Kalwasser Question
 

Hey all, I want to start dosing kalk and understand the basics but am still confused. My system is about 180 gallons total water and I use a Tunze Osmolator for ATO. I have a 32 gallon reservoir for my RODI and want to add kalk. Right now I evaporate about 1.5-2 gallons a day. If i started at 1tsp of kalk to 1 gallon of RODI what are the chances I’ll overdose. I read a thread Randy Holmes-Farley was commenting on and as long as it isn’t more than 1.25% of my total volume (2.25g) I’ll be fine? Some clarification would be helpful. Thanks.


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Plug your numbers in here and see.
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Does dose of Kalk is a problem when the ATO fails and adds more than it should and fast. This is dangerous because the Kalk will quickly raise the pH to very high levels. Adding Kalk slowly is the ideal method, like adding Kalk as water is evaporated from system through the day. That way the Kalk only raises the ph a bit. Other than that it will take days for the ALK to rise which you can detect by measuring it. Even if it gets high not really life threatening when done over days. 1tsp/gAllon is a low concentrating so unless your ALK consumption is very very low the risk of it raising the ALK at all is very low.

When using Kalk it is very important to ensure you have a fail safe ATO. That way large amounts of Kalk are not added quickly.

Also the Kalk sediment at the bottom of the container can clog pumps so be sure that you have a method of keeping the pump and it’s intake above it, 1” is enough for me.

I also have a 32 Brute, I mix it to max concentration and increase it by adding vinegar. I use a BRS 50ml/min ATO pump to add my Kalk. No switches or floats. Just timed on cycles, 5min on every 1/2 hour. Since the pump doesn’t sit in the Kalk there is no risk of damage from sitting in the Kalk. I use a magnetic tube holder to place my pumps intake tube just above the sediment. This has been a perfect failsafe method I have been using for 3 years and it’s great.

Just test the ALK every 2-3 days at first and if you notice it’s going up too fast reduce the Kalk mix concentration.


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All that makes sense thanks. My dkh and calcium have been the same for two months because of low stock. Do i need to wait for those two to drop before adding kalk or does it maintain levels no matter what?


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Then there isn't much need to dose for Ca and alk (which is what kalk does).

Kalk will increase levels of Ca and alk if there is no demand for it.

What are the current Ca and alk levels? Are you keeping corals?

I agree that Kalk will increase the calcium and alkalinity levels if there's no demand. I'd just leave well enough alone.

Calc is 400 alk is 8. About 10 small lps frags and 5 2” sps frags


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Those levels are fine as is.

I run my kalk through my ATO and use 2 float switches in my sump. The first turns on the ATO when the level drops a little and the second shuts the ATO off if my sump water level drops an inch. This way the chances are slim that I am going to poison my reef with kalk.
Cheers! Mark

I use a masterflex peristaltic pump that runs about 50-70% of the day to keep up with evap. I use a aquamedic kalk stirrer and dual float switches to control the peristaltic.

If the first float switch fails and the second float switch fails it will take a while for the kalk to cause any issues since the ATO is almost always stuck on anyways, just at a slow rate.

I probably wouldn't use kalk on any kind of cheap dosing pump without a few failsafes.