simple auto topup with kalk

I want to know a method of auto topup water with kalk mixed in it. anybody has done that? iv heard that kalk will loose its quality of raising ph, calcium and alk. if its is exposed to air for long time but at the sametime iv seen info. on internet where hobbyist make topup water and attach with auto topoff system and change every week when it gets empty. any idea? or any diy project? i dont want any electrical auto topups as i dont trust them.

 

You need to keep it covered. I keep mine in a 5g bucket, with a lit and a small hole drilled in the lid. The hole is just big enough for the tube. Also, you should really add kalk very slowly. So, you should use a dosing pump, or what I do, as is use a Aqualift pump, and on the end of the tubing, I've added a RO/DI ball valve, to restrict flow down to a fast drip.

 

Kalk is one of the more dangerous chemicals that we use in this hobby. You should do a good amount of reading before getting started and like many subjects, there's a good deal of info available on the web. Reactors are easy and relatively safe but people have been using kalk for years in this hobby without reactors. Keep it covered and do not stir. The kalk will form a skin preventing further degradation.

 

Much better without a reactor. The reactor always keep the impurities in suspension, also, it is less effective for well understood reason. Mixing and letting it settle overnight is best by far.

 

guys im looking for continuous evaporation topups, in which i will be adding kalk. so the water will act as topups too at the same time will keep my ph and cal and alk. levels in check. im looking for a non electrical and easy gravity fed topups without reducing my kalk. effectiveness for a week or even on only weekends incase im out on a holiday.

 

any comments?

 

You could buy or copy something like this.
Reef Aquarium Essentials: Kent Marine AquaDose

You'd want to mix the kalk in a seperate container, let it settle and siphon off the saturated water to fill the doser but IMO you want to do that anyway.

 

I don't know of any way to auto top off without electricity... With no timers/float switch.. How will you set the rate?

 

When I was a poor college student, this is what I did. Basically, I made a DIY kent aquadoser, with a airline tube, type valve to adjust the drip rate. I would calculated my daily evaporation and ca/alk usage. You can measure how much a drop is by filling a vial of a known volume and counting the drops to fill it. Generally, you'll find it to be around 20 drop per ml. Then there are about 3785 ml/gallon, so you need to figure out how many drops are needed in the time span that you want to dose. I would set up before lights out, and set it to dose until I woke up the next morning.

As for the amount of kalk provide 112dkh and 800ppm calcium per unit volume. I usually ignore the ca part and focus on the alkalinity, as that tends to be more important and does not have as much buffer room. So, anyways, if you have a 50g tank and add 1g of saturated kalk, you'd be adding 112/50=2.24 dkh and 800/50=16ppm ca per day. This may be too much and you will have to adjust the amount of kalk downward. If it is too little, then you may need to use 2-part or something, as well, to make up the difference.

 

well i wont get this in india, so i guess ill have to make 1. iv seen a video of this but even he had a ready made container like this. have u tried it?