Kalkwasser on ATO or Dosing 2 part?

Laborator · Feb 7, 2012

Been in the hobby for 4 months and would like to read members opinion.

Thanks

kuyatwo · Feb 7, 2012

Laborator said:
Been in the hobby for 4 months and would like to read members opinion.

Thanks

I switched back to kalkwasser from two part and I am having great results I use an avast Kalk reactor

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subielover · Feb 7, 2012

Kalkwasser!

Aquaph8 · Feb 7, 2012

I use both. Kalk alone was great for a while but wasnt enough for long. I would use two part alone but I love the bump kalk gives to my low PH

KJAG · Feb 7, 2012

Tried Kalk for awhile, prefer R.O. topoff/ two part

Devonjevon · Feb 7, 2012

Kalksweiser and vinegar in my ATO. Makes the water supersaturated with calcium.

angrycubano · Feb 8, 2012

So far my Calc has gone through the roof, PH too high, and Alk has stayed low. I think I may go back to 2-part. I'm going to try and mix less Kalk on my ATO next time and see. My $.02

shred5 · Feb 8, 2012

Check your ph to see if you can even use kalkwasser because it has a very high ph.
Some two part can actually push up ph too.

gfox · Feb 8, 2012

Devonjevon said:
Kalksweiser and vinegar in my ATO. Makes the water supersaturated with calcium.

How much vinegar do you use?Is there a formula for it?

angrycubano · Feb 8, 2012

shred5 said:
Check your ph to see if you can even use kalkwasser because it has a very high ph.
Some two part can actually push up ph too.

My tank usually runs a little low to normal PH with 2-part. I only noticed a high PH when I started Kalk on my ATO. I'm going to try and mix less i.e. just mixt 5 tsp on a 5 gal container and see.

beaslbob · Feb 9, 2012

I did both.

angrycubano · Feb 21, 2012

I prepared a new batch of ATO with 5 tsp of Kalk and saw no spike in PH this time. I still see that my alk goes down but Calcium stays high. I just don't see the point in Kalk is all it does is maintain high Calcium and not alk. I can 2-part both since I have to add alk all of the time. Maybe it's just me but I don't see the benefit of Kalk.

Devonjevon · Feb 24, 2012

Make sure you check magnesium when dosing kalksweiser.

OhYeah · Feb 24, 2012

What's a good level of Mg? I am at 1250 now.

data_loss · Feb 24, 2012

angrycubano said:
I prepared a new batch of ATO with 5 tsp of Kalk and saw no spike in PH this time. I still see that my alk goes down but Calcium stays high. I just don't see the point in Kalk is all it does is maintain high Calcium and not alk. I can 2-part both since I have to add alk all of the time. Maybe it's just me but I don't see the benefit of Kalk.

If all your parameters are within the correct ranges than Kalk will keep them there as it is a balanced additive. If your calcium is too high it can make it harder to keep alk up. Here is a great article on the subject.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems

Zombie · Feb 24, 2012

You just have to find out how much Kalk to mix and a dosing pump would allow you to control how much you add a day. I am using a 3 gallon per day max pump, so if I need to crank it up to keep up with evaporation I can't go past 3 gpd. I used to use a float valve and it worked but the line would get clogged with calcium occasionally and I was worried that the valve could hang open.

I use a Kent float valve in a bucket with a small power head to keep the water moving. The bucket is connected to a dosing pump. The line from the dosing pump goes into the sump.
The bucket/"kalk reactor" is filled from my RO unit through the float valve.