WTB Kalwasser Supply`s

5 Gallon bucket and two MJ 1200's make a great Kalk stirrer IMO. I have been using this setup for about a year and half. I also have two floats one in the sump and one in the kalk bucket. Works very well.

 

Float valves to keep constant levels in the sump and in the kalk bucket. Mine is all automated. I know people don't like floats but if you clean and inspect them regularly they work well. I have been using them for over 2 years without issue.

 

How regularly is regular? I've been dreaming up an in sump Kalk stirrer for a while now because I don't think my level-loc would handle Kalk very well. Is your set-up a gravity drip line? Or do the floats activate a dosing pump?

 

Float valve in the Kalk bucket hooked up to your RO/DI source, float valve in tank to top-off with Kalk. The pumps just keep it all stirred up in the bucket.

 

Also, I've heard a lot of people use Mrs Wages Pickling lime as their Kalk source. You can buy this at the grocery store for $2 a lb. Does anyone else dose Mrs Wages instead of other relatively expensive Kalk sources?

 

Very close but both pumps are not to stir. One feeds my sump to top off, the other is for stirring. I don't like gravity fed, it clogs to much.
My system is almost completely automated with the AC3. I mix 20 gallons of salt water and put one cup of kalk per week in the bucket.
Mrs Wages works just fine. Many people use it, I think it is more like $6 a can at HyVee but that may be a third pund I don't know. I actually get mine at bulk reef supply in a 2 gallon bucket.
So to explain the kalk stirrer completely:
Float valve in sump hooked to Mj 1200 in kalk bucket. This MJ turns on once every 2 hours for 10 minutes to top off tank with Kalk. This float MUST be cleaned regularly!!
Float valve in kalk bucket hooked to RO/DI reservoir. Sump Pump in RO/DI reservoir is also controlled by AC3 to come on twice a day to top off Kalk bucket. This also tops off my freshwater tanks upstairs using the same floats.
After the kalk bucket is topped off the AC3 turns on the MJ1200 in the bottom of the bucket for 5 minutes to stir it up good. It then is allowed to settle for a minimum of a half hour before topping off the sump otherwise there would be snowstorm.
I think that is it, a few points:
1. KEEP FLOATS CLEANED, right Waverz?
2. MJ's only last about a year in that 12pH environment. The impellor disentegrates.
3. Use 3/8 inch lines and floats. 1/4" clogs too quick.
4. Good Float valves are $8 at Us Plastics
Another note:
I also use a similar MJ system and the same float valve in my sump to control automatic water changes. I change three gallons a day and never carry a bucket. I just mix salt water weekly and maintain the components. It is awesome from a cost and work standpoint. Once you have an AC3 life is much easier.

 

Mrs Wages was $2 the last time I got it Hyvee, but that was 6 months ago to deal with some aiptasia. Your system sounds nice JT. Do you have to supplement at all with Bicarb?

 

Well it is easy to maintain anyway with all the automation. My days get so full things would go undone and we know what that does to a reef tank. No that isn't a problem. About an hour or two on the weekends takes care of it and then any othertime I spend is what I want to do to improve it.
I imagine what I saw of the wages was a bigger bottle or a three pack or something. I didn't actually buy it I just noticed it. Moral of the story is it can definitely be used.
Hmmm, nope no sodium bicarb. That is for alkalinity which is what the Kalk is for as well as calcium, maybe I am missing something there. I used to use Sodium Bicarb for my two part alk solution but not now. I do dose with Mg but that is it. Well, I do add a little Iodine and Potassium when my tests are low. But I do this rarely as it is very dangerous. So most people should ignore the Iodine and K.

 

Mg disappears much mroe slowly than Ca and Alkalinity. It's probably something you only need to dose up every couple of weeks. I dose 2 part every night now and really want to switch to Kalk...

 

Don't worry about asking questions, reef tanks are sort of like computers, you can never know everything. Plus I need another blue ricordia from you since my hydronophora ate my last one. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Sulfuric Acid Hurts has it right. I add two cups of Mg on the weekend directly to the sump.

 

The bucket is pure kalkwasser or Lime or Mrs Wages lime, nothing else. A little less than a cup a week for my 400 gallons.

 

I picked up 9-1lb containers of Mrs Wages at my local grocery store for $.25 each can, off season in the clearance isle!!!

 

That's a freakin deal B-Rad...