Can I add ALK to my Top Off (Tunze ATO) water container?

[Jesse Sunday]

Hi All!

I apologize for asking if this has been covered. I searched but couldn't find an answer.

Can I safely add ALK (Red Sea Reef Foundation B, specifically) to the top-off water?​

​

Could it mess up my Tunze Osmolator 3?​

I'm looking for an easy and gradual way to add ALK, rather than setting up a doser or adding it manually every couple of days, 20ml at a time.

For instance, if I want 10ml per day, and my tank uses .5 gallons a day of ATO, I could add 60ml into my 3 gallons.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Jesse

 

[landlubber]

Not really.
You may not notice it but during the summer months your tank evaporates quicker. This would also mean during that season you'd have elevated dKH and low dKH during the winter months. The exact opposite of stability.

 

[Jesse Sunday]

Not really.
You may not notice it but during the summer months your tank evaporates quicker. This would also mean during that season you'd have elevated dKH and low dKH during the winter months. The exact opposite of stability.

I'm more concerned about the effect on the ATO pump or if it would "foul" the water in the reservoir.

During the summer/winter (we live in FL, so there's not a vast difference!) I could adjust the ML/Gallon up or down as needed for a change in the rate of evaporation.

 

[Opus]

Hi All!

I apologize for asking if this has been covered. I searched but couldn't find an answer.

Can I safely add ALK (Red Sea Reef Foundation B, specifically) to the top-off water?​

​

Could it mess up my Tunze Osmolator 3?​

I'm looking for an easy and gradual way to add ALK, rather than setting up a doser or adding it manually every couple of days, 20ml at a time.

For instance, if I want 10ml per day, and my tank uses .5 gallons a day of ATO, I could add 60ml into my 3 gallons.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Jesse

I've been adding homemade ALK to my ATO for years with no issue. I have the previous osmolator, I believe it is 3155. I know Tunze had stated that you shouldn't do kalkwasser in the ATO container because it would ruin the pump. They actually make an attachment for the ATO for adding kalkwasser, I assume it can be used with the new ATO system.

 

[PotatoPig]

Not really.
You may not notice it but during the summer months your tank evaporates quicker. This would also mean during that season you'd have elevated dKH and low dKH during the winter months. The exact opposite of stability.

This really depends on local climate and your system.

For me it’s the opposite - winter I burn through top off water because the humidity in the house is low I get huge evaporation.

That said, all you’d have to do is adjust how much you add seasonally - as top off rate increases or decreases you add a little more or less so the total added per week stays the same.

 

[landlubber]

I'm more concerned about the effect on the ATO pump or if it would "foul" the water in the reservoir.

During the summer/winter (we live in FL, so there's not a vast difference!) I could adjust the ML/Gallon up or down as needed for a change in the rate of evaporation.

I mean i suppose the pump collecting precipitate would be a concern.
It just seems like an effort on your part to make things easier while to me its the more challenging way.
Just thinking about consistency and ease of operation I'd sooner dose Kalkwasser than mess with the ato reservoir water as depending what you keep, many corals will not appreciate the volatility.
If you do decide to go this route please share your experience.

 

[landlubber]

I've been adding homemade ALK to my ATO for years with no issue. I have the previous osmolator, I believe it is 3155. I know Tunze had stated that you shouldn't do kalkwasser in the ATO container because it would ruin the pump. They actually make an attachment for the ATO for adding kalkwasser, I assume it can be used with the new ATO system.

I have the Tunze Kalk dispenser. The design is clean and saves the ato pump from running the Kalk through the pump. It does suffer the same issue previously mentioned though, seasonal evaporation changes causing the dose to change and unless you're testing could cause issues.
The other thing that made it a bit of a challenge is as far as Kalk is concerned, it says the max capacity for the device is a 75g system whereas mine was double that.

 

[Jesse Sunday]

I mean i suppose the pump collecting precipitate would be a concern.
It just seems like an effort on your part to make things easier while to me its the more challenging way.
Just thinking about consistency and ease of operation I'd sooner dose Kalkwasser than mess with the ato reservoir water as depending what you keep, many corals will not appreciate the volatility.
If you do decide to go this route please share your experience.

OhhhhhhhK, I went the lazy/poor man method... just ordered this from BRS.

I'll rig up something to sit above my sump and drip to see how that works before I invest into dosing with it... even though I have the Neptune DOS and DDR standing by, I just don't have the room in the sump/stand for it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, the seasonal thing is not really a big issue since the tank demand likely changes (due to growth, pH and many other factors) on a time scale faster than seasonal changes, and thus needed adjustments based on testing will be performed anyway.

On the equipment question ability to deal with chemicals, that I cannot answer.

 

[landlubber]

OhhhhhhhK, I went the lazy/poor man method... just ordered this from BRS.

I'll rig up something to sit above my sump and drip to see how that works before I invest into dosing with it... even though I have the Neptune DOS and DDR standing by, I just don't have the room in the sump/stand for it.

to be honest that will likely work fine too.