ACI Kalkwasser Method.... I've watched this video and read a few articles, still not sure the exact method.

[jhuntstl]

On various streams there is much excitement about ridiculous polyp extension when applying this method. And it is true in my case, the polyps on sticks were vastly enlarged, almost immediately. In my case, I don’t think was a reaction to maintaining high pH at night. I’ve maintained and exceeded that pH now using a different method and have not noticed this phenomena. Maybe it was a cry for help, rather than revelling in its newly found water parameter.
I would like to here about the coral growth explosion from folks using the Chris method, especially when their Alk has also gone through the roof.

I run an opposite light cycle frag, so I don't dose all my kalkwasser at night like Chris. I dose based on pH to maintain 8.3-8.34. It's similar and I do run high alk as a result. Last I tested was 11.5 on 7/30. I peaked at 12.5. I am only 6 weeks in this experiment, so early days and who knows I may crash hard.

Based on observation though, I'm happy with the results. I am seeing solid growth and encrustment. Since I switched to stabilizing pH, I have not lost an acro or any other coral. But again, it's only been 6 weeks.

I was doing AFR and kalkwasser before. I struggled to maintain a stable alk from week to week. At the same time pH was swinging from 7.8-8.1. I had quite a few losses(small acro frags) and some STN that eventually recovered. Can't say with any certainty it was a result of my swings though.

I do hope I continue to have success. This method is simple and much less stressful than maintaining a stable alkalinity. It does require frequent pH probe maintenance. It will become more complex once my dkh drops and I have to supplement my dosing. The plan is to increase evaporation and stall as much I can.

I have a post in this thread from a couple weeks ago that details more alk readings if you're interested.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

On various streams there is much excitement about ridiculous polyp extension when applying this method. And it is true in my case, the polyps on sticks were vastly enlarged, almost immediately. In my case, I don’t think was a reaction to maintaining high pH at night. I’ve maintained and exceeded that pH now using a different method and have not noticed this phenomena. Maybe it was a cry for help, rather than revelling in its newly found water parameter.
I would like to hear about the coral growth explosion from folks using the Chris method, especially when their Alk has also gone through the roof.

I wonder if polyp extension might relate to organic-coated particulates that corals might mistake for foods?

 

[drawman]

I run an opposite light cycle frag, so I don't dose all my kalkwasser at night like Chris. I dose based on pH to maintain 8.3-8.34. It's similar and I do run high alk as a result. Last I tested was 11.5 on 7/30. I peaked at 12.5. I am only 6 weeks in this experiment, so early days and who knows I may crash hard.

Based on observation though, I'm happy with the results. I am seeing solid growth and encrustment. Since I switched to stabilizing pH, I have not lost an acro or any other coral. But again, it's only been 6 weeks.

I was doing AFR and kalkwasser before. I struggled to maintain a stable alk from week to week. At the same time pH was swinging from 7.8-8.1. I had quite a few losses(small acro frags) and some STN that eventually recovered. Can't say with any certainty it was a result of my swings though.

I do hope I continue to have success. This method is simple and much less stressful than maintaining a stable alkalinity. It does require frequent pH probe maintenance. It will become more complex once my dkh drops and I have to supplement my dosing. The plan is to increase evaporation and stall as much I can.

I have a post in this thread from a couple weeks ago that details more alk readings if you're interested.

Curious did you immediately set your dosing to reach 8.3 or did you start off at a lower dose (ie the middle of your starting pH range)?

 

[jhuntstl]

Curious did you immediately set your dosing to reach 8.3 or did you start off at a lower dose (ie the middle of your starting pH range)?

Over maybe 7-10 days, I raised my ml/hour on the peristaltic until I hit 8.3. At this time Hydros only had a pH control accuracy of .1, so I would swing from 8.3-8.4. For the most part stayed in this range for about 3-4 weeks. I re-calibrated and fell .1. Once again over a weeks period I raised it back to 8.3. Hydros recently had an update that allowed control to .01. So I now have it set to 8.3-.8.34.

Going to quote myself here. Gives some insight on the alk progression.

I'm a month into testing this myself. I don't dose my full evaporation at night like the ACI guy. I have an opposite light cycle frag tank, so I dose 24/7 at 12ml/hour. My controller's pH probe is set to turn on my peristaltic at 8.3 and off at 8.4. I dose out of a 20g brute.

I started increasing kalkwasser dosing on 6/21. I was at 7.4dkh.

6/27 - 9.4
6/29- 10
7/3- 11.8
7/6- 12.5
7/10- 11.8
7/14- 10.9
7/19- 11.7
7/20 - 11.5

Last I checked calcium was 440 on 7/4.

So far, so good. Happy coral. No stress that I've been able to notice. My pH is closer to NSW levels and very stable since I run my frag opposite light cycle.

