Kalk Vs. 2 Part

[FranklinDattein]

Bear in mind, that adding kalk to ATO water has a few potential disadvantages, depending on your setup:
- Kalk will wear the ato pump much quicker, goes from ~5years to ~5months. Two tunze ATO pumps will cost the same as cheap dosing pump, so it might be cheaper to go the dosing pump route in the mid/long term. A kalk dispenser is also a good alternative.
- Evaporation is what will dictate when and how much kalk is added. Therefore, it is hard to keep a consistent daily dosage and any spikes in evaporation can cause pH and alk spikes.
- Quick changes in water level, like a overflow getting half clogged, can quickly fill up the overflow chamber, reduce the water level in sump and dose a lot of kalk at once.

 

[mknightryder]

I ran fully saturated kalk on my 90g through my ato for 4 yrs. I used a JBJ ato & cheap Aqualifter pump and found they delivered small enough doses through out the day to not "spike" the tank. Plus, the Aqualifter is really cheap and I changed my first one out at the 2yr mark just because... lol Limewater kept my params pretty stable for my mixed reef. However, I noticed I was having some mild swings due to changes in weather and evaporation.

A few months back I transferred everything over from my 90g to a new 150g. I decided to add an Avast Marine K1 Kalk Stirrer coupled with their peristaltic pump. I DOSE a set amount of kalk every day (6,000 ml's) and make up the difference with my ato w/ rodi. Also, I am using BRS 2part and DP4 dosing pump (90 ml's of sodium bicarbonate-alk & 30 ml's of calcium chloride-cal). My params are dead-on now! My tank seems to use up a lot more alk than cal, so I have to dose the two at different amounts... I like to run close to NSW 2.8meq / 7.8dkH - 420cal - 1350 mag pH stays between 8.26-8.34
I think limewater is great! Paired with 2 part it is awesome! It has allowed my to really fine tune things especially coupled with 2 part! If I get a growth spurt I can simply add a little more limewater and increase my evaporation OR adjust my 2 parts. *** everything is controlled/ observed by my Apex***


The kalk stirrer is nice, but is not needed if you have enough space near your aquarium to store enough saturated limewater in a big container. My space was limited, so I opted for the stirrer. It's simple enough to add 1.5 cups every 2 wks and every month I clean it out and start over... On my 90g I used two - 5g containers. Only one container would be hooked to my ato at a time. One 5g would last 4 days. I would always mix a fresh batch in the "2nd" container on the third day, so it would be ready to swap over the following day.

Main thing is to go slow, read, read some more, test, document, test, document, and enjoy! I write all my findings on a calendar that is dedicated just for tank stuff.... Eventually, you will see a trend in your params and know what your tank wants and needs... I have read Randy's chemistry threads more times than I can count! lol HTH

 

[Wy8tt_Earp]

Is anyone dosing with a 3 part instead of a 2 part? Advantages and/or disadvantages?

 

[Downbeach]

Is anyone dosing with a 3 part instead of a 2 part? Advantages and/or disadvantages?

If you're referring to: Ca, Alk and Mg, most formula's know as two part are in reality three part. But, due to the fact that the amount of Mg in reserve in our systems, and the small amount that is used(~ 1/10 of the Ca use), it usually isn't necessary to have a doser for it. If needed it's usually done with an occasional dose done manually. In my case, with regular WC's I never had to dose any Mg.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is anyone dosing with a 3 part instead of a 2 part? Advantages and/or disadvantages?

Three part is just an easier way to DIY than a true two part, which incorporates the magnesium into the calcium part. To DIY with just two parts instead of three, one would need to buy some extra components, such as sodium sulfate.

 

[BlueDevil]

I have been using kalk some quite some time now and have found it to mess with the pH a little too much for my liking. I dose the kalk via my ATO. The issue I see with this is that evaporation is typically higher during the day, which is when the pH is also higher. So, as my ATO (and therefore kalk) pumps throughout the day as needed, it tends to cause spikes in my pH. I don't even use the full saturation mix of kalk. I am currently using 7 tsp per 5 gallons of FW. The other thing to take into consideration is where your pH is at currently. If it is on the higher end like in my case, using kalk will only drive it higher. If you pH is low to begin with, you might be able to get away with it, though you may see the swings that I do, just on the lower end of the spectrum. Now these pH spikes are temporary and the level comes back down in due course. But I just thought using a two-part might give my levels a little more stability.

The only solution to this that I can see is to run the ATO only at night, but in this case, I would think it would dump a lot of kalk to account for all the evaporation during the day.

