Switching to dosing from kalk in ATO

[splitting_lanes]

my tank doesn’t consume much, but I definitely need to dose alk.

at the LFS, when I asked about kalk stirrers and dosing kalk, they said that’s old school and I should do two part or three part.

which direction should I head in? Kalk, or multi part?

its a Reefer 170, and I’ve been dosing kalk through the stock ATO, which has drawbacks (plugs up)

thanks in advance. I’m certain this is the first of two or three questions I’ll have. I’ve read lots of what Randy has written and I came to the conclusion that Kalk is my next step, but the LFS.....

 

[Daddy-o]

I dose kalk through the ATO. why are you clogging? are you sucking the crap off the bottom?
Cheers! Mark

 

[splitting_lanes]

I dose kalk through the ATO. why are you clogging? are you sucking the crap off the bottom?
Cheers! Mark

Yeah, it’s hard not too with a stock ato, as the output is at the bottom on a 170

 

[Daddy-o]

Can you plumb an elbow inside the ato so that it draws up an inch or so?

 

[Quietman]

Have a 170 as well...not sure I'd go kalk in stock ATO without going for different ATO system as has been noted. That's an itty bitty hole on the bottom of that ATO.

If you're load is low - may look at some other options - All for Reef is what I use, liquid all in one additive. One of my reasons was I didn't want separate ATO right away and didn't want to go 2 part until I really needed it.

You can also dose kalk separately from ATO system.

And lastly, yes, Kalk is old school...but it still works and is an excellent solution.

 

[siggy]

Hey those mini one head dosers would be my first choice for a low demand tank. I am using up a bucket of Red Sea ABC+
powder and SPS are happy as a clam. It's an all-in-one powder

 

[Bossman]

I run kalk through my ATO in my 170 with a Tunze 3155. I use a small plastic ATO reservoir container (3 gallons or so) . I tape the lines on the ATO so that the pump doesn't rest on the bottom. I do the same thing with my RS 260. Every few months. the ATO discharge tube will build up residue at the discharge side and I have to clean that off. Otherwise, no issues.

 

[Mical]

Hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley will chime in. Something has been in the back of my head for awhile. I was dosing kalk to both my tanks via Apex ATK. About every 6-8 months I would have optical sensor failures, blamed it on cheap chinese sourced sensors. Lately I've been hearing this alot and not just with Apex ATOs. Since switching to Dosers my sensors are going strong at 2 years - dosing Cal, Alk & Mag and NO kalk.

As an audio engineer I get to hear alot of lectures and recently heard one from a Society Of Chemists and one of the lectures brought up the fact that kalk is caustic and the list of side effects & exposure was incredible. Besides being hazardous if inhaled, swallowed, etc... the instructor pointed out that it could slowly erode plastic & metal parts.

Anyone else heard anything of the sort? It sure would explain alot of equipment failures.

 

[splitting_lanes]

Can you plumb an elbow inside the ato so that it draws up an inch or so?

i thought about that, but it’s small enough that I thought a second system for kalk may be better

 

[splitting_lanes]

Have a 170 as well...not sure I'd go kalk in stock ATO without going for different ATO system as has been noted. That's an itty bitty hole on the bottom of that ATO.

If you're load is low - may look at some other options - All for Reef is what I use, liquid all in one additive. One of my reasons was I didn't want separate ATO right away and didn't want to go 2 part until I really needed it.

You can also dose kalk separately from ATO system.

And lastly, yes, Kalk is old school...but it still works and is an excellent solution.

i was thinking about dosing kalk separately from ATO system. It would make the stock ato last longer between fillups, as a lot of the makeup water would come in via limewater.

 

[splitting_lanes]

Hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley will chime in. Something has been in the back of my head for awhile. I was dosing kalk to both my tanks via Apex ATK. About every 6-8 months I would have optical sensor failures, blamed it on cheap chinese sourced sensors. Lately I've been hearing this alot and not just with Apex ATOs. Since switching to Dosers my sensors are going strong at 2 years - dosing Cal, Alk & Mag and NO kalk.

As an audio engineer I get to hear alot of lectures and recently heard one from a Society Of Chemists and one of the lectures brought up the fact that kalk is caustic and the list of side effects & exposure was incredible. Besides being hazardous if inhaled, swallowed, etc... the instructor pointed out that it could slowly erode plastic & metal parts.