I think I'll see a slow and steady drop in alkalinity over the coming months. At some point I'll have to supplement the kalkwasser or maybe even increase evaporation with fans. Assuming my tank doesn't come crashing down before then. =)

I'm finding this method much less stressful than maintaining a stable alkalinity. As long as I frequently clean and calibrate my pH probes, I feel confident in the dosing.

 

[areefer01]

On various streams there is much excitement about ridiculous polyp extension when applying this method.

There are two instances when I routinely see ridiculous polyp extension and both are repeatable. Maybe I should create a live stream...

The first one. Water change using Tropic Marin Bio Actif salt. I can't say why but I can say that I did not see this when I used other salts. This isn't why I use the salt but figured I'd note I personally see polyp extension right after and it is epic. Is it salt related I don't know

The second time is before I feed and add a couple drops of Polyp Lab Booster The polyps come out for sure after this

Other than that polyps are polyps doing polyp things none of which I know what or why.

 

[areefer01]

I wonder if polyp extension might relate to organic-coated particulates that corals might mistake for foods?

Polyp lab booster while not mistaken for food does trigger a feeding response. You could be onto something.

 

[Mo.]

Coming into this a bit late. I’ve seen the videos.

Chris basically uses a saturated Kalk solution at as constant a dilution as possible. He actively opposes a slurry and says a slurry will eventually kill your system.

He monitors the pH swing. You then dial in the average pH and program your Apex (or equivalent) to start dosing when the pH drops below this average.

let’s say you have a starting pH of beteeen 7.9 and 8.1. You then dose your alk as soon as your pH drops below 8.0.
this pushes up the pH.
The new average is then a little higher- let’s say the new swing is 8.0-8.2. You then set the system to dose when the pH drops to 8.1 (the average) and continue monitoring. You keep this going until you slowly hit 8.3 pH, which is what Chris aims to keep.

I guess when this is in balance, the daytime pH is maintained. And so he doses 24 hours worth of Kalk in 12 hours overnight due to the pH dip when the tank lights are off.

with Kalk, ca and alk rises together. As the initial tank pH when you start will be low, you dose a relatively high amount of Kalk to raise the pH and so your alk and ca will spike.

eventually to maintain your pH at 8.3 you won’t need to dose as much and your alk will drop back and everything levels off.

He doesn’t like a Kalk reactor as you ro di into it and this dilutes the strength, so he prefers to make up a constant concentration of Kalk and Actively doses it.

this is all slightly different to the classic methods of adding Kalkwasser to your tank.

 

[Garf]

Coming into this a bit late. I’ve seen the videos.

Chris basically uses a saturated Kalk solution at as constant a dilution as possible. He actively opposes a slurry and says a slurry will eventually kill your system.

He monitors the pH swing. You then dial in the average pH and program your Apex (or equivalent) to start dosing when the pH drops below this average.

let’s say you have a starting pH of beteeen 7.9 and 8.1. You then dose your alk as soon as your pH drops below 8.0.
this pushes up the pH.
The new average is then a little higher- let’s say the new swing is 8.0-8.2. You then set the system to dose when the pH drops to 8.1 (the average) and continue monitoring. You keep this going until you slowly hit 8.3 pH, which is what Chris aims to keep.

I guess when this is in balance, the daytime pH is maintained. And so he doses 24 hours worth of Kalk in 12 hours overnight due to the pH dip when the tank lights are off.

with Kalk, ca and alk rises together. As the initial tank pH when you start will be low, you dose a relatively high amount of Kalk to raise the pH and so your alk and ca will spike.

eventually to maintain your pH at 8.3 you won’t need to dose as much and your alk will drop back and everything levels off.

He doesn’t like a Kalk reactor as you ro di into it and this dilutes the strength, so he prefers to make up a constant concentration of Kalk and Actively doses it.

this is all slightly different to the classic methods of adding Kalkwasser to your tank.

Yes, the newest version of this does include a period of acclimation by slowing down the average increases in pH. This was not part of the original method. Why was it modified if it caused no problems, I wonder.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Yes, the newest version of this does include a period of acclimation by slowing down the average increases in pH. This was not part of the original method. Why was it modified if it caused no problems, I wonder.

Where is this at? The modification?

 

[Mo.]

Yes, the newest version of this does include a period of acclimation by slowing down the average increases in pH. This was not part of the original method. Why was it modified if it caused no problems, I wonder.

I think it was part of the original, just not mentioned. It is just dialling the system in over the first few weeks.

Don’t forget, he has a massive coral frag business. There is a lot to lose if he messed it up…..

 

[Mo.]

Also, it’s not been mentioned, but reading between the lines, it seems his chemist is the man behind Captiv8 Kalkwasser and this method is mentioned in the instructions for dosing Captiv8.

unfortunately, I can’t seem to find Captiv8 in the UK.

