Thinking KALK to start what's your opinion?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hello all!

My tank has been doing great and sps frags and corals have really started taking off. With that I need to start thinking about keeping up with demand for calcium and alkalinity. I have used two-part in the past but I wasn't very good at calculating the rate of consumption and ended up calcifying my sand! My plan is to go that route as the demand increases and then to a Calcium Reactor.

I was thinking since the demand is still pretty low that I might start with a Kalk (Kalkwasser) Reactor.

I would like to hear what you think is best, why and what are you using please!

 

[Crabs McJones]

What were you using to calculate how much you should be dosing just out of curiosity? I voted 2 part. I like the idea of kalk, but could never wrap my mind around the need to constantly be cleaning my ato reservoir. A stirrer would fix that, but I dont have any more room for equipment lol

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

My plan is similar. i have primarily frags right now so not a lot of consumption. I currently use an kalk stirrer hooked up to my Neptune Dos. My plan in the long run is to get a Calcium reactor, but still dose Kalk in order to keep PH up. Starting with the stirrer means that you aren't buying gear that will collect dust in the long run - unless you plan to scrap it when you get the CA reactor online.

 

[Oshanickreef]

I’m curious about this too

 

[Cory]

I use a big 44 gallon brute trash can with kalk. Its dosed via a ghl doser. It lasts for about a month. What i hate is when i have to add kalk powder it screws around with the dosing because im too lazy to wait 5 days for it to settle out clear. I usually have to turn it down because its too potent.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I use a big 44 gallon brute trash can with kalk. Its dosed via a ghl doser. It lasts for about a month. What i hate is when i have to add kalk powder it screws around with the dosing because im too lazy to wait 5 days for it to settle out clear. I usually have to turn it down because its too potent.

This problem is eliminated with a good kalk stirrer. The effluent is always saturated so the dose doesn't change.

 

[Cory]

This problem is eliminated with a good kalk stirrer. The effluent is always saturated so the dose doesn't change.

I may get one in the future thanks for the info!

 

[Billldg]

Right now I use kalk in my ato and for a while seemed to do good, but now with me going sps the demand is higher and using kalk in ato is dependent on the amount of evaporation. If you don't evaporate enough you won't put enough kalk in your system to keep supplements up. I aimed a pump towards the top of tank and that helped with evaporation thus raising supplements , but now I will eventually switch to 2 part dosing as it's not dependent on evaporation.

 

[LMDAVE]

I've been using the BRS drip unit, the problem is I cant adjust a low enough drip frequency with their valve to match my 40 gallon tank evaporation. My tank evaporation rate is real slow, so anything faster than 1 drip every 3 seconds fills my tank fast than evaporating.

 

[dantimdad]

I would suggest putting a small fan to increase evaporation @LMDAVE

 

[dwest]

Hello all!

My tank has been doing great and sps frags and corals have really started taking off. With that I need to start thinking about keeping up with demand for calcium and alkalinity. I have used two-part in the past but I wasn't very good at calculating the rate of consumption and ended up calcifying my sand! My plan is to go that route as the demand increases and then to a Calcium Reactor.

I was thinking since the demand is still pretty low that I might start with a Kalk (Kalkwasser) Reactor.

I would like to hear what you think is best, why and what are you using please!

I now use the Avast k2 stirrer dosed with spectrapure liter meter 3 pump. I used the use kalk in ato for 20 years until a few months ago I made the switch. I believe I like the stirrer better, but there are advantages to ato as well.

 

[Morecoral]

Kalk in ato and 2 part. Cant make up my mind on one or another but sps are encrusting so its doing something right haha

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Kalk in the ato has kept up until very recently so I ordered a doser for 2 part. I plan to keep Kalk in the ato though.

 

[LMDAVE]

I would suggest putting a small fan to increase evaporation @LMDAVE

Thanks, that's a good idea. I'll look into something like that.

 

[Tom Stevens]

I found it hard to keep numbers stable when using Kalk ouf of the ATO. I find 2 part with a doser much easier to control and adjust.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Dosing Kalkwasser at night, so as not to alter pH too much. Make sure that calcium, alkalinity and magnesium and pH are optimal.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I found it hard to keep numbers stable when using Kalk ouf of the ATO. I find 2 part with a doser much easier to control and adjust.

The best way to dose kalk is separate from your ATO. of course you have to have enough evaporation so that your calc dose does not increase your water level. If you are able to set it up separately, then it's the same as dosing a two part. You just test to determine uptake, and adjust the amount of kalk that is dosed to handle it. Doing it through an ATO will always cause fluctuation due to different evaporation rates throughout the year.

 

[kswan]

I use a 5 gallon bucket that I fill with saturated kalk. I have a BRS doser that adds it periodically throughout the day. It is cheap, stable and low maintenance at the moment. The 5 gallons lasts me over a week in my RSR XL425 (90 gallon).

 

[Dburr1014]

The best way to dose kalk is separate from your ATO. of course you have to have enough evaporation so that your calc dose does not increase your water level. If you are able to set it up separately, then it's the same as dosing a two part. You just test to determine uptake, and adjust the amount of kalk that is dosed to handle it. Doing it through an ATO will always cause fluctuation due to different evaporation rates throughout the year.

I would agree to this but, I sadly don't do it. lol

I have a kalk reactor hooked up to my ATO.
100 gallon system mixed reef, light uptake on calc/alk. 6 Tbls of Mrs wages every 4 weeks in the reactor keeps me at 8.5 kh.
I have a half dozen sps. The Monti caps grow like crazy and everything else has steady growth also.
Been doing this about a year with the reactor but I did the mix in buckets before that for a long time.

 

[rossco]

I use Kalk Reactor + Calcium Reactor together