Kalk Drip?
 

I want to stop dosing kalk to my tank through my ATO. It works fine I guess but I think it still adds way too much kalk at once. I see a PH spike everytime it tops off. My PH is already constantly at 8.4 and then spikes to 8.6 or so after the ATO comes on.

I am looking for ideas for a simple kalk drip instead. I would love to just have the constant drip of kalk into the tank. What is the best way to do this?

It would be nice if it also kept up with my evaporation for the most part and my ATO was just kind of like a back up. Probably not going to happen I guess.

Any ideas?

Can you set your ATO to come on earlier so you don't add so much make up water all at once? I have mine set so it runs for like 10-15 secs before it is full again.

No I have tried. I don't have baffles or an actual return section of my sump, so the entire water level of the 75G sump drops before the ATO comes on. It is not enough of a drop to effect salinity but it does seem to add more kalk at once than I would like.

I really just want a steady addition all the time.

This is what I do keep your ATO topping off normally. I have my Kalk Reactro set at a drip rate for 1 drip every 3 sec and it maintains my level at CAl 400 and ALK 8.5 DKH.
but if you dont havea kalk reactor then you would have to set up a gravity fed one.

simple but efficient kalk drip device
 

supplies needed couple of 16 liters ro/di plastic containers that you can buy from safeway, superstore etc, few feet of 1/4 inch flexible airhose tubing, 3/8 inch rigid tubing, 2 or 3 3way plastic airflow valves,plastic funnel. drill 1 each of 3/8 and 1/4 holes in bottle caps and pass respective tubings through holes. attach valve to 1/4 tubing and adjust length so that tube end sits just above kalk residue. silicone tubings in place after final adjustment made. to start drip process blow into 3/8 tubing until kalk begin dripping and adjust drip rate with valve. the setup is so simple and efficient that i see no reason for any method updates. i use 5 tsp kalk per bottle which i made in batches and every so often i soak valves in vinegar to clearup airvalves.

Do you have any pics? Sounds like what I would do...

sorry my canon a80 took a dunking in washbasin and i have not bothered getting replacement for it. to clarify setup a little valve should be situated somewhere along 1/4 tubing to minimize kalk deposit and the 3/8 tubing should only extent into bottle inch or so and if you make batches of 6 like i do cap each filled-to-top bottle with undrilled cap. i find that this way even the last bottle of kalk stays fresh.

hole size edited
 

correction was bumbling around tank in basement checking unnecessarily on tank critters' health looked and realized not 3/8 but something smaller than 1/4 smaller air intake tube needed to maintain partial vaccuum in bottle.

Ok, thanks. I am no good with this kind of stuff but through trial and error I will figure it out. I am more of a visual person :)

I'd like some pics too, as Im in the dark here. I havn't used kalk before, but may want to one day.

On my previous tank I used to make 5 gallons of kalk and pump it in using a dosing pump.

Now, I have a Kalk reactor and still use a dosing pump. I've never linked Kalk to evaporative replacement. I've always wanted to control it separately.

If you don't want to make your own I went to our lfs and bought a container called "The Little Dripper" it is used for reptiles and such but can also be used for a drip. Then we just added a needle valve, mix your kalk and there you go.

Yeah this is kind of the idea for me. I don't like adding it in my top off anymore because I just don't have a lot of control over it.

talkingreef.com has a good video on how to build a DIY kalk dripper.