calcium and alk ?

macawmagic

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I'll start with my setup. I've got a gravity feed bucket to float valve in my sump. I pour rodi into the bucket and then put about 1 tsp. of kalk per gallon in there with a powerhead. The float valve finally clogged after about 1.5 years. aka one day i came home and about 8 gallons of kalkwasser went into the tank. I've only lost 3 acro's. ora tri color valida. ora hawkins enchinata, and a random neon green acro that I still have a smaller frag of.

for about 1.5 weeks i've been adding rodi daily. no kalkwasser. I did a 25% water change. I just tested my water after FINALLY getting calc and alk test kits. my calcium is at 500+ and my alk is about 6.1 dKH. i've got some Ocean's blend 2 part.

can I add just the alk part to raise that up? or should i add equaly both like the instructions say.

side note...I just ordered a geo 618. it's on back order, but I've got evertyhing else. Just waiting for the reactor to get in and come to me.
 

msman825

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500 seems high. I run mine in this range 380 – 450 ppm I just add Seachem Reef builder to up my alk
 
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macawmagic

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to be honest...for the past 2 years i've never tested for alk or calcium. only thing I ever tested for was nitrates and phosphates and that was only if I saw something wrong with the tank. I usually just did a 25% water change once a month and all my topoff is kalk. and baam. everything was good. untill lately, since the float valve gets stuck open and I can't top off kalk. I also just found out my calcium reactor will get here on monday. sooo...I need to do a lot of reading tonight on setting that up...but to my knowledge the water parameters have to be where you want them before setting up the calcium reactor.

if anybody has a link on how to properly setup a calcium reactor, I would LOVE that. otherwise i'll be googling later.
 
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macawmagic

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geo 618. reef fanatic guages, solenoid, and controller, 10 lb. tank, and gen-x media. I can't wait to get it setup. I hope my stuff grows faster...although i'm going to need a bigger tank soon, or sadly start getting rid of corals.
 

bellareef

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I'd recommend 380-450 ppm Calcium and 7-11 dKH (2.5-4.0 meq/l) alkalinity. :smile:

sps_fragracks.jpg
 

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