He dilutes his own Kalkwasser each time for consistency and avoids any slurry or kalk reactor dosing that would lead to unstable dosing. The method seems interesting to me.

 

[drawman]

It seems safer to do the modification but I still see this being a nightmare for lightly stocked tanks leading to an alk spike.

 

[Mo.]

It seems safer to do the modification but I still see this being a nightmare for lightly stocked tanks leading to an alk spike.

It’s not necessary for lightly stocked tanks. You probably wouldn’t need such a high pH either….

 

[jhuntstl]

My alk went up pretty quickly with no issues. I also found this quote from RHF interesting from the potassium hydroxide thread.

He was responding to the implications of kalkwasser dosing to achieve NSW pH.

The implications are unstable alkalinity, possibly also rising to excessive levels if not limited somehow.

Many reefers seem to think that stable alk leads their systems to better success than less stable alk. But there is very limited actual experimentation in this regard, with proper controls and such. Consequently I’m wary to give a strong opinion on the effects.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It’s not necessary for lightly stocked tanks. You probably wouldn’t need such a high pH either….

Need is an opinion, but if the kalkwasser only supplies a portion of the demand, even when replacing all evaporated water, then there’s no risk to rising alk, and the method seems like the standard idea to dose kalk at night.

The problem arises if someone uses it in a tank where alk demand is less than the daily dose. For folks considering dosing kalk regardless of demand, I consider that somewhat risky.

 

[fushi]

“So if you were my friend I would recommend you do not use Chris’ method and just dose as much Kalk as possible at night with no regards to alk.”
Chris’s method is NOT “dose as much kalk as possible at night”.

It's been a while since I watched that video my statement is in regards to, but I do remember him saying something along those lines. He was pretty gung-ho about it.

 

[Rst]

Yes, the newest version of this does include a period of acclimation by slowing down the average increases in pH. This was not part of the original method. Why was it modified if it caused no problems, I wonder.

Hey Garf, It sounds like you are trying Chris method. I would also like to try this out. Currently I am using a Calcium reactor along with dosing KALK upto my evaporation rate of approx 1 gallon/day. I do have all the necessary pieces of equipment needed ie Apex,pH probe,44gal brute,doser etc. Would you think this is worth trying(I am willing to take full responsibility if this is a bust) and if so, would you care to offer any advise on what to watch out for any what actions or adjustments I might need to make. Seems to me, if this does start to go in the wrong direction, I can already just revert back to my normal methods.
Thanks,

 

[Garf]

Hey Garf, It sounds like you are trying Chris method. I would also like to try this out. Currently I am using a Calcium reactor along with dosing KALK upto my evaporation rate of approx 1 gallon/day. I do have all the necessary pieces of equipment needed ie Apex,pH probe,44gal brute,doser etc. Would you think this is worth trying(I am willing to take full responsibility if this is a bust) and if so, would you care to offer any advise on what to watch out for any what actions or adjustments I might need to make. Seems to me, if this does start to go in the wrong direction, I can already just revert back to my normal methods.
Thanks,

I’m pretty sure that if your alkalinity consumption is greater than that delivered by the kalkwasser additions, you’ll be good. I would not totally disregard alkalinity jumps as advertised in the method, there just seems to be so many years of anecdotal stuff against it. I’m circumventing this increasing Alkalinity problem by doing something else presently. I got it into my head that perhaps bacterial populations change at high alkalinity, causing stressors, dunno. Anyhow, I’m trying min pH of 8.3, but with a stable Alkalinity (most of the time, lol) to see what happens. I would add, that If my tank was older, and more developed, I wouldn’t mess, probably

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I’m pretty sure that if your alkalinity consumption is greater than that delivered by the kalkwasser additions, you’ll be good. I would not totally disregard alkalinity jumps as advertised in the method, there just seems to be so many years of anecdotal stuff against it. I’m circumventing this increasing Alkalinity problem by doing something else presently. I got it into my head that perhaps bacterial populations change at high alkalinity, causing stressors, dunno. Anyhow, I’m trying min pH of 8.3, but with a stable Alkalinity (most of the time, lol) to see what happens. I would add, that If my tank was older, and more developed, I wouldn’t mess, probably

Any update since employing the updated method? Curious how your alk has been. How are you supposed to keep alk stable if consumption doesn't match how much dosing is needed to raise pH?

 

[Garf]

Any update since employing the updated method? Curious how your alk has been. How are you supposed to keep alk stable if consumption doesn't match how much dosing is needed to raise pH?

I’m just using a DIY, cheap, wet CO2 scrubber with kalkwasser. All good so far, mostly, lol

Kalk slurry aeration

With ref to @Doctorgori thread a while ago; https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pulling-air-through-saturated-kalk.580645/ His thread was based around changing a saturated calcium hydroxide into calcium carbonate by reducing the CO2 content in air passed through it to ultimately reduce CO2 in...

www.reef2reef.com