DIY Kalk Dripper

[drock59]

Just looking to find a way to drip kalk without buy something too expensive. thanks

[chriskirby101]

Cheapest way is:

a food bag.
Kalc.
Ro water.
Pin hole.


Done!

[drock59]

thanks for the reply but i think im looking for something a little more sophisticated.

[Agu]

Everything you need to know for a cheap kalk dripper,

http://www.reefwebsites.com/agu/kalkdrip/

Agu

[sambryce]

I used to use one of those 2.5 gallon water jugs with the pull out spigot. Just place over the sump/tank and pull the spigot out until the desired drip rate is achieved. It leaves about 1/2" water in the bottom, so no problem with solids ending up in your tank.

On the otherhand, the kent aquadose is only about $20 so it's not a major investment to do it right.

[docklink]

A couple of other ideas can be found here:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=2382431#post2382431

[gixxerrder1371]

After giving up with having to adjust the dripper daily I decided to just add Kalk to my auto top off . . .

I know what your thinking . . . auto topoff . . . way to much money . . BUT

Mine cost me about 18$ over all and holds 5 gallons and Never requires maintence.

Just use a 5 gallon jug . some r/o tubeing . . a 14$ kent float valve from Marine Depot. and a small powerhead i had laying around .

It works on gravity feed into my sump and the powerhead keeps the calcium stirred up inside the container so its consistant over a weeks time . . Ill get some post up tonght

Its worth the extra few dollars to never have to worry about top off or kalk drip cloggs.

Gixx.

[Agu]

Gixx,

I've also used the Kent float valve and it work fine, but it will clog after a few weeks. Pretty much any valve that drips/adds kalk will clog eventually.

ime,

Agu

[drock59]

gixxerrder, could you post some pics. id like to see and i think it is a great idea.

[gixxerrder1371]

How often if ever this setup clogs seems to be largly dependent on how much kalk to water you are dosing . . In my case , my topoff adds about 5 gallons a week . So my kalk/water ratio is faily low. Have had mine going for over a month now with a fair bit of LPS and some SPS and maintaining water lvl and calcium lvls has never been easier .

As preventative maintinance i would segest spashing some water around the valve to rinse off the salt/kalk creep . . but this is a two second job that happens maybe weekly.

Will get some pics up tomorow when all the lights are on and what not .

Gixx.

[bastion666]

Here's a solution, total cost around $130....

DIY Kalk / Top-off Water System (http://www.gavinadams.org/aquarium/top_off_system.html)

Precise dosing at a price! :)

[gixxerrder1371]

So here are the pics of my topoff/kalkdoser.

The first one is the tank . . its just a standard 5 gal jugg. I added a powerhead to keep it mixed and the little mini bulkhead type deal that i got from HD that connects the R/O to the jug.

http://genji.image.pbase.com/u40/gixxerryder/upload/25888548.TopoffTank.JPG

This second pic is the actual valve . . its a standard kent float valve can be bought almost anywhere that does saltwater supplies. . . is like 14.95 at MD.

I drilled a hole through the glass divider in my sump with a dremel and adjusted the height of the float so the sump can always handle the added water of a power outage . . ALSO if the float valve were to somehow get stuck the sump would be able to handle the 5 gallons of water from the jug.

http://genji.image.pbase.com/u40/gixxerryder/upload/25888554.TopoffValve.JPG

Enjoy . hope it helped.

Gixx.

[gixxerrder1371]

HMMM evil red X's . . . use this link if they arnt showing for you...

http://www.pbase.com/gixxerryder/fish_tank

Sorry.

Gixx.

[ddenham]

Grixx...I use the same easy method, only a bulkhead into a 5gal bucket fed by gravity into the same kent float valve. I soak the valve in either a 5:1 water to muriatic acid mix (always add water to acid and wear rubbergloves and glasses!) or vinegar depending on how patient I am. I clean it out every other month or so.

I don't use a powerhead to stir the mix either, , from what I understand, saturated limewater is clear, and the particulates that settle on the bottom will not eventually dissolve and should be tossed every now and again.