Looking for help with Kalk dosing setup

Jasontkd · Mar 31, 2020

I am running a 20 gallon tank. Even with 10-15% water changes weekly, I still need to dose. I have used Kalkwasser in the past, but I am having trouble with it now.

I have limited space for an ATO, and my reservoir holds about 2.5 gallons. I am using a Tunze 3152 for my ATO. Here is my issue. I mix kalk in a separate container and then transfer the limewater to the ATO reservoir. Even with this, I end up with a bunch of settled slurry. I raise my pump off the bottom of the tank to try and keep slurry from being dosed, but every time my ATO pump shuts off, a bunch of water rushes back into the reservoir and the settled kalk is mixed back up.

This doesn't always settle before the ATO runs again. So, I am looking for solutions. BRS recommends just putting the kalk in the reservoir and stirring, but I think I will end up dosing kalk and not just the saturated water.

Do I need a certain sized reservoir to make this work, or is there a solution I am missing?

TripleTruble · Mar 31, 2020

I just use my ATO resoviour container. I mix let sit for a few hours and replace

fishybizzness · Mar 31, 2020

I currently add kalk to my ATO. I use a 20 gallon aquarium for my top off container. When it runs out I take the tank outside and hose it out. I then refill it with fresh rodi water and put the ATO pump in the tank and make sure there are not any air bubbles in the pump. I built a small stand for the pump out of egg crate to keep the pump about 1 1/2" off the bottom. I then measure out my kalk powder into a container. I have a long stainless kitchen spoon that I use for my mixing. I then start to stir the water as I add the kalk powder quickly. I just stir long enough to get it mixed, usually maybe 5 or 6 seconds. I then place the cover on and let it settle. My cover is a plastic aquarium cover and fits flush into the top edge of the tank and I have a strip of gorilla tape around the edges to give a good seal and help to limit air getting in and limiting evaporation. To give it time to clear up, I add about 3 or 4 cups of rodi to my sump to give the pump about 5-6 hours before the evaporation gets to the level where the pump kicks on. This has worked well for me. Hope this helps!