questions on auto top-off and kalk

[soriano]

They say to drip kalk water... but if it's connected to an auto top-off... wont it dump a lot of kalk water at once?

ie. if an auto topoff dumps 1-1.5 liters of water before it turns off. is it safe to dose 1-1.5 liters of kalk water at once?

Also, you know how kalk reactors have the pump external? do you guys see anything wrong with running a power head in a 5g pail to mix kalk water? My plan is to make a reactor, but to have the powerhead internal rather than external

I'm sure it will gum up at some point, but then again, so would an external pump on a kalk reactor, so outside of regular maintenance are there any issues to consider?

 

[InLimbo87]

They say to drip kalk water... but if it's connected to an auto top-off... wont it dump a lot of kalk water at once?

ie. if an auto topoff dumps 1-1.5 liters of water before it turns off. is it safe to dose 1-1.5 liters of kalk water at once?

Also, you know how kalk reactors have the pump external? do you guys see anything wrong with running a power head in a 5g pail to mix kalk water? My plan is to make a reactor, but to have the powerhead internal rather than external

I'm sure it will gum up at some point, but then again, so would an external pump on a kalk reactor, so outside of regular maintenance are there any issues to consider?

I topped off with kalk in a previous tank (33 gallon), the key is to do it slowly and make sure you're not overdoing it. If you have an auto-top off and use a small pump such as a Tom's Aqualifter, it is added slowly and incrementally. I would be afraid to add more than a liter of kalkwasser at one time given the possible pH spike. Can you setup your ATO to add less each time, but more frequently?

 

[soriano]

I figured that kalk water should be added slowly. I guess I can add a valve to to slow it's application... I've never used an auto top off and kalk reactor combo, so I'm wondering how one regulates how much kalk water is added with a float valve auto top off...

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I think you may have the different methods of kalk dosing mixed up. When people use a reactor, they have the reactor plumbed into their system and water goes through it at scheduled time for predetermined amounts of time. When using kalk with your topoff water, people mix kalk straight into the reservoir in predetermined amounts (from testing and trial and error) and the tank gets a shot of kalk when the ATO runs.

Also, the idea behind an ATO is that you're not getting large influxes of fresh water into your system, and that it happens slowly to prevent salinity swings. Your float switch has a threshold that when it goes to the "on" position, it should only require a little bit of water before it goes to the "off" position again. Of course, if you have a tank with large dimensions, the amount of water required to make the float switch travel from the "on" to "off" position would be greater, however, 1.5 liters is a lot of water. Suffice it to say you'd have to have a very large system for any good float switch to put that much in at topoff.

If you would like to start dosing kalk with your topoff water, start by mixing in a very small amount of kalk to your topoff reservoir. Monitor your water quality and add more or less kalk to the next batch as needed. Adding kalk with topoffs and using a reactor is probably not recommended, although I'm not 100% sure on this.

 

[soriano]

Thanks for the input, it makes sense and lines up with what I was concerned about.

You've given me some things to consider...

Anyone with advice on plumbing and usage of a kalk reactor?