Going to add kalk to my ato water and see if it benefits me at all. Wanted to know from those of you that add it through your ato how you do it. Are you just mixing it in your ato water bucket then suspending your pump a few inches ? Or are you mixing in a seperate container/bucket and siphoning the good /middle section out in to your ato resoivoir so you dont get the build up on bottom or crust on top? Just wondering what method people seem to like or works better
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Using lime/kalk in your ato?
- Thread starter Nickjr000
- Start date
I used to just throw a cup or 2 into the barrel. The pump was a small stand so it was raised off the bottom a few inches. The crust is good it keeps the Kalk from mixing with the CO2 & I never stir the sedimentbecause kalk will bind with the phosphate & heavy metals in the water.
Cover the barrel as well. Randy Holmes-Farley on RC suggests the same approach.
lol the kent stuff can be considered expensive. I believe a lot of ppl on here hit walmart or other stores when "pickling lime" season is at hand - then they start selling the stuff cheap.
I'm still trying to use up my kent kalk.
btw - i use a reactor - we had a group buy years ago on them and I got in on it. The only downside with putting it into the RO barrel is that it will eventually gum up your pump down there. But you'd have to buy like 20 pumps (lol) to equal the cost of a reactor.
I'm still trying to use up my kent kalk.
btw - i use a reactor - we had a group buy years ago on them and I got in on it. The only downside with putting it into the RO barrel is that it will eventually gum up your pump down there. But you'd have to buy like 20 pumps (lol) to equal the cost of a reactor.
Jcurry are you saying dump some in and never stir it? Or never let the sediment into system?
Nickjr000 said:
not sure what you guys mean by this. The slurry in the reactor or whatever barrel you are mixing in is what goes in. The clumped up stuff at the bottom is super concentrated and could swing your alk drastically if you were to dump that in direct to the tank. In my reactor as more Top off is added eventually the stuff at the bottom dissipates and then I have to add more. Brian has the same PM Kalk reactor.
When you mix in a reservoir a crust forms on top and sediment on the bottom. The sediment contains phos and heavy metals pulled from the water from the kalk saturation process. Not suppose to use the sediment or crust, suppose to use liquid in middle.
Confused why the sediment would contain phos or heavy metals though, Isnt everyone mixing with ro water? It should be phos and metal free then.
Confused why the sediment would contain phos or heavy metals though, Isnt everyone mixing with ro water? It should be phos and metal free then.
I just add a cup or two to the RO barrel & never stir it, either in the begining or any other time. I don't know how the kalk binds with the Phos or heavy metals because I'm not a chemist. But Greg Hiller is and that's what he told me when he was at my house & we were discussing Kalk dosing. I followed his advice and never had an issue so I never tried anything else.
I use SeaChem Reef Advantage it's kalk & Mg in one powder.
I use SeaChem Reef Advantage it's kalk & Mg in one powder.
I never stir it, it just disolves on it's own. Every 6 or 8 months I just rinse out whatever residue is in the bottom of the barrel and start over.
I used to do the slurry and drip method but I had to many problems with Ph spikes & clacium deposits on my pumps. That's what spurred the discussion with Greg, so I just copied his method and never looked back.
I used to do the slurry and drip method but I had to many problems with Ph spikes & clacium deposits on my pumps. That's what spurred the discussion with Greg, so I just copied his method and never looked back.