130D Kalk ATO Dosing Tips

MCDM

Member
Hi guys, about to start dosing kalk using my tunze nano ATO from a 5 gal bucket.

I'll be using Kent Marine Kalkwasser which suggests "Mix 1/8 to 2 teaspoons maximum per gallon of fresh water.."

Anyone find the magic ratio? Currently have a low-medium demand tank.

Thanks for your help!
 

mike1970

Active Member
id like to know also, I tried to dose kalk it didn't work to well for me the problem was I had no control over it because my ATO never dosed the same everyday. plus with the top closed on the tank Id only go through maybe 2-3 gal of top off water a week, so I started dosing the big 3/2 alk, calc and mag (mag not so much). that was batter for me. so I would like to know if anyone is having good success with kalk:cheers:
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
If you are going to dose kalk, it should be done by using a kalk reactor. Just adding it to normal, open to air make up water is much less effective, to the point of where it's almost not worth doing. This is because the contact with air will cause a lot of the kalk to precipitate out.

As for the amount to add, it really doesn't matter. Water can only absorb a small amount of kalk. Anything not absorbed just sits on the bottom of the reactor. Most reactors contain a small pump to constantly mix the kalk in the bottom of the reactor. Water goes onto the reactor at the bottom and the clear water is drawn off the top.

The usual sequence with using with an ATO is the ATO pump in RO/DI water, the kalk reactor itself, and the the tube out that adds the water to the system. Usually you want to add this to the overflow, so it gets mixed evenly with the tank water.

Kalk water is very alkaline, so keep in eye on pH, KH, and calcium.

Once set up the reactor will run for anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks depending on how much kalk you put in and how much water you run through the reactor.

Think of kalk as a way to maintain calcium levels. It's not usually very good at boosting them.

As you can see, this is a method that need quite a bit of maintenance and watching to really work well. Since I'm very lazy when it comes to stuff like this, I don't use kalk, even though I own a reactor.
 

mike1970

Active Member
this is why I dose the big 3/2:celebrate: then you can test and dose as needed in the beginning. after you get a good bearing on your levels then dosing pump here we go:celebrate:
 
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