Has anyone used kalkwasser on a dosing pump?

[Brandon McHenry]

Hi all! I was wondering if anyone has ever used kalkwasser on a dosing pump to slightly combat a low pH. I have an IM Nuvo 40 all-in-one that is a mixed reef with a focus on SPS. I have a CO2 scrubber installed and under normal circumstances it has done the job to deal with the low pH. However, with everyone home now all day everyday the scrubber doesn’t seem to be keeping up and the tank ranges from around 7.7-8.0 (night-day). I was wondering if I could use a small amount of kalkwasser, in addition to ESV B-ionic, on a dosing pump to just slightly elevate my pH throughout the day. I know I will have to back off the 2-part slightly to keep my levels where they are at. Has anybody ever had experience with this? And does anyone know how much kalkwasser would have to be added to have a recognizable pH increase? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[nereefpat]

yes, people use dosing pumps to add kalk. It works better than dosing kalk via auto top off.

"Adding 1.25% of the tank volume with saturated limewater will boost the pH instantly by about 0.7 pH units, but the effect rapidly wanes as the system pulls in more CO2 from the air."

RHF from a different thread

 

[Brandon McHenry]

yes, people use dosing pumps to add kalk. It works better than dosing kalk via auto top off.

"Adding 1.25% of the tank volume with saturated limewater will boost the pH instantly by about 0.7 pH units, but the effect rapidly wanes as the system pulls in more CO2 from the air."

RHF from a different thread

Thanks for the reply! Glad to know a dosing pump will do the trick. So let’s say I have about 30 gallons net water volume and I want to try a small boost of about 0.1 pH units. Would I add around 0.18% of the tank volume? At 30 gallons x ~3800 mL/gallon x 0.18% that would equal about 200mL/day. Does that sound right?

My plan would be to dose a small amount every hour just to help mitigate pH loss while still using my 2-part to carry the bulk of the weight. I am hoping that the kalkwasser plus the CO2 scrubber I can maintain a slightly higher pH.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

@Randy Holmes-Farley if my math is wrong or I am misunderstanding how this would affect my reef please let me know! Thanks in advance!

 

[Brew12]

Your math looks good to me.
I dose 1.4L of Kalk every day in my roughly 170g system. I spread it out over 70 doses per day. I think it works well and the more doses you spread it out over the better imo.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Your math looks good to me.
I dose 1.4L of Kalk every day in my roughly 170g system. I spread it out over 70 doses per day. I think it works well and the more doses you spread it out over the better imo.

That’s great thanks! Is kalk your only supplement or do you use 2-part/calcium reactor as well? What kind of pH rise do you think I will see with roughly 200 mL per day? And what dosing pump do you use to get 70 doses? I’m pretty sure mine tops out at 24/day.

 

[nereefpat]

Yes, 0.18% tank volume would increase the pH by 0.1.

But that is if you dump it all in at once. You'll have to play around with it a bit to see what the effects will be on your tank.

Just start slow, like you are, and watch your alkalinity. And don't expect miracles, or obsess with pH too much.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Yes, 0.18% tank volume would increase the pH by 0.1.

But that is if you dump it all in at once. You'll have to play around with it a bit to see what the effects will be on your tank.

Just start slow, like you are, and watch your alkalinity. And don't expect miracles, or obsess with pH too much.

I see. I can start with the roughly 200 mL per day broken up into 24 doses and back off my 2-part by a mL or 2 and watch my alkalinity. Not looking for any miracles I just know from past experiences that my tank does/looks better at a higher pH.

 

[nereefpat]

Now that I think about it, the effect may not be linear, so the math on pH increases might not be so simple.

Anyway, just watch your alk and pH and adjust as needed

 

[svogun]

I had mine hooked up to a DOS worked fine as an adjunct to when I was dosing two part. I had it estimated based on my evap rate. I use a Ca++ reactor now I'm not dosing kalk.

 

[Softhammer]

What I would do is not worry about the ph. 7.7 to 8.0 fluctuation is of no significance. That won’t kill your corals, a mistake with chemicals absolutely will. If your house these days is anything like mine, having the kids shut up and go play In the yard will do more for your pH and sanity than any kalk will!

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Now that I think about it, the effect may not be linear, so the math on pH increases might not be so simple.

Anyway, just watch your alk and pH and adjust as needed

You have to love reef chemistry, nothing is ever simple lol. That’s why I went with biology! I will definitely keep and eye on both and see what happens.

I had mine hooked up to a DOS worked fine as an adjunct to when I was dosing two part. I had it estimated based on my evap rate. I use a Ca++ reactor now I'm not dosing kalk.

Glad to know that this might work! Thanks!

What I would do is not worry about the ph. 7.7 to 8.0 fluctuation is of no significance. That won’t kill your corals, a mistake with chemicals absolutely will. If your house these days is anything like mine, having the kids shut up and go play In the yard will do more for your pH and sanity than any kalk will!

The fluctuation doesn’t really bother me it’s more the lower end. Biologically speaking I don’t really like the idea of a 7.7 pH, it’s just not as healthy for the corals. I definitely plan on being very careful so that no mistakes are made.

