kalkwasser top off

YoCamron · Mar 16, 2019

Hi everyone,

I am trying to get everything ready to leave my tank at my parents house when i go to school in the fall. I want to get an auto top off for sure, but I don’t know if I want to get an auto doser. I have heard many people that have had great results topping off with kalkwasser mixed into their RODI water. Would this be enough to maintain a mixed reef tank? Or should I get an auto doser as well? I don’t want to have them doing water changes on this tank to make it as easy as possible for them to maintain.

Justfebreezeit · Mar 16, 2019

Kalk can definitely keep up with a mixed reef in most cases. However you need to test alk consistently at least until you dial in the amount of kalk per gallon. If you don't leave till fall it should be plenty of time.

Chiefmaster30 · Mar 16, 2019

More Info about tank? Size?

YoCamron · Mar 16, 2019

Justfebreezeit said:
Kalk can definitely keep up with a mixed reef in most cases. However you need to test alk consistently at least until you dial in the amount of kalk per gallon. If you don't leave till fall it should be plenty of time.

just bought the hanna alk and calcium testers. probably do a water change then dont dose for a week and see how both drop to estimate the usage of both in tank?

YoCamron · Mar 16, 2019

Chiefmaster30 said:
More Info about tank? Size?

30 gallon mixed reef that I dose 2 part for alk and calcium currently

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 16, 2019

YoCamron said:
just bought the hanna alk and calcium testers. probably do a water change then dont dose for a week and see how both drop to estimate the usage of both in tank?

That’s a reasonable approach. Just remember that the daily demand drops as the alk drops. It may stop dropping entirely at about 6 dKH.

Justfebreezeit · Mar 16, 2019

YoCamron said:
just bought the hanna alk and calcium testers. probably do a water change then dont dose for a week and see how both drop to estimate the usage of both in tank?

I would do a water change. Fill your ATO resorvoir and set a small amount of kalk in it. Something like 1 teaspoon every 3-4 gallons (I used a 5 gallon bucket and filled it to 4 gallons every time and this was how I started). Let it run.

Test after 24 hours, then 48, then 72. If your alk is declining you know to add more kalk to the next batch, if it is rising you know to decrease the kalk.

Its pretty simple, 2 tsp per gallon is max and it takes a pretty stony reef to gobble that much up.

Chiefmaster30 · Mar 16, 2019

Justfebreezeit said:
I would do a water change. Fill your ATO resorvoir and set a small amount of kalk in it. Something like 1 teaspoon every 3-4 gallons (I used a 5 gallon bucket and filled it to 4 gallons every time and this was how I started). Let it run.

Test after 24 hours, then 48, then 72. If your alk is declining you know to add more kalk to the next batch, if it is rising you know to decrease the kalk.

Its pretty simple, 2 tsp per gallon is max and it takes a pretty stony reef to gobble that much up.

+1

Flippers4pups · Mar 16, 2019

I successfully run my system this way. Takes a little time to dial in, but works well.

André Brasil · Mar 16, 2019

Just wanted to say i learned something here today ^^

MrObscura · Mar 16, 2019

Kalk works but isn't the most precise and I'm not sure I'd want to trust an automated tank that's needs to be on autopilot to it.

YoCamron · Mar 16, 2019

MrObscura said:
Kalk works but isn't the most precise and I'm not sure I'd want to trust an automated tank that's needs to be on autopilot to it.

hahaha unfortunately gonna have to do so. everyone in my family is pretty busy and i’ll only be able to help troubleshoot via facetime if anything goes wrong

YoCamron · Mar 16, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
I successfully run my system this way. Takes a little time to dial in, but works well.

looking into auto top offs now so I can get start getting this all going. probably going to make everything easier to maintain as well instead of having to dose and do top offs myself

LobsterOfJustice · Mar 16, 2019

Do you have any SPS corals?

Honestly, I don’t think this is a great approach for leaving the tank for weeks at a time. I would get rid of any SPS and then let the tank go without dosing while you are gone, or set up a very small amount of 2 part on dosing pumps. If you aren’t there to monitor calcium and alkalinity I feel like it’s dangerous to dose it. LPS and softies will survive without dosing, the LPS will just slow their growth.

Flippers4pups · Mar 16, 2019

YoCamron said:
looking into auto top offs now so I can get start getting this all going. probably going to make everything easier to maintain as well instead of having to dose and do top offs myself

I've used a electronic float switch for decades. Autotopoff.com double. Been rock soild for decades.

http://autotopoff.com/Standard/index.html

My tank is primarily SPS and LPS and only supplement alkalinity once in a blue moon. Been using kalkwasser in my ATO topoff reservoir as long as I've been in the hobby. No two part, no calcium reactor.

YoCamron · Mar 16, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
I've used a electronic float switch for decades. Autotopoff.com double. Been rock soild for decades.

http://autotopoff.com/Standard/index.html

My tank is primarily SPS and LPS and only supplement alkalinity once in a blue moon. Been using kalkwasser in my ATO topoff reservoir as long as I've been in the hobby. No two part, no calcium reactor.

tank looks great, love the look of GSP on a bare bottom

Abhishek · Mar 16, 2019

Kalk is the Tear of Reefing Gods ! The benefits of dosing kalk outweighs everything else in my book .

Personally I would like to keep kalk separate and dose through peristaltic pump and make sure I dose less than my everyday top off requirement .
Evaporation varies with season especially where I live and hence to maintain consistency I use kalk separate from top off .

If you are starting out , you can do top off water and later once you have a good hold on dosing kalk look into better and more efficient ways to maintain more stability .

Regards,
Abhishek