Pete polyp · May 7, 2014

I used an old water jug, cut a hole in the top for airline tubing. I mix it, let it settle and start a siphon. I put an air valve on it so I may control the drip. I have it set at 1 drop every 8 seconds, and it tops the tank off just fine.

reefaboo · May 7, 2014

Pete polyp said:
I used an old water jug, cut a hole in the top for airline tubing. I mix it, let it settle and start a siphon. I put an air valve on it so I may control the drip. I have it set at 1 drop every 8 seconds, and it tops the tank off just fine.

Very interesting way to top off a tank

wrfreeman · May 8, 2014

OK. Yesterday I started dosing my top-off with kalk all at once in the morning when the pH is at it's lowest. This morning the pH was at 8.17. I dosed for approximately one hour which is roughly a gallon. The pH climbed up to 8.34 by the end of the dosing. is this too steep of a climb? I haven't tested alkalinity before or after so I'm not sure that's spiking during that period. Thoughts and suggestions?

Pete polyp · May 8, 2014

wrfreeman said:
OK. Yesterday I started dosing my top-off with kalk all at once in the morning when the pH is at it's lowest. This morning the pH was at 8.17. I dosed for approximately one hour which is roughly a gallon. The pH climbed up to 8.34 by the end of the dosing. is this too steep of a climb? I haven't tested alkalinity before or after so I'm not sure that's spiking during that period. Thoughts and suggestions?

I would be more concerned with the alk spike it caused if you did that. Kalk is meant to be dosed slowly and constantly, kind of like a calcium reactor.

fishroomlady · May 8, 2014

fwiw, I mix a rounded teaspoon full to a gallon of RO water. I mix it in the evening and let it sit overnight. I attached an IV tube to the bottom of the gallon jug and I slow drip it during the day when I'm at work. I have my lights on in the evening time.

wrfreeman · May 8, 2014

My lights run during the day so I need to either dose at night or in the morning before the lights come on. Maybe I'll start dosing around 4 AM and dose slowly through around 10 AM. I'm going to try the drip method from a gallon jug and see how that works out. I hope there wasn't a big alk spike during the dosing. Everything has been stable and doing good for a long time except for the pH rising up to 8.5 each evening.

Pete polyp · May 9, 2014

wrfreeman said:
My lights run during the day so I need to either dose at night or in the morning before the lights come on. Maybe I'll start dosing around 4 AM and dose slowly through around 10 AM. I'm going to try the drip method from a gallon jug and see how that works out. I hope there wasn't a big alk spike during the dosing. Everything has been stable and doing good for a long time except for the pH rising up to 8.5 each evening.

You can tire the airline with 2 knots... The tighter the knots the slower the drip. I dose about 1/3 gallon per day with 1 drop every 10 seconds.