Assorted Dosing Questions

[sledge75]

Before the questions, a bit of background: I dose my 38g with about 30ml of B-Ionic Parts 1&2 per day. I top off a bit less than 1G RO/DI per day. I need to automate the dosing of Ca/Alk and have been researching several options. I'd like the automated system to be able to handle 2 weeks without intervention.

My first thought was dosing pumps to dose the needed amount of B-Ionic per day. However, the pumps I can find do about .8gph which translates into 50ml per minute, way too high a flow for dosing B-Ionic. Also I tried out a Kent Aquadose and getting it to drip at such a slow level in next to impossible.

Now I'm pondering Kalk and I'm not sure whether to go with just mixing into my top-off or going with a Nilsen reactor. So now on to the questions.

1) Will Kalk in top-off keep up with needs? I'm pretty lightly stocked now but plan for a few more SPS which will increase need. Is there a calculator that can help me figure out the amount of Ca/Alk I'll be dosing in .9gallons of topoff?

2) Can Kalk be mixed directly into the top-off reservoir? I've read some people do this but in other places I've read you need to mix and then siphon off the liquid only into the resevior.

3) If I can mix Kalk directly in how often will i probably need to clean out the reservoir. I'm using a 15g high for top-off and I can get to it for cleaning but not easily. I don't want to have to pull it out every week to clean out sediment.

4) Would a Nilsen be less maintenance and can it be mounted under a tank with the output going all the way up to the top of the main tank? I don't want to go this route and then find out that the feeding pump isn't strong enough to push through the reactor and all the way up to the tank.

Sorry for the long post but my research has hit a dead end considering the size tank i have.

 

[etszoo]

I dose kalk through top off gravity fed into my sump. I just wait for the kalk to separate before use. I remove the precipitate before mixing again though. You could
probably mix in separate jugs then pour off after letting it sit. I thought of
doing it this way however my container is only about 3 gallons and easily accessed.
As I have stated in another thread, depending on evaporation dictates if it will be
enough to maintain levels.

 

[nunofs]

1) Will Kalk in top-off keep up with needs? I'm pretty lightly stocked now but plan for a few more SPS which will increase need. Is there a calculator that can help me figure out the amount of Ca/Alk I'll be dosing in .9gallons of topoff?

I played a bit with the calculator at http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html and found that 1g of saturated kalk will provide 81ppm of calcium and 11.5dkH of alk in a 10g water volume... so dividing that by 3.8 (for your 38g tank), you'd get 21ppm of calcium and 3dkH of alk. That's the daily maximum you'd get from dripping in 1g of kalkwasser, if your tank's needs ever go above that you'd have to supplement the kalk.

Nuno

 

[nunofs]

Regarding the other questions about mixing, when I was using kalk, I mixed the powder directly in the container that I used for dripping (pumping, actually)... providing you don't pump from the bottom where sediment accumulates, you're ok. Also, I didn't clean the container every week, it was more like every month or so. I haven't used a kalk reactor so can't comment on its usage.

Nuno

 

[sledge75]

Thanks nunofs. I ran my current parameters through the calculator and determined I'm currently using about 11ppm Ca and 3.45dKH per day... I forgot to mention previously that I do sumplement with Baking Soda as well since my Alk consumption seems to outweigh my Ca consumption.

This would make using Kalk alone difficult to maintain levels since enough to keep up my Alk would provide too much Ca currently. I would really like to automate B-Ionic dosing but I can't find anything that would reliably dose 30ml over a 24 hour period. Does anyone know of anything, perhaps a smaller flow dosing pump?

 

[sledge75]

Wow busy day on the boards yesterday. Bump back to the first page for any more opinions.

 

[Reef55]

Get a medical doser. Check reefcentral's boards for someone selling one used. They can be set for dual dosing (B-Ionic, Kent two-part, etc). I used one on my 55 a few years ago for dosing B-Ionic. They can be set for very low amounts each day, and evenly add it all day long. I would buy the gallon jugs of bionic, and those would last like 2 months for me. Here is a place that sells them, but I would look used first to save some money:

http://www.reefdosingpumps.com/