Dosing Kalk in ATO

[huskerreefatl]

Hey all,
I have recently started dosing kalk in my ATO and so far it seems to be working fine but it is making a mess of my ATO reservoir. Do you think this is advisable? Or should I go to dosing pumps and dose CA and KH separately? I have had two BRS dosing pumps for a while but have not set them up.

Thanks,
Carl

 

[huskerreefatl]

Just to follow up on this. I mix the kalk in a different container, let it settle at least over night, then pull water out to add to my ATO so I am not mixing in the ATO reservoir and trying to keep the solids out but there is still plenty in my reservoir.

 

[tbub1221]

I Put a piece of egg crate in the bottom of my reservoir for the pump to sit on up out of the mush so it doesn't go to the system and i just clean it out occasionally , I been doing it about a year now with great success , it's slightly messy but very effective

 

[huskerreefatl]

Good suggestion. My pump is sitting on the bottom right now.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[grouper therapy]

Not a fan of dosing kalk with ATO. I'd rather drip it 24/7 and let the ato do its thing. Depending on the evaporation rate it will reduce the ATO cycles as well. Some argue that if the ATO sticks on the lowered Salinty will wipe out the livestock regardeless of the kalk or not. I can add salt much quicker than I can remove an overdose of Kalk.

 

[huskerreefatl]

those are good points. I guess that I have dosing pumps so i should use them plus my ATO reservoir would be as dirty.

 

[dasianguy]

Tbub1221;1057569 wrote: I Put a piece of egg crate in the bottom of my reservoir for the pump to sit on up out of the mush so it doesn't go to the system and i just clean it out occasionally , I been doing it about a year now with great success , it's slightly messy but very effective

Have you had to replace your pump yet? Or do you clean it often?

I'm just getting started with using kalk in my ATO reservoir, and I've read that kalk eventually destroys pumps. I use a Smart ATO which I think uses a proprietary pump (so I don't look forward to having to find a replacement).

 

[dasianguy]

BTW, I use a 10 gal tank as my ATO reservoir and the pump is suction cupped to the glass above the bottom, so it's kept away from the sludge

 

[huskerreefatl]

dasianguy;1057622 wrote: Have you had to replace your pump yet? Or do you clean it often?

I'm just getting started with using kalk in my ATO reservoir, and I've read that kalk eventually destroys pumps. I use a Smart ATO which I think uses a proprietary pump (so I don't look forward to having to find a replacement).

I also have the Smart ATO. I had read when I bought it that it has an alarm for over-filling but I am yet to hear it. Has yours ever gone off? It works great and lets me know when the reservoir is empty. I just wish that it had a button on the sensor to reset it after the alarm goes off when a refill is needed. Instead, you have to either unplug it and plug it back in or trip a switch. I set mine up on a powerstrip with individual switches so I can just switch it off and back on again.

 

[redstang]

I dose kalk in my ATO combined with a calcium reactor. It's worked fairly well for me. I don't keep it fully saturated. More like half the recommended dose.

I use the Hydor Smart Level ATO. Only trick to it is you need to find an ATO that pumps not too fast nor too slow. Since I have a 60 cube a TOMs aqualifer has worked perfect for me.

Edit:
kalk for calc. Darn auto correct.

 

[grouper therapy]

I just never understood the advantage of using an ato over a constant drip. I was thought why risk it if the is no advantage.

 

[grouper therapy]

About the one way a drop will fail is on the save side like clogging up.

 

[dasianguy]

huskerreefatl;1057651 wrote: I also have the Smart ATO. I had read when I bought it that it has an alarm for over-filling but I am yet to hear it. Has yours ever gone off? It works great and lets me know when the reservoir is empty. I just wish that it had a button on the sensor to reset it after the alarm goes off when a refill is needed. Instead, you have to either unplug it and plug it back in or trip a switch. I set mine up on a powerstrip with individual switches so I can just switch it off and back on again.

No, I've never had any problem with it overfilling and I don't think I've heard any alarm for anything other than an empty reservoir. I agree that it's a great ATO... I much prefer being able to move a magnet vs adjusting a float switch if I remove water from the tank (especially when drip acclimating new livestock). I've also got mine on a DJ strip so I can easily flip it on or off (even though I have an apex I prefer it this way, for now).

 

[dasianguy]

grouper therapy;1057667 wrote: I just never understood the advantage of using an ato over a constant drip. I was thought why risk it if the is no advantage.

I think I am gonna have to try setting up a kalk dripper at some point, it does sound like a good idea. My main problem is finding a good way to hide it. I have an open top rimless tank and love the clean look, so I wouldn't want to have it hanging above the tank (I've got a nice abstract painting above the tank that would seriously clash with a kalk dripper, lol).

I guess I could try sticking it in the stand next to the sump, but I'd need to find a good way to elevate it above the sump for gravity to work (maybe a stack of books? hehe).

 

[tbub1221]

I don't have a way to conveniently hide a container to do a drip , if I did it would have to be small requiring more attention from me , I think I like the convenience of setting up 5g of saturated Kalk water and walking away .
If I had a doser or Kalk stirrer I'd use it but really it's just an investment I'd just assume not make unless needed

 

[ff337]

grouper therapy;1057667 wrote: I just never understood the advantage of using an ato over a constant drip. I was thought why risk it if the is no advantage.

If we did it all the same way this place would be boring. :tongue:

I use an avast ato which uses an air bubble to activate the switch to turn on the pump along with an avast Kalk reactor which constantly stirs the Kalk in the rodi water to remain saturated until I add or replace the Kalk.
Both are plugged into my apex. If the ph rises above 8.5 I get an alarm to check it out. If it raises past 8.6 the ato shuts off and stays off. Also if the pump is running for longer than 60 seconds which is approximately a third of a gallon it shuts off through the apex and alerts me.

If all of those switches and fail safes...fail. Then it wasn't meant to be.

 

[grouper therapy]

That for sure sounds as close to fail sage as one could get. That said and not to take away from your method either but I still fail to see the advantage over dripping. I like the idea of the stirrer. With the change of evaluation rate does not the rate of dosing change? I guess the ato method allows for the maximum amount of kalk to be added but the drip method gets pretty close if set properly.

 

[ff337]

The evaporation rate does change but not as often as I thought it would. Humidity in the home seems to influence the evap rate. I range between 20-24 gallons of evaporation per 10 days. And use a lower rate in the Kalk reactor than I probably could.

your absolutely right that Kalk could be disasterous if not used with caution

 

[ff337]

The evaporation rate does change but not as often as I thought it would. Humidity in the home seems to influence the evap rate. I range between 20-24 gallons of evaporation per 10 days. And use a lower rate in the Kalk reactor than I probably could.

your absolutely right that Kalk could be disasterous if not used with caution

 

[jvb89]

I use kalk in my ato container with my tunze ato. Has worked great for 4 months now. I just use a lower dose kalk and adjust my 2 part dosage to fill the void when the evaporation rate changes between summer and winter