So I got an ATO and some pickling lime.

curtismaximus

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I finally got my ato working like a charm. I am using my reefkeeper, float switch, and aqualifter.

I bought some pickling lime.

Now what?
 
After seeing the mixing station his ato is a 2x4 floating in the tank with a string tied to it
 
Allen;935551 wrote: Now what?

Do a good bit of research on Kalkwasser. Do it right, or it could be devastating to your tank.

I love Kalk. Amazing stuff.

I actually just quit using it, a little bit too much work for me.
 
Fidofence;935534 wrote: After seeing the mixing station his ato is a 2x4 floating in the tank with a string tied to it

Lol!
 
Allen;935551 wrote: Now what?

Do a good bit of research on Kalkwasser. Do it right, or it could be devastating to your tank.

I love Kalk. Amazing stuff.

Research?! What in the world am I paying $30 for then!

Edit: TE=Fidofence;935534]After seeing the mixing station his ato is a 2x4 floating in the tank with a string tied to it[/QUOTE]

Actually its held together with Duct Tape and Weldon! This is America!
 
Hey thanks for the info! Pictures would go a long way but that gets the ball rollin! :thumbs:
 
Allen;935561 wrote: Really? What was your method?

I like my method. Incredibly easy, and makes for a very stable system.

What I do:

I drilled holes in the side of old 1 gallon water jugs (milk jug style), about 2" from the bottom. (That puts the hole 1/2" over the cloud that forms at the bottom.) I stuck some tubing in the side of the jug, applied silicone around the hose to prevent leaks, and installed a valve on the end of the tubing.

All I have to do is fill up the gallon jugs with RO/DI water, dump in my desired ratio of Kalk:Gallon, mix, let it sit for 24 hours. After that is done, I open the valves and fill up smaller bottles that I have that I use for topping off/dosing Kalk. The bottles are 1/3 gallon.

That gives me 2.5 bottles of Kalk per gallon jug. My tank evaporates just under 1/3 gallon per day.

How I dose:

I built an ATO/Kalk dosing system. Less than $15 was spent on the build. I have my dosing system set to drip at nearly the same rate the water evaporates out of my tank. Approximately 1 drip per every 5 seconds (it differs depending on how much liquid is in the small bottles).

How much maintenance is it?

It takes me 3-5 minutes to fill up my 1 gallon jugs with RO/DI water and mix in the pickling lime. It takes maybe 5 minutes to move the Kalk to the 1/3 gallon bottles. It takes about 30 seconds to change the 1/3 Kalk bottle under my tank every day.

So, 8-10 minutes every week, and 30 seconds every day isn't bad in my opinion. It took me a few weeks to get the Kalk to gallon ratio perfected to where all of my parameters stay stable, and it was a minor headache. Still, very worth it.


Bonus: When you make a large quantity of Kalk, then transfer the usable Kalk solution to smaller bottles...you don't have to worry about disturbing the mixture. (If you don't know, when Kalk is made it must sit for 24 hours then you have to be careful to not stir up the undissolved Kalk in the bottom, and you must not add the film layer that forms at the top to your tank. The clear portion in the middle is what you want.) With my method, it is incredibly easy to be successful.

Perhaps I should just do a detailed write-up on this with pictures...
like I said little bit too much work for me..lol
I'm back to reef builder in my top off and calcium supplements twice a week... easy peasy lemon squeezy...lol
 
I use an Avast Marine K2 Kalk stirrer. Every two weeks I dump the sludge, rinse the reactor out, and put 4 cups of powder in the reactor. Stirrer runs 24/7 and all my evaporative makeup water goes through it. Pretty easy to use.

If you do long term kalk dosing, you should monitor your magnesium levels. Kalk will contribute bicarbonates (KH) and calcium to the tank water, but no magnesium. For example, when I was using strictly a calcium reactor, magnesium was being released from the media in the proper ratios with calcium and bicarbonates, but when I added Kalkwasser to the mix, the sum total calcium and bicarbonates now comes from the reactor and the kalk, but mag is still only coming from the calcium reactor, so you will probably see a long term slow drop in magnesium levels and have to dose magnesium manually. I dump a gallon of Randy's 2 part magnesium solution in my 465 gallon tank once a month or so.

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Thanks for the info Acro! I will look into a reactor but right now I'm trying to keep it cheep and easy.

Anyone else using Kalk?
 
Curtismaximus;935686 wrote: Thanks for the info Acro! I will look into a reactor but right now I'm trying to keep it cheep and easy.

Anyone else using Kalk?

Main point of my post was to suggest you monitor your magnesium levels. A reactor is great, but there are many ways to dose kalk.
 
Acroholic;935693 wrote: Main point of my post was to suggest you monitor your magnesium levels. A reactor is great, but there are many ways to dose kalk.

Ok thanks I will be sure to keep up with the Mg as well.

