Does anyone have a good way (cheap) of dripping Kalk into a sump? I am propping up a turkey baster filled with kalk and letting it drip into the tank, but this seems too hard to control. Any suggestions for a cheap slow drip device?
DIY Kalk dripper
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i took a 2.5 plastic gas can , drilled a hole about 1/2 inch from the bottom, screwed in plastic barb fitting just large enough to slip a piece of airline tubing over it and used a small screw valve like comes with a small rio pump for adjustment of the drip rate. works perfect for me and holds enough water to last me a week. cost me 4 bucks to put it together...good luck
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I use a 2.5 gal water jug with a piece of airline tubing in the bottom with a cheap valve to sdjust the drip rate..
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that should be 2.5 gallon can...sorry
A 1 Gallon Reptile water reservoir... has a stainless steel ball valve on it that allows you to control the drip to 1 drip every 5 seconds or so, all the way up to a steady slow stream. Cost is like $15 from most local pet stores... I think the cheapest I found was Larry's House of Pets. Their customer service stinks, but if you go in there knowing that is what you want, just get, and leave quickly, you'll do well. Another advantage of this thing is that the ball valve sits about 3/4" up from the bottom of the container... as a result, the sediment falls to the botoom and all you get dripping into the tank is the saturated limewater. I did htis method for over a year with fantastic results until I got my peristaltice pump set-up.
Really cheap and simple way-
A plastic milk jug-1/4" tubing and an airline valve
drill 2 holes in the milk cap
put a 2" or so peice of tubing thru 1 and in the other put a peice long enough to reach your tank
put the airline valve on the longer line and another peice of tubing after that to extend to the tank
place the jug above the tank and blow into the short tube to start a siphon and then adjust the drip rate with the airline valve
I use a half gallon jug on my 35 and I also have a larger version of this on my 180 that uses a 5 gal. salt bucket and a shut-off valve in the sump instead of the airline valve.
works like a charm and costs less than 5$ for the stuff to do it.
I think the shut off valve-float type was about 10$ online
http://www.thatpetplace.com/MainPro/itemdy00.aspx?T1=W37+0171+1131
this ones 10$
Debbie
A plastic milk jug-1/4" tubing and an airline valve
drill 2 holes in the milk cap
put a 2" or so peice of tubing thru 1 and in the other put a peice long enough to reach your tank
put the airline valve on the longer line and another peice of tubing after that to extend to the tank
place the jug above the tank and blow into the short tube to start a siphon and then adjust the drip rate with the airline valve
I use a half gallon jug on my 35 and I also have a larger version of this on my 180 that uses a 5 gal. salt bucket and a shut-off valve in the sump instead of the airline valve.
works like a charm and costs less than 5$ for the stuff to do it.
I think the shut off valve-float type was about 10$ online
http://www.thatpetplace.com/MainPro/itemdy00.aspx?T1=W37+0171+1131
this ones 10$
Debbie
i haven't tried it yet, but here is what a donor suggested to me. He sent me two Aqualifter pumps (and alot of very nice other things 
) These are the pumps CPR uses for their overflows.
I did some searching and these can be used with airline tubing. One tube into your Kalk resevoir, and the other to a gang valve which can be used to adjust drip rate. Then it's just a matter of time and patience to figure out how many drops/sec you need to match your tank's evap rate. The idea sounds like it should work so long as the kalk resevoir end of the air line tube doesn't ket clogged.
) These are the pumps CPR uses for their overflows. I did some searching and these can be used with airline tubing. One tube into your Kalk resevoir, and the other to a gang valve which can be used to adjust drip rate. Then it's just a matter of time and patience to figure out how many drops/sec you need to match your tank's evap rate. The idea sounds like it should work so long as the kalk resevoir end of the air line tube doesn't ket clogged.
I have a few questions about this and please, correct me if I am wrong.
First all that you are mixing is RO water and Kalk and dripping it into your sump right?
With these 2.5gallon setups is there a pump in the container for circulation?
I know if I leave RO water for more then a day or two in a bucket without any circulation it stinks bad.
Maybe it is the airtight seal on the bucket that contributes to the fowl smell.
Not that I make a habit of this or anything, but it has happened a few times and when I remove the lid the smell is horrid.
I would like to set a kalk drip up, but I don’t want the smell from the stagnant water in my house.
Thanks
Rick
First all that you are mixing is RO water and Kalk and dripping it into your sump right?
With these 2.5gallon setups is there a pump in the container for circulation?
I know if I leave RO water for more then a day or two in a bucket without any circulation it stinks bad.
Maybe it is the airtight seal on the bucket that contributes to the fowl smell.
Not that I make a habit of this or anything, but it has happened a few times and when I remove the lid the smell is horrid.
I would like to set a kalk drip up, but I don’t want the smell from the stagnant water in my house.
Thanks
Rick
i have a 32 gallon trash can that is used as the kalk/water mixing location. the smell you experience is because of microbes in the water which is inevitable. I don't think you will have that problem with kalk in the water. It is a very basic solution that should inhibit/eliminate bacterial growth. Before I used kalk my water stunk too. Once I started using kalk I haven't smelled anything
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Cheap auto top off container
Here are some pictures of my "top off" system. Total cost was less than $5.00 to make. That included the 2.5 gallons of water that came in the jug too
Get the jug:
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Take the cap and pierce a hole for airline tubing. Push the airline tubing through and then silicone in place. First though, determine how long a line you want.
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Get a plastic airline bleeder valve
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You can insert the valve anywhere you want along the length of the hose. I just happen to have valve about 6" from the end. This is because if the valve ever slipped off, then all the water from the container would drain into the sump. If you place the valve too close to the cap and it slipped off, you'd have water everywhere BUT the sump
Here's my setup:
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It is not fancy. I'll admit, but it works and does what I want it to do.
Also, I do not drip kalk. For those of you who do, I would NOT recommend dripping kalk into your skimmer chamber as it is very hard on the skimmer's pump. The EuroReef that I have states in the warranty guide that if you drip kalk, it voids the pump warranty. So take that as a WARNING.
Here are some pictures of my "top off" system. Total cost was less than $5.00 to make. That included the 2.5 gallons of water that came in the jug too
Get the jug:
Take the cap and pierce a hole for airline tubing. Push the airline tubing through and then silicone in place. First though, determine how long a line you want.
Get a plastic airline bleeder valve
You can insert the valve anywhere you want along the length of the hose. I just happen to have valve about 6" from the end. This is because if the valve ever slipped off, then all the water from the container would drain into the sump. If you place the valve too close to the cap and it slipped off, you'd have water everywhere BUT the sump
Here's my setup:
It is not fancy. I'll admit, but it works and does what I want it to do.
Also, I do not drip kalk. For those of you who do, I would NOT recommend dripping kalk into your skimmer chamber as it is very hard on the skimmer's pump. The EuroReef that I have states in the warranty guide that if you drip kalk, it voids the pump warranty. So take that as a WARNING.
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