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I've been doing research on adding kalk to top off but can't find any pics or a way that people actually do it. I usually mix it in a gallon size jug and suck out the clear after settlement with a turkey baster and squirt it in the tank.
So I know people ad it to their top off water but how? Do you mix it up first like I do and then add or mix it in your top off vat? Seems like mixing up in the top off would have a lot of gunk at the bottom and would be hard to keep track of how much to add since I have a 32 gallon trash can for top off that always has some water in it. Also I always have a powerhead running in my top off can.
:bucktooth

 

Heres a super crappy pic of mine I just finished last night.



Its a 12 gallon container that holds 10 gallons in between the 2 black lines. the 1/4" tubing goes to a float valve in my sump. I heard a powerhead is a bad idea to keep running in a kalk drip setup as you want that sediment to settle at the bottom instead of getting into your tank. any un-mixed kalk will get mixed the next time you add more to the container.

For mixing, i'm still on the fence. I was thinking about taking a 5 gallon bucket, adding a 1/2" hose barb to a ball valve and some tubing to the bottom side and using that to mix and re-fill my reservoir easily. Or I could just add another float valve from my RO/Di and re-fill the reservoir from that (after it goes empty), add in more kalk, and just stir it up with a piece of pvc.

~Will.

 

I run a Kalk reactor and let all my top off water go through it before it enters the tank. I just have a ATO turn on a Rain Bird Sprinkler Valve (yep the one you use for lawn sprinklers) and let that water go thru the Kalk before it enters the tank. I stir it twice a day and shut the valve off during that time.

 

What about all the old sediment. Do you pull out the reservoir and clean it every now and then? How much Kalk do you put in?

 

Otty how often do you ad kalk to that thing and how often do you have to take it out and clean the sediment out of the bottom? Or is that not really something you have to do?

 

I have my top off in a 32 gallon trash can .. If I start adding Kalk to that.. Do I have to totally empy it every so often to get out the bottom sediment?

 

You have to be careful when adding kalk. I'd say the way that you were adding it, could have been dangerous. Well, I've atleast never heard of doing it that way and from what I know about kalk, that's not the best way to go about it.

When kalk is added too quickly it will spike you pH. Kalk reactors work.. as does IllWills setup. An effective (slightly ghetto) DIY way of doing it would be the gallon jug. Pop airline hose into it- a little more than 3/4 way down (to avoid the sediment on the bottom). Then run the airline hose into the tank/sump and add a valve to the hose to regulate how much comes out. If I remember right, 1 drop every 30 seconds should be safe.

 

I had a ton of the same questions as you do, and Randy Holmes-Farley on RC took care of every one of them, here's a link to the thread.

Do I need a reactor for kalk? - Reef Central Online Community

I'm starting out with a tablespoon / gallon and see where my levels are at the end of the week.

~Will.

 

I run a kalk reactor through my ato,i clean out the reactor once a month.

 

I add 3 tablespoons of kalk about every 10 to 13 days. I keep mixing it so I only clean it about every 6 months or so. Mine holds about 1.5 gallons of water. It was one that Tangster at AAT made for me.

I have all of mine run off a controller so I keep a watch on the pH levels in the tank. If they get above 8.4 I shut off the ATO and let by backup water supply fill the tank with top off water. It's just a Kent float valve hooked to RO/DI.