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Can someone explain dosing mechanics to me?


TrueTricia

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Is the 12.45 PH the max safe level ?  Would this vary with the size of the overall system ?

The pH of saturated kalkwasser is 12.45 units at 25 degrees C. That's just how the chemistry works out.  It is not safe to run your tank at this level. Below saturation, the pH of kalkwasser drops. Kalkwasser is a calcium hydroxide mixed in (fresh) water.

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Ah, that's so true for anything in my opinion. We ran a story on Failure as a Design Consideration a while back when we had a newsletter (and volunteers to staff it). ATO failure was actually the topic in that article. ATO failure can lead not only to kalk overdoses, but also salinity crashes. ATO's, heaters, power outages, and flooding - all need design consideration in my opinion.

 

BRS put out a handy video about the top 10 failures (their estimation). It's a nice summary of various failure modes and what we can do about mitigating some of the risk. The video lasts about 10 minutes. The list:

 

Heater Failure

Tank Overheating

ATO failure

Kalk overdose

Leaks / Floods

Skimmer Overflow

Calcium Reactor Overdose

Two-part Overdose

Controller Failure

Power Outage

 

I've definitely had my skimmer overflow.  I started dosing a nitrate/phosphate reducer Vince @ QR recommended, and my skimmer went crazy.  All the levels changed. But I have it positioned so that an occassional overflow won't damage anything (like my carpet). 

 

I'd love to discuss how to build redundancy into my systems as I move forward.  Tom, I'll check out that article. 

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One simple idea is having your ATO run on a timer, so it's only on for 20 minutes at a time or for an hour before you leave in AM and on an hour after you get home. This can make sure you are around if something doesn't run or gets stuck, it's time limited and your there to address any issues.

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Dosing in spurts is a good way to spike things while dosing continuously keeps things more stable.

That advice was for ATO exclusively not for kalk dosing.

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