Several kalk dripping questions

[MarkS]

OK, I am dripping kalk at one drop every 7 seconds. It is keeping the water level constant.

What I need to know is how much is too much? I do not have any test kits and wont until next paycheck, so I have no way of testing anything. But even if I did have the kits I do not know what to test for other than calcium.

I am testing a DIY kalk dripper on a 5 gallon, soon to be a nano reef/dwarf seahorse aquarium. There is currently nothing in it other than a couple of sprigs of algae and 2" of live sand. Can it hurt to drip kalc in such a small tank?

What are some possible hazards in using kalk?

Thanks,
Mark

[golfish]

Mark,
What size tank? I was dripping about 1-2 drops per second in my 55. A PH meter should be used when dripping kalk because Kalk has a PH around 11-12 and if dripped too fast you can raise the tanks PH. It can aslo had negative effects on Alk if dripped to fast. I wouldn't be dripping Kalk unless you know what the calcium level is. Other then testing Nitrates, PH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Phosphates, SG, Magnesium, and a few others Calcium and Alk should be checked when dripping kalk........

[MarkS]

It's a five gallon. I am dripping it at 1 drop every 7 seconds.

Mark

[golfish]

Mark,
I would stop dripping Kalk until you at least have a PH test kit. If your going to drip kalk you should use a PH meter

[MarkS]

Will do. I have an old PH test kit, but instead of turning shades of yellow, it now turns one shade of green.

Ah well....

Mark

[MarkS]

My mistake. I just tested the PH and it is between 8.0 and 8.3. Closer to 8.2 I think. My ammonia test is screwed up...

Mark

[PerryinCA]

I drip anywhere from 2-5 drops per second depending on the expected evap for the day. I also use Kent products, and B-ionic. ALL of my top-off is kalkwasser. My pH stays pretty stable in the 8.3-8.5 range. Keeps levels right where I want them....although it can get to be a hassle...

A reactor is probably the way to go, but I got other things to worry about right now. I think that you'll find kalk a little inconvenient...but it will do what its supposed to. Unlike Mark, I have found that kalk alone can do a decent job at maintaining levels for the most part. Its probably because of the volume I use, which can be 5+ gallons in two days.

-Perry

[thezookeeper]

Perry: When you dose your kalk, do you do it through an auto topoff unit/float switch type deal? And if so, I guess you would mix the kalk and drain off the clear liquid above the junk at the bottom of the mix before adding it to your reservoir. Correct? I was planning on doing this as well. Thank you.


Joanne

[PerryinCA]

The auto-topoff would work, thats pretty much how a nilsen reactor works...it just adds some form of stirrer to it (could be a motor, powerhead..ect) to keep it saturated.

Personally I use a 5 gallon jug with a IV drip line. The jug is on-top of my canopy and it gets a few teaspoons of CaOH whenever I refill it (generally once every 2-4 days depending on the evap).

The IV line comes out about 1" above the bottom, so the kalk settles out...but I don't have any qualms about dripping some solid in.

-Perry

[thezookeeper]

Thank you very much for that info!


Joanne

[golfish]

Joanne,
You don't want to add kalk via an auto top-off system unless its done with a dosing pump. If I were to add kalk using my top -off system it might add 2-3 gallons at a time (35 gal on a bad day) If you add too much at one time it will raise PH up through the roof and screw up your Alk. This is why people always say it has to be DRIPPED. The few Nilsen reactor that I have seen use a dosing pump to add the klak. If you need an IV dripper let me know.....

[thezookeeper]

Ugh...I was afraid of that. I guess the pH could go way too high. I use the Ultralife float switch which fills the evap from my sump. It only let's so much water in at a time. But you know that. I guess I'll have to rethink this. Thank you for the dripper offer, I may have one around here somewhere. I'll look and get back to you!


Joanne

[golfish]

Joanne,
Look around on Ebay for a dosing pump, it should work out real well with your float switch. After the two floods I had a few weeks ago I put my float switch on a timmer, it comes on for 5 minutes 4x a day. I think I might use a dosing pump instead. This way I can set the dosing pump a tiny bit faster then evaportion and use the float switch to shut it off. You can dose kalk this way also

Mark

[PerryinCA]

I bought a dosing pump from Don Gibson on e-bay. He was very professional, and product was as stated, but it didn't work very well for my application, and it liked to fault from time to time. As for the top-off, I know quite a few people who use nilsen reactors for top-off with both kent style float valves, and ultra-life style float switches. They have seen no problem.

-Perry

[thezookeeper]

Whew. What exactly is a Nilsen reactor? A calcium reactor of sorts perhaps? Thank you!


Joanne

[PerryinCA]

A nilsen reactor is pretty simple. Its a container with a lot of CaOH (kalk) in it. Water flows into it, and it gets stirred. Some people use a powerhead to stir it, other people get fancier. But the idea is to put water into the container, mix it with the kalk and then use for topoff, or dose as needed. Its a way to add kalk without spooning it into a bucket and mixing it all the time. Also, since kalk supposedly goes bad after sitting for a period of time (some say days, some say weeks) it keeps the water in the container saturated with CaOH, so you can be assured that you are getting the good stuff . Really though, in most cases its not needed, and a ca reactor on a tank with a top-off system will be better for tanks with a high pH problem. I am sure there are some links on the ozreef page for DIY nilsen, and you might find some on a yahoo or google search. I'll find some for ya when I get home from the office and try to give you a example of what I am talking about.

-Perry

[thezookeeper]

Thanks again Perry! Right now I do not have a high pH problem since I haven't began to dose the kalk in this new tank. My pH has remained right around 8.0. I use a 24/7 refugium light, so this may be why it stays at this level. If I didn't use 24/7, it would probably even drop down further at lights out.


Joanne

[kemperr]

I add my kalk with my topoff water: a 7 gallon bucket, with 2 tsps of kalk, into my sump with a float switch. When the topoff bucket is about 1/4 full, I want to replenish it. Do I have to empty the bucket (which now has water, white crud on the bottom, and white skim on the top)? Or can I just add fresh DI water and 2 more tsps of kalk?

[Reefland]

Hi kemperr,

Dug up an old thread here. Yes you can do this a time or two, but I wouldn't got for more than 2. After that I would discard everything in the bucket and start fresh again.

[Ninong]

a 7 gallon bucket, with 2 tsps of kalk

That's really a very weak limewater solution. A saturated solution would require 2 tsps per gallon. For a 7-gal bucket, you might want to consider at least 3 Tbsps; actually it would require approx. 5 Tbsps for 7 gallons to reach saturation. Obviously it's OK to use less but I just think that 2 tsps for 7 gallons is probably inadequate.