How to determine daily kalkwasser dose?

[Dj City]

Hello,

I have a 50 gallon reef tank.
My pH hovers around 7.8 - 8.1
I want my pH at about 9.

I have an Avast Marine kalk reactor and a wifi dosing pump.

I know how to use the reactor but I don't know how to determine daily dose or how I should split that daily dose throughout the 24 hour period.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

 

[rishma]

Hello,

I have a 50 gallon reef tank.
My pH hovers around 7.8 - 8.1
I want my pH at about 9.

I have an Avast Marine kalk reactor and a wifi dosing pump.

I know how to use the reactor but I don't know how to determine daily dose or how I should split that daily dose throughout the 24 hour period.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

I won’t be able to answer your questions but I have a few comments.

I do not recommend targeting a pH of 9.

I recommend determining the kalkwasser dose based on your alkalinity demand. There are calculators available that will tell you the alkalinity added per milliliter of saturated kalkwasser. If you are interested I can find a link.

I believe there are too many variables to calculate the pH change from a given kalkwasser dose, such as CO2 concentration, dosing rate, alkalinity, and aeration rate. It’s a complex problem. Most people do not see much pH change unless more than 0.5dkH alkalinity is dosed.

 

[NanoSteam]

Is there a reason you want it at 9? That will likely lead to issues. Kalk has a ceiling where you can only dissolve 2tbsp in 1 gallon of water so taking that into account depending on the water volume of the container you're using that's basically your limit plus you'll obviously be dosing based on Alk consumption and not what PH level you're able to achieve or you're going to have even more issues than a PH of 9 on it's own.

 

[twentyleagues]

Ph of 9? How and why? Trying to get to a very high ph of 9 with typical running parameters of our tanks with kalk will greatly increase alk and calcium probably to far out of standard tank ranges if its even possible at all.

 

[twentyleagues]

PH of 7.8-8.1 is perfectly fine. Chasing ph is not recommended. If you want it higher a fresh air line to the skimmer or co2 absorbing media on the air intake would be better than trying to get higher ph like that from kalk.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Did you mean a KH around 9? Thats a good area to hover around with sps in the tank and coralline. PH is far less important.

 

[mcarroll]

Hello,

I have a 50 gallon reef tank.
My pH hovers around 7.8 - 8.1
I want my pH at about 9.

I have an Avast Marine kalk reactor and a wifi dosing pump.

I know how to use the reactor but I don't know how to determine daily dose or how I should split that daily dose throughout the 24 hour period.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html
What are you trying to raise to pH 9.0? Hopefully not your tank!

But 9 is a bit low for kalk, so....?

 

[Dj City]

My bad...
I meant Kh. Not pH.

I type pH so much my phone auto corrects before I realize it.

The important question has not been answered though....

I have an Avast Marine kalk reactor and a wifi dosing pump.

I know how to use the reactor but I don't know how to determine daily dose or how I should split that daily dose throughout the 24 hour period.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

 

[Luisn17]

My bad...
I meant Kh. Not pH.

I type pH so much my phone auto corrects before I realize it.

The important question has not been answered though....

I have an Avast Marine kalk reactor and a wifi dosing pump.

I know how to use the reactor but I don't know how to determine daily dose or how I should split that daily dose throughout the 24 hour period.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

I recently setup my K2, last week actually. I looked at the avast marine website and said I needed a minimum of 1 cup to run the K2. I knew my daily evaporation was slightly under 2 gallons from my Redsea ato on my waterbox reef lx 330.7. Roughly about 280ish gallons actual water volume. I currently have my Versa dosing 1892ml or 1/2 gallon continuously throughout the day. The remaining is top off by ato.

I picked 1/2 gallon from ChatGPT, I asked it to convert my all for reef dose of 30ml to a kalk dose. I posted on my tank thread my setup and how great Kalk has been. Things have been really consistent since the switch.

Hope this helps.

 

[mcarroll]

I assumed since you're talking about kalk and reactors that you've already crossed that bridge (for whatever you were using before)....kalk's not the easiest, most user friendly place to begin. :)

Have you been over this (and the two linked articles within) already?

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/pros-and-cons-of-alkalinity-and-calcium-dosing-methods.1069/

 

[FUNGI]

Heres a basic calculator:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef...H_2g5-udhy4MFKjOCxuEtGcpGbh20q02dH6ONzIWBAjoJ

 

[mcarroll]

Heres a basic calculator:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef...H_2g5-udhy4MFKjOCxuEtGcpGbh20q02dH6ONzIWBAjoJ

Already hit him with that option on post #7. We're getting there! :)

 

[Dj City]

I assumed since you're talking about kalk and reactors that you've already crossed that bridge (for whatever you were using before)....kalk's not the easiest, most user friendly place to begin. :)

Have you been over this (and the two linked articles within) already?

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/pros-and-cons-of-alkalinity-and-calcium-dosing-methods.1069/

Yeah...
My alk and cal are taking hits.
I don't want to do 2 part mostly because kalk is 1 supplement, boot to pH and I already own the reactor from my previous 180gal reef.