 

[drawman]

So I thought of doing exactly this same thing and I also use B-Ionic. RHF reminded me of another option of using Sodium Hydroxide (as the alkalinity component) which should boost pH substantially. I have not made the switch yet I'm waiting on a pH probe to be delivered to see where I'm at but I know I'm low.

 

[Softhammer]

I have been running around the mid 7s forever. Don’t overthink things. I currently have a loaded 180 with more healthy sps than I can count, i have proof. Tinkering and over analyzing never ever ends well in this hobby. Unless corals are actively dying, a solution is not needed to a perceived problem that isnt really even a problem.

 

[Brew12]

That’s great thanks! Is kalk your only supplement or do you use 2-part/calcium reactor as well? What kind of pH rise do you think I will see with roughly 200 mL per day? And what dosing pump do you use to get 70 doses? I’m pretty sure mine tops out at 24/day.

I was dosing more than 400ml/day of each 2 part but I've switched to a CaRx. My demand just didn't allow for 2-part dosing anymore.
I doubt you will notice a significant difference, I know I don't. I'm not convinced its worth the effort.

 

[MickeyCT]

Keep in mind that Kalk shouldn't be used to try to increase any levels of Alk and Ca, but it can be really good to maintain levels depending on your tank.

I've been dosing Kalk for years, first using a Spectrapure Litermeter then when that died I switched to the DOS connected to my Apex. I currently add 5 liters a day to a 225 (total system about 240 gals). I dose from 3:00 AM to 6:00 PM to offset a lower pH when MH are off but I do overlap the lighting time by a few hours.

My suggestion would be to figure out how much top off you add each day and then add a little less Kalk than that on a schedule opposite your lighting. Keep your top-off going assuming you have it automated in some way so it doesn't add the same amount you're adding now. Watch your pH for a while then adjust as needed. You can always adjust the saturation of the Kalk to a less saturated solution.

As was said before, not a good idea to use Kalk in an automated top-off in case things go wrong. Better to add it separately.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

So I thought of doing exactly this same thing and I also use B-Ionic. RHF reminded me of another option of using Sodium Hydroxide (as the alkalinity component) which should boost pH substantially. I have not made the switch yet I'm waiting on a pH probe to be delivered to see where I'm at but I know I'm low.

That’s true. I thought of that at first but since the tank is small I liked the idea of the added trace elements in B-ionic.

I have been running around the mid 7s forever. Don’t overthink things. I currently have a loaded 180 with more healthy sps than I can count, i have proof. Tinkering and over analyzing never ever ends well in this hobby. Unless corals are actively dying, a solution is not needed to a perceived problem that isnt really even a problem.

I appreciate the concern. This is less about me chasing numbers or trying to fix a problem as it is returning my tank chemistry to where I know that it was running successfully in the past. I plan to take things very slowly and keep monitoring to prevent any unwanted issues.

I was dosing more than 400ml/day of each 2 part but I've switched to a CaRx. My demand just didn't allow for 2-part dosing anymore.
I doubt you will notice a significant difference, I know I don't. I'm not convinced its worth the effort.

Wow that a lot of 2-part! I’m not sure what differences I’ll see but I ran kalk and 2-part on my last SPS tank and had good results so I figured I’d look into it again.

Keep in mind that Kalk shouldn't be used to try to increase any levels of Alk and Ca, but it can be really good to maintain levels depending on your tank.

I've been dosing Kalk for years, first using a Spectrapure Litermeter then when that died I switched to the DOS connected to my Apex. I currently add 5 liters a day to a 225 (total system about 240 gals). I dose from 3:00 AM to 6:00 PM to offset a lower pH when MH are off but I do overlap the lighting time by a few hours.

My suggestion would be to figure out how much top off you add each day and then add a little less Kalk than that on a schedule opposite your lighting. Keep your top-off going assuming you have it automated in some way so it doesn't add the same amount you're adding now. Watch your pH for a while then adjust as needed. You can always adjust the saturation of the Kalk to a less saturated solution.

As was said before, not a good idea to use Kalk in an automated top-off in case things go wrong. Better to add it separately.

Absolutely! I plan on maintaining calcium and all demands with the 2-part and ATO for evaporation. The kalk would simply be to help reduce some of my pH declines that I’m seeing.

 

[JPergamo]

I just dose kalk on a drip using a kamoer fxstp alongside of a CaRx. This combo has never served me wrong and always love the PH boost from the kalk. I feel it is the best 1-2 punch solution.

 

[Breadman03]

I just started with an Avast K2 from BRS. My swings have become much smaller, but I also used it to bump my alk from about 7 to 9.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I just dose kalk on a drip using a kamoer fxstp alongside of a CaRx. This combo has never served me wrong and always love the PH boost from the kalk. I feel it is the best 1-2 punch solution.

I agree! Done correctly I feel like this combo could prove very successful. I did a combo of 2-part and kalk on my last SPS tank and had great results with it.

I just started with an Avast K2 from BRS. My swings have become much smaller, but I also used it to bump my alk from about 7 to 9.

I’m sure the higher all helped but if I can raise the lower end of my pH swing Id be happy. That looks like a move in the right direction to me!