I do have a few questions.

Is it not as important to keep Mg stable? It seems a little counter productive to have a slow fall and then a quick rise in Mg.

Do you test for the Mg? Or just at first?

Is there anything else I need to be testing for besides Cal, Kh, and Mg?

I have a reefkeeper for my pH.

How often do you calibrate your pH probe?
 
Curtismaximus;935950 wrote: Ok thanks I will be sure to keep up with the Mg as well.

I do have a few questions.

Is it not as important to keep Mg stable? It seems a little counter productive to have a slow fall and then a quick rise in Mg.

Do you test for the Mg? Or just at first?

Is there anything else I need to be testing for besides Cal, Kh, and Mg?

I have a reefkeeper for my pH.

How often do you calibrate your pH probe?

The following are just my opinions, and what I do in my own systems.

I think you need to keep mag at >1250, and some variation in level above that is not a big deal (within reason). Magnesium is a pretty innocuous part of the seawater mix, meaning it doesn't seem to hurt corals and fish with varying levels. An example would be raising magnesium to 1800 and keeping it there for several weeks treating for bryopsis. Relatively little to no risk to corals or fish or inverts doing this.

Magnesiums primary role (IMO) in the reef tank is it keeps calcium in solution in seawater and prevents it from precipitating as calcium carbonate. Corals use it in their skeletons, but in small amounts relative to calcium and bicarbonates.

So as long as I keep my magnesium at or above 1250, no, I do no think there is any real negative effect from me just raising it somewhat abruptly. Been doing it this way for 6-7 years so far without issue.

I test for regularly three things: calcium, KH and magnesium. I test most often for KH, as IME that is the most variable thing in my system. I dose kalk and I have a calcium reactor. After a while you get to know your system and how the chemistry works. By the time you have that experience, you are letting your corals tell you what they need more often than testing.

But now I test maybe for KH 1x monthly, and every 2-3 months for calcium and magnesium, but that is because I have my equipment pretty dialed in.

I have a cheapo nitrate test kit just to double check my sulfur denitrator every once in a great while. I have never tested for phosphate myself. I have just used GFO regularly since I got into reefing. Couldn't tell you what my PO4 level was if I wanted to.

I calibrate my pH probes about every 5-6 months, and I try to replace them at the 1.5 year mark.

There is no problem with frequent testing, if that is what you like, but I have found that my need for it was greater initially as my experience base was growing, and became less necessary (but not unnecessary) in frequency as I progressed. IMO that is a fairly normal thing for anyone that stays in the hobby for any period of time.
 
Thanks for all the info and the detail.

What pH probe do you use? Does it matter?


Also is it fine to just use my aqualifter with Kalk? My research has said yes and no so just wanted to ask.
 
Allen;936059 wrote: It needs to be dripped into your system. Otherwise, you will risk a rise in PH.

Not necessarily to a dangerous level. It really depends on the size of your system. In a small volume system, that would be a better choice, but I run all my evaporative makeup water through a kalk reactor that stirs 24/7. It gets dosed in regular small volumes, but it is not dripped. This is in a 450 net gallon system, however.

Regular use of kalk will raise tank pH higher than it would be without it, however you dose it. But the trick is to not overdose it.

Curtismaximus;935986 wrote: Thanks for all the info and the detail. What pH probe do you use? Does it matter? Also is it fine to just use my aqualifter with Kalk? My research has said yes and no so just wanted to ask.

I believe you can use an Aqualifter, but I have never owned or used one myself. My Osmolator doses my evaporative makeup water and the kalk at the same time, since I use a kalk stirrer in-line with my ATO.

I use a BRS pH probes in all my systems. It is a pretty standard probe.
 
Your research should start here: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/</a>

I place my kalk directly into my top off container. There are some risks with this though. a) my ATO could stick and I would raise the PH high. (Should not kill much but the snow effect is not desired believe me) b) the ATO adds about 1/2 - 1 gallon of top-off water a day. This may be too much kalk to add to many people's tanks. So you COULD add it from a separate bucket using a aqualifter or some other slow pump. c) the local raise of PH is the sump and fuge could cause problems but this really has not been an issue for me.

Any rate, Kalk is still the easiest way (outside of water changes) to maintain a balanced Alk/Calcium ratio. That is my honest opinion though.

Edit: [QUOTE=][B]Curtismaximus;935986 wrote:[/B] Thanks for all the info and the detail.

What pH probe do you use? Does it matter?


Also is it fine to just use my aqualifter with Kalk? My research has said yes and no so just wanted to ask.[/QUOTE]

All probes are the same (with exception of lab grade which are overkill)

and yes an Aqualifter will work as long as it is above the kalk solid line and IF you stir you do not try to suck right after your stir... Other than that, limewater is just water at a high PH with Alk/Calcium/Mag in it.
 
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