Anyone else heard anything of the sort? It sure would explain alot of equipment failures.

I’ll be very interested in what he has to say about this. I read somewhere that kalk degrades plastic, so I was thinking I should run a separate tank of rodi and push it through a kalk stirrer. The solution gets more complicated as I try to solve for problems I haven’t experienced yet.

 

[siggy]

I ran kalk in my top off for 1.5 years. I had to replace the pump every 6-8 months so know that going fwd, and yes it will cause problems with the atk or anything down stream but so will a lot of things like organics. So dose to return chamber.
I have a kalk stirrer i was making room for yesterday. I personally think it's a great way to go for a low demand and even mid tanks.
Look at the big Guys, they run kalk when 2-3 part gets out of hand. Simple cheap and EZ. Dosing it is the best of both worlds. Best of luck

 

[dwest]

I’ll be very interested in what he has to say about this. I read somewhere that kalk degrades plastic, so I was thinking I should run a separate tank of rodi and push it through a kalk stirrer. The solution gets more complicated as I try to solve for problems I haven’t experienced yet.

I think you’ll like the kalk stirrer option. That’s what I use. But, more than likely down the road, you’ll need another source as well. I do kalk and 2 part. My tanks run for a while on kalk, then need more supplementation as corals grow. I have a mixed reef.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

my tank doesn’t consume much, but I definitely need to dose alk.

at the LFS, when I asked about kalk stirrers and dosing kalk, they said that’s old school and I should do two part or three part.

which direction should I head in? Kalk, or multi part?

its a Reefer 170, and I’ve been dosing kalk through the stock ATO, which has drawbacks (plugs up)

thanks in advance. I’m certain this is the first of two or three questions I’ll have. I’ve read lots of what Randy has written and I came to the conclusion that Kalk is my next step, but the LFS.....

Both work fine. Each has pros and cons.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’ll be very interested in what he has to say about this. I read somewhere that kalk degrades plastic, so I was thinking I should run a separate tank of rodi and push it through a kalk stirrer. The solution gets more complicated as I try to solve for problems I haven’t experienced yet.

Not all types of plastic are hurt by high pH m. Polyethylene and polypropylene don’t care about pH.

 

[splitting_lanes]

Not all types of plastic are hurt by high pH m. Polyethylene and polypropylene don’t care about pH.

i reached my conclusion that kalk dosing was the correct next step after reading things you wrote, up to 15 years ago, so your previous post affirms that kalk is a good choice, still.

the simpler way would be to mix limewater and deliver it via a peristaltic pump to the return in the sump periodically.

or, I could use the same thing as above but rodi water and push it through a kalk stirrer. I’d lose flexibility of being able to adjust the strength of the limewater, but maybe the pump would have an easier life?

 

[splitting_lanes]

After considering all the replies here and reading various supporting threads, it seems the answer is to pre mix limewater and use a liter meter for delivery.

if anyone else has any other suggestions ( the liter meter isn’t cheap, or available from anywhere other than Spectrapure ) please let me know.

 

[splitting_lanes]

i ordered the liter meter 3 and a couple 3 gallon polypropylene water jugs. The BRS kalk dripper kit should have everything else I need to get it going.

Better chemistry stability is coming!

 

[Cory]

Im using an old ghl doser with limewater. Its actually really easy. I set my dose and it stays pretty stable. I dose 130ml 24 x a day. I have a 30 gallon container that it draws from. Its weird because it never plugs. And ive had it running 8 months without having to replace any tubing. This is a good way to do it and is cheap to set up. Just wondering about a fail safe so it doesnt pump 30 gallons of limewater one day if it fails.

 

[dwest]

Im using an old ghl doser with limewater. Its actually really easy. I set my dose and it stays pretty stable. I dose 130ml 24 x a day. I have a 30 gallon container that it draws from. Its weird because it never plugs. And ive had it running 8 months without having to replace any tubing. This is a good way to do it and is cheap to set up. Just wondering about a fail safe so it doesnt pump 30 gallons of limewater one day if it fails.

You could get a high pressure switch from avast that would shut your kalk pump off if your sump level got too high. I have used a similar one for over 30 years.