Kalk Dosing Questions

[Neal]

Is it really necessary to use a Kalk Reactor? If so, can someone please tell me why?

 

I have a few options for top off tanks that I already own. I will be using a Tom's Aquatic to slowly drip any top-off into my tank. 1-2 drips per second.

 

BRS says to add 1 Teaspoon per Gallon of top-off water. I already use a tom's aqautic aqualift to pump my top-off in my tank very slowly.

 

Option 1:

5.5G open top glass aquarium. After all of the research it seems that an open top somehow messes up the mixture. What if I turn on a power head?

 

Option 2:

2.5G Kent Aqua dose closed container. If I use this as my top off tank should I use some sort of power head inside the container?

 

I have also read that dripping into my skimmer may help out in the absorption. Is this true?

 

Any thoughts on pre-mixing kalk with vineger?

 

 

Since I have a Solana my stand just isn't big enough to have a reactor. Any help figuring this out would be great.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Neal

[Coral Hind]

It is not needed and I would not recommend it on a small tank because there is not much of a buffer if you accidentally overdose. You could just use something like Kent Turbo Calcium and Kent Super Buffer dKH. If you calcium load is not high you may only need to add that once a week.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Coral Hind

[Neal]

It is not needed and I would not recommend it on a small tank becuase there is not much a buffer if you accidentally overdose. You could just use something like Kent Turbo Calcium and Kent Super Buffer dKH. If you calcium load is not high you may only need to add that once a week.

 

 

I have an SPS dominated tank. I currently dose Seachem Reef Calcium Advantage twice a week and Seachem Reef Builder twice a week to keep up with the demand. I hate dosing my tank by hand. There has to be a better way.

 

Calcium: 480

Alk: 10

Mag: 1275 - 1300

[Ryan S]

I have an SPS dominated tank. I currently dose Seachem Reef Calcium Advantage twice a week and Seachem Reef Builder twice a week to keep up with the demand. I hate dosing my tank by hand. There has to be a better way.

 

Calcium: 480

Alk: 10

Mag: 1275 - 1300

 

Get 2 of these:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/produc...osing-pump.html

 

and this:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/produc...rter-kit-1.html

 

[George]

I heartily endorse Seachem's products if you don't want to go the route of kalk or a calcium reactor. GARF's bulletproof reef recipe works quite well using the Seachem products.

 

If you do kalkwasser, you definitely do not want to use an open container. The reason is that the water becomes super-saturated with calcium. Exposure to the air will cause a thin layer of calcium to form on the water. This layer of precipitated calcium can cause a cascading precipitation that can end up crashing your kalk mix. Reactors have the benefit of stirring mechanism built in to a sealed container and a dosing line.

 

Also, to keep the system consistent in dosing, if you DIY a reactor, the best way to do it is to pump RO water in which would then cause kalk to drip out to the tank (which is how most reactors work). That keeps the pump clean and the volume of water in the reactor constant.

[bluefunelement]

Can't use the aqualifter with anything added to your topoff or it will clog- you can run water through it once a week maybe but you'll prefer drip or a better pump.