For those that 2 part dose/kalk or both

[NitrateKillah]

Hello All,

For those that 2 part dose and Kalk, how do you control it? how do you know you are not overdosing?

Same with Kalk only, how do you control it if you don't do 2 part? Thanks! just trying to learn along the way.

 

[Tahoe61]

Testing.

A lot of testing to measure the tanks consumption rate. Dosing to your target values as needed.

 

[NitrateKillah]

Lets say, my dkh is now at 8.0, my goal is 9. I run kalk only and drip, maybe for 20 mins, and after it hits 9, I stop testing and stop dripping?

 

[exnisstech]

I dosed 7 liters of saturated kalk over 24 hours on my 180. I was dosing 2 part previously and used an online calculator to figure out how much kalk to use when I switched.

 

[exnisstech]

Lets say, my dkh is now at 8.0, my goal is 9. I run kalk only and drip, maybe for 20 mins, and after it hits 9, I stop testing and stop dripping?

This is the calculator I use.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator/alkalinity-calculator-reef

You what to slowly increase if needed. Coral aren't going to like a 1 dkH increase in 20 minutes.

 

[NitrateKillah]

This is the calculator I use.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator/alkalinity-calculator-reef

So, how are you able to keep it steady? I assume you tune the drip rate to keep the DKH from rising? Running it for 24hrs, surely would cause a spike.

 

[exnisstech]

I had the dosing pump on a timer dosing xx minutes an hour. I know how long the pump needed to run to dose 7 liters and divided that into 24 doses. I used the calculator based on my tanks daily consumption to calculate the total amount needed daily. Calculating the amount of daily alk being consumed is the first step. As mentioned its testing, sometimes daily until it's dialed in then I test weekly and adjust as needed. Many tanks can get by with just water changes. Dosing normally isn't needed until you start keeping hard corals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Lets say, my dkh is now at 8.0, my goal is 9. I run kalk only and drip, maybe for 20 mins, and after it hits 9, I stop testing and stop dripping?

Well, that would be way too fast and should not be done in one day anyway.

If alk is 1 dKH below your target, I’d dose 0.2 dKH of kalk a day for a week and see where you stand.

 

[NitrateKillah]

Well, that would be way too fast and should not be done in one day anyway.

If alk is 1 dKH below your target, I’d dose 0.2 dKH of kalk a day for a week and see where you stand.

Silly question, why just 0.2?