I've never had a "small" reef before.

On the 180, I had a full apex system including a trident and a reefbot.

I no longer have those.

I'm trying to get this done with what I have without blowing up the reef.

 

[Dj City]

So...
Does this mean i should dose the calculation dose spread over 24 hours?

The problem I'm having is that dose tells me how to get from x alk to x alk but doesn't tell me a daily starting dose to maintain where I want to be.

Am i missing something or misunderstanding something?

 

[rishma]

So...
Does this mean i should dose the calculation dose spread over 24 hours?

The problem I'm having is that dose tells me how to get from x alk to x alk but doesn't tell me a daily starting dose to maintain where I want to be.

Am i missing something or misunderstanding something?

You need to know your daily alkalinity consumption. For example, If your tank consumes 0.5 dKH per day, you need to dose 0.5 dKH per day to maintain the same level.

 

[EnterName]

If you only want to be adding 1 supplement consider using All for Reef (AFR). Kalkwasser won't keep other elements like magnesium, potassium, etc. stable and you will need to add those through other means sooner or later. Water changes do not keep depleting elements at their desired levels for long.

Kalkwasser is also highly inefficient. You can only dissolve approx 1.7g Ca(OH)2 in 1L which is like 0.92g/L Ca. If you are adding a whole liter into a 100L tank, this will increase calcium by only 9.2ppm. In comparison: 23mL of AFR would have the same effect of 9.2ppm Ca and 1.29dKH alkalinity (see calculator at the bottom of the page: https://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/?lang=en).

1000mL vs 23mL is quite significant if you ask me, especially considering that AFR contains all major and minor elements your tank consumes and you would need to provide through other means when dosing Kalkwasser. If you know your daily alkalinity consumption it will be relatively easy to approximate the amount you need to dose daily to your tank.

Note: The numbers above assume that all OH- ions from the kalkwasser will be converted to bicarbonate to provide alkalinity. Mistakes can happen so double check the math before using these as instructions.

 

[rishma]

If you only want to be adding 1 supplement consider using All for Reef (AFR). Kalkwasser won't keep other elements like magnesium, potassium, etc. stable and you will need to add those through other means sooner or later. Water changes do not keep depleting elements at their desired levels for long.

Kalkwasser is also highly inefficient. You can only dissolve approx 1.7g Ca(OH)2 in 1L which is like 0.92g/L Ca. If you are adding a whole liter into a 100L tank, this will increase calcium by only 9.2ppm. In comparison: 23mL of AFR would have the same effect of 9.2ppm Ca and 1.29dKH alkalinity (see calculator at the bottom of the page: https://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/?lang=en).

1000mL vs 23mL is quite significant if you ask me, especially considering that AFR contains all major and minor elements your tank consumes and you would need to provide through other means when dosing Kalkwasser. If you know your daily alkalinity consumption it will be relatively easy to approximate the amount you need to dose daily to your tank.

Note: The numbers above assume that all OH- ions from the kalkwasser will be converted to bicarbonate to provide alkalinity. Mistakes can happen so double check the math before using these as instructions.

I quite like kalkwasser. I kept many tanks with Kalkwasser as the primary supplement. Magnesium can be dosed periodically, potassium too (but it may not even need to be dosed.). In fact, I have yet to run a tank without kalkwasser in 30 years.


I like AFR a lot too and I agree it’s better by some measures. But I wouldn’t knock good old kalk.

 

[EnterName]

If you only want to be adding 1 supplement consider using All for Reef (AFR). Kalkwasser won't keep other elements like magnesium, potassium, etc. stable and you will need to add those through other means sooner or later. Water changes do not keep depleting elements at their desired levels for long.

Kalkwasser is also highly inefficient. You can only dissolve approx 1.7g Ca(OH)2 in 1L which is like 0.92g/L Ca. If you are adding a whole liter into a 100L tank, this will increase calcium by only 9.2ppm. In comparison: 23mL of AFR would have the same effect of 9.2ppm Ca and 1.29dKH alkalinity (see calculator at the bottom of the page: https://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/?lang=en).

1000mL vs 23mL is quite significant if you ask me, especially considering that AFR contains all major and minor elements your tank consumes and you would need to provide through other means when dosing Kalkwasser. If you know your daily alkalinity consumption it will be relatively easy to approximate the amount you need to dose daily to your tank.

Note: The numbers above assume that all OH- ions from the kalkwasser will be converted to bicarbonate to provide alkalinity. Mistakes can happen so double check the math before using these as instructions.

I quite like kalkwasser. I kept many tanks with Kalkwasser as the primary supplement. Magnesium can be dosed periodically, potassium too (but it may not even need to be dosed.). In fact, I have yet to run a tank without kalkwasser in 30 years.


I like AFR a lot too and I agree it’s better by some measures. But I wouldn’t knock good old kalk.

Kalkwasser is fine if you know what you are doing and understand the limitations of it.
It's "inefficient" when considering the volume you need to add per ppm Ca, but that doesn't mean it's a bad choice. The more kalkwasser