Overloading the system ??

[SkullV]

if you dose kalk separately from your at you can max out your alk at 16dkh if you wanted to. the ato would only dose water. so evaporation is totally separate from kalk dosing.

salinity stays stable with your ato. the doser can add kalk as you need it everyday, thoughout the day as well. im saying the ato has its own pump separate from the kalk doser pump. your ato needs float switches though, not a timer.

How would this work? Either way you are dosing saturated limewater. If your ATO is making part of your top off with plain fresh you will have to dose less kalk. If your system evaporates 1g per day you can't add more than 1g of liquid whether it's kalk in your ATO or kalk in a doser plus a fresh ATO.

 

[tinman]

Dosing kalk and ato seperately is same as ato with fully saturated kalk ..

Unless the kalk you are dosing separately is with salt water which then really messed up your salinity

I think my best bet is to get a doser and monitor the alk closely while keeping the coral stock as stable as possible. Or adjust accordingly when I change anything

 

[SkullV]

Unless the kalk you are dosing separately is with salt water

Not possible. Won't dissolve.

 

[Irsug1]

How would this work? Either way you are dosing saturated limewater. If your ATO is making part of your top off with plain fresh you will have to dose less kalk. If your system evaporates 1g per day you can't add more than 1g of liquid whether it's kalk in your ATO or kalk in a doser plus a fresh ATO.

in my case the evaporation is more than the kalk doser alone. One would definitely need to run a fan for additional evaporation if you are maxed out or run 2 part.

 

[SkullV]

in my case the evaporation is more than the kalk doser alone. One would definitely need to run a fan for additional evaporation if you are maxed out or run 2 part.

Yeah, this thread is about being maxed out on normally saturated Kalk, that's why I wasn't sure what you were saying. Makes sense if you evap too much and you're adding too much kalk, although I've never done anything but add fully saturated kalk to my ATO.

 

[skunkmere]

you would have to use vinegar to make the kalk more potent but the what im talking about is not so much getting more kalk in your tank but making sure you are metering the dosing and not have evaporation as a factor. so when it winter hits and your tank is evaping less, your tank is getting the same amount of kalk. but if you need more than 2tbls of kalk per gallon then you need vinegar to bump it to 3tbls per gallon. if you need more then 3tbls per gallon then you need to suppliment with 2 part or a calicum reactor.

 

[Sawdonkey]

you would have to use vinegar to make the kalk more potent but the what im talking about is not so much getting more kalk in your tank but making sure you are metering the dosing and not have evaporation as a factor. so when it winter hits and your tank is evaping less, your tank is getting the same amount of kalk. but if you need more than 2tbls of kalk per gallon then you need vinegar to bump it to 3tbls per gallon. if you need more then 3tbls per gallon then you need to suppliment with 2 part or a calicum reactor.

I agree with all of this except when winter hits, tank will evaporate MORE. House is generally drier in the winter. Personally, I adjust my kalk mix for the season. Not fully saturated in winter. Fully saturated in the summer and may need to add vinegar soon.

 

[ColaAddict]

Geez. seems like this kalk dosing is so complicated with the winter and evap that you have to figure in. I'm glad I started with 2 part dosing right away. just add more via doser as needed.

 

[MMreef]

Geez. seems like this kalk dosing is so complicated with the winter and evap that you have to figure in. I'm glad I started with 2 part dosing right away. just add more via doser as needed.

+1, I only started adding some kalk to keep my PH at optimal level.

 

[SkullV]

Geez. seems like this kalk dosing is so complicated with the winter and evap that you have to figure in. I'm glad I started with 2 part dosing right away. just add more via doser as needed.

People are making it way more complicated than it needs to be. I have always just used kalk in my ATO, not over saturated with vinegar or anything like that.

Used 2 part on my 75g sps reef and much prefer the ease and stability of kalk.

 

[skunkmere]

i run 2 part now on dosers but my tank never looked as good as when i ran kalk. there must be something else in that stuff. either way you go its good.

 

[Smitty]

I haven't dosed two part in about a year....all I do is water changes once a week. It seems to be the easiest, simplest, safest method of dosing to me. Just use a salt mix with higher levels of calcium and alkalinity. Now, if you're against doing water changes, b-ionic 2 part worked great when I did use it.

 

[Siebo]

I haven't dosed two part in about a year....all I do is water changes once a week. It seems to be the easiest, simplest, safest method of dosing to me. Just use a salt mix with higher levels of calcium and alkalinity. Now, if you're against doing water changes, b-ionic 2 part worked great when I did use it.

In theory this sounds great. But a tank with lots of SPS could use .5 Kdh in a day causing a drop 3 points plus in a week and then back up with a WC. This would cause wild alk swings over the course of a week. Non sps dominated tank this would work fine.