Added kalk reactor and alk spiked. HELP!

[howietumba]

Hello! I added a kalk reactor connected to my ato. It stirs about 4 min every 4 hrs. Been running it about 3 days now and this morning my ALK spiked from 9.38(1800)to 12.32(0000). So i manually checked it at 0400 and alk was at 13.29 now. I use trident to check every 4 hours for alk. And my ca dropped from 426(1200) to 395(0000). I checked my corals they seem to be ok. Sps are polyps are out and lps same thing. What should i be doing at this point?
Thanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What you report is at least partly a testing problem since kalk cannot raise alk and drop calcium, but is it dosing clear kalkwasser?

How did you decide how much to dose?

You are likely delivering too much.

 

[howietumba]

Its dosing kalk because my ato is connected to the kalk reactor. Ca keeps dropping now its at 376. I dont know how to calculate evaporation for my ato but i change my 5gal ato bucket every 2.5 days. I know coral reactions would be delayed from the alk spike but at the moment they seem to be ok. Lights are still all off since its 0450 here and feeder polyps are all still fluffy.

on you question how much i decided to dose, i basically just added 4 spoons full of kalk to the reactor.
But it did seem strange my ca dropped when it should also be rising with the alk from the kalk right?

 

[howietumba]

Its a 120g display with a 60g sump.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The calcium is likely the test error (assuming the solid material in the reactor is calcium hydroxide, as it should be) and I'd ignore it for now.

You need to reduce the delivery of dissolved calcium hydroxide. One way to do that is to reduce the frequency of stirring. Right now, I'd shut the stirring off entirely until the alk declines.

 

[howietumba]

Ok. Should i be worried about the huge spike up in alk and drop in ca?

thank you for your advice.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok. Should i be worried about the huge spike up in alk and drop in ca?

thank you for your advice.

As I said, calcium is not dropping if alk is rising. It is not possible in your scenario.

I would be concerned with the rising alk as it is already very high.

 

[howietumba]

Tested at 6am. Dropped to 12.3 alk.. im not sure what is going on..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Tested at 6am. Dropped to 12.3 alk.. im not sure what is going on..

One would expect it to be dropping. The higher alk is, the faster it declines.

 

[howietumba]

Understood. Thank you. So next time i should just not stir the kalk reactor? Maybe just once a day im assuming?

 

[howietumba]

Im guess it topped off when the kalk was stirring?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If alk is above 11 dKH, I would not stir at all.

 

[howietumba]

So should i be dosing ca then? Its so strange how alk climbed but ca dropped..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So should i be dosing ca then? Its so strange how alk climbed but ca dropped..

Ignore calcium dosing for now. Let's see what happens to it over a few days.

 

[howietumba]

Ok thanks Randy. I will keep you posted. I appreciate your help and quick response.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Personally I wouldn’t hook up the reactor to an ATO as you won’t be able to control how much it doses. A heavy duty dosing pump would be a much better option for you :)

 

[howietumba]

viking thanks. Maybe if i dial down my flow so less evaporation? Or maybe just less scoops/less stirring as well?

 

[howietumba]

To be honest guys at this point im scared to come home to dead corals..