New to Kalkwasser dosing in ATO.
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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It is normal for sludge to slowly collect, and how fast depends on how much magnesium is in the mix, how much CaCO3 is present, and other factors. It might even be undissolved calcium hydroxide.
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Hunter399
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Thank you guys for taking the time to answer all my questions. You have been a big help. I assume if I add too much it will be cloudy and precipitate?
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Yes, excess calcium hydroxide just settles to the bottom
rkpetersen
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As it happens, I've been experimenting with kalk for the very first time over the last few weeks, after reading all I could about it. It's been interesting and educational. Trying to take very small, baby steps, as I have much livestock in my system and this stuff is potentially quite dangerous.
I have a Reefer 450. The 3.2 gal ATO RO reservoir on this system is elevated, and is basically just a small open top glass aquarium. I've been using a partial cover to keep dust out, but there's no dedicated lid or top. I'm using the Neptune ATK for top off, consisting of a small pump, tubing, anti-siphon device, and output/sensor module. While this system works great with RODI water, I found that dosing kalc in this way just wasn't sustainable.
First, adding kalk to the reservoir was problematic. Even though I started with much less than a saturation dose, the CaCO3 precipitate and surface skin formation was excessive, and the skin would bubble, fracture and sink, creating more crud in the water. It was just a real mess, and got worse with every new kalk addition. I could see where this would require much more maintenance than before. I could and probably should have gotten a better/tighter cover at this point, which might have helped some.
However, even though I had the pump input elevated, it was clearly going to be sucking some particulate matter from time to time. I had read that these small pumps (and mine in particular), didn't tend to last long with this type of use, and I can well believe it. Finally, I felt that the risk of the anti-siphon device clogging with deposits, even with regular maintenance, was unacceptably high (it's just a pinhole, basically). Dosing 3+ gallons of RODI water by accident wouldn't be a huge problem, but an identical quantity of kalk would.
So, after 2 weeks, I ditched that approach.
I bought a small kalk reactor, the KW 300 from TLF. The incoming water flow activates a mechanical stirrer at the bottom of the cannister, allowing kalk to stream from a port at the top, under gravity into the sump. So far this device seems to be working quite well for me, although I'm still tuning its use. It seems like the recommended amount of kalk to add, 1/2 cup for my system parameters, is too much, as this tends to get stirred up quite a bit when the ATO activates. But perhaps I should be adding more kalk instead, so that it forms more of a layer and the stirrer has to work harder and stirs the thick kalk more slowly? If anyone has any experience with this device, I would appreciate any insights.
With the kalk reactor in line, I can put just pure RODI water in my reservoir again, keeping it clean, and more importantly, keeping the pump and anti-siphon device clean. However, there are other ways systems can malfunction, and if, for example, the pump were to get stuck in the on position, the tank would still be flooded with 3 gallons of kalk. Or a siphon could still occur somehow. So I put a solenoid in the water line between the ATO reservoir and the kalk reactor, to act as a gate, and programmed it to open and close 1 second before and after the expected pump start and stop times. Even if the pump screws up, the solenoid should slam shut (and let me know what's going on.)
At this point, I feel that the system is fairly safe. Kalk has dosed automatically with top off water for 48 hours now, and so far, so good. Alk stable, pH trending higher.
I have a Reefer 450. The 3.2 gal ATO RO reservoir on this system is elevated, and is basically just a small open top glass aquarium. I've been using a partial cover to keep dust out, but there's no dedicated lid or top. I'm using the Neptune ATK for top off, consisting of a small pump, tubing, anti-siphon device, and output/sensor module. While this system works great with RODI water, I found that dosing kalc in this way just wasn't sustainable.
First, adding kalk to the reservoir was problematic. Even though I started with much less than a saturation dose, the CaCO3 precipitate and surface skin formation was excessive, and the skin would bubble, fracture and sink, creating more crud in the water. It was just a real mess, and got worse with every new kalk addition. I could see where this would require much more maintenance than before. I could and probably should have gotten a better/tighter cover at this point, which might have helped some.
However, even though I had the pump input elevated, it was clearly going to be sucking some particulate matter from time to time. I had read that these small pumps (and mine in particular), didn't tend to last long with this type of use, and I can well believe it. Finally, I felt that the risk of the anti-siphon device clogging with deposits, even with regular maintenance, was unacceptably high (it's just a pinhole, basically). Dosing 3+ gallons of RODI water by accident wouldn't be a huge problem, but an identical quantity of kalk would.
So, after 2 weeks, I ditched that approach.
I bought a small kalk reactor, the KW 300 from TLF. The incoming water flow activates a mechanical stirrer at the bottom of the cannister, allowing kalk to stream from a port at the top, under gravity into the sump. So far this device seems to be working quite well for me, although I'm still tuning its use. It seems like the recommended amount of kalk to add, 1/2 cup for my system parameters, is too much, as this tends to get stirred up quite a bit when the ATO activates. But perhaps I should be adding more kalk instead, so that it forms more of a layer and the stirrer has to work harder and stirs the thick kalk more slowly? If anyone has any experience with this device, I would appreciate any insights.
With the kalk reactor in line, I can put just pure RODI water in my reservoir again, keeping it clean, and more importantly, keeping the pump and anti-siphon device clean. However, there are other ways systems can malfunction, and if, for example, the pump were to get stuck in the on position, the tank would still be flooded with 3 gallons of kalk. Or a siphon could still occur somehow. So I put a solenoid in the water line between the ATO reservoir and the kalk reactor, to act as a gate, and programmed it to open and close 1 second before and after the expected pump start and stop times. Even if the pump screws up, the solenoid should slam shut (and let me know what's going on.)
At this point, I feel that the system is fairly safe. Kalk has dosed automatically with top off water for 48 hours now, and so far, so good. Alk stable, pH trending higher.
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Hunter399
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Also when it is added into my tank when the ATO pump kicks on it precipitates a tiny bit but goes clear after. And it’s only a local clouding in that area. Is that normal?
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I also recommend a kalk reactor. I tried using kalk directly in my ATO reservoir but the pump would constantly clog up. Ended up purchasing a K1 reactor from avast marine and absolutely love it. Well worth the money
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Are you talking about in the tank where the limewater enters? Yes, that is normal. It is magnesium hydroxide temporarily forming. It redissolves.