With that being said, I have ordered a couple of 1.1 ml dosers from BRS that I can hook up to my Apex controller so I have a trickle of supplements going in at regular intervals. I hope that this will help me stabilize both my alk and pH without the spikes I am currently seeing.

 

[BlueDevil]

Would you know why when I mix my limewater it stays cloudy, a mixing it with RO/DI in a 5 gallon bucket, a mixing a very light solution of 2 teaspoons to 5 gallons I stir it in and then I pour into another 5 gallon bucket and back into the original 5 gallon bucket it sit for 24 hours and get a slight film on top when I pour the mixture off the top it's still cloudy when I put it in my ATO. I even tried adding a capful of vinegar to the water that didn't help either I don't know why it's it's not turning clear I have enclosed pictures of the product I'm using my automatic top off and my mixing bucket and I do put a cover on my mixing bucket and my automatic top off any help would be greatly appreciated thank you​

One suggestion I have for you is to put the pump in some sort of container and then inside the main ATO reservoir. I put my pump inside a ball mason jar. This helps keeps the sediment from the bottom from getting sucked up by the pump.​

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have been using kalk some quite some time now and have found it to mess with the pH a little too much for my liking. I dose the kalk via my ATO. The issue I see with this is that evaporation is typically higher during the day, which is when the pH is also higher. So, as my ATO (and therefore kalk) pumps throughout the day as needed, it tends to cause spikes in my pH. I don't even use the full saturation mix of kalk. I am currently using 7 tsp per 5 gallons of FW. The other thing to take into consideration is where your pH is at currently. If it is on the higher end like in my case, using kalk will only drive it higher. If you pH is low to begin with, you might be able to get away with it, though you may see the swings that I do, just on the lower end of the spectrum. Now these pH spikes are temporary and the level comes back down in due course. But I just thought using a two-part might give my levels a little more stability.

The only solution to this that I can see is to run the ATO only at night, but in this case, I would think it would dump a lot of kalk to account for all the evaporation during the day.

With that being said, I have ordered a couple of 1.1 ml dosers from BRS that I can hook up to my Apex controller so I have a trickle of supplements going in at regular intervals. I hope that this will help me stabilize both my alk and pH without the spikes I am currently seeing.

Slow pumps also eliminate this concern. With some, you can set the rate to just above the evaporation rate so it is spread out over nearly the entire day/night, or just the night.

 

[BlueDevil]

Slow pumps also eliminate this concern. With some, you can set the rate to just above the evaporation rate so it is spread out over nearly the entire day/night, or just the night.

Hmm ... there might some complexities with that too. It will likely have to be tweaked, albeit marginally, each time the season changes significantly. But I agree, a slow pump spread out would probably do the trick. The main reason I am in the process of switching over to two-part is due to my (already) high pH. The lower end of the range is usually no lower than 8.2 and it swing as high as 8.60 at times just after the ATO has kicked in.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hmm ... there might some complexities with that too. It will likely have to be tweaked, albeit marginally, each time the season changes significantly. But I agree, a slow pump spread out would probably do the trick. The main reason I am in the process of switching over to two-part is due to my (already) high pH. The lower end of the range is usually no lower than 8.2 and it swing as high as 8.60 at times just after the ATO has kicked in.

There might be complexities if you really want to match things closely to evaporation, but I don't consider that especially important.

I've been dosing limewater with slow pump (Reef Filler) for 20 years. I don't adjust by season, but others might choose to do so. I don't consider pH 8.6 too high, but it is the edge of what I'd elect to have. May tank ran for years at pH 8.35 to pH 8.55.

 

[Rybren]

As for pumps wearing out quickly, I've been running kalk in my ATO for ~7 years and am still on the original aqualifter. I do, however, run venegar through it every 6 to 12 months to clean it out.

 

[BlueDevil]

There might be complexities if you really want to match things closely to evaporation, but I don't consider that especially important.

I've been dosing limewater with slow pump (Reef Filler) for 20 years. I don't adjust by season, but others might choose to do so. I don't consider pH 8.6 too high, but it is the edge of what I'd elect to have. May tank ran for years at pH 8.35 to pH 8.55.

Thanks for sharing you experience Randy! I try to not to tinker with a lot of things and prefer the laissez-faire approach. However when I started to see my pH creep that high and more importantly the sudden spiked, I thought of trying the two-part approach. Just for my info, what would you consider an acceptable (temporary) caused by a dose of either kalk or otherwise?

 

[peter fumo]

One suggestion I have for you is to put the pump in some sort of container and then inside the main ATO reservoir. I put my pump inside a ball mason jar. This helps keeps the sediment from the bottom from getting sucked up by the pump.​

thanks good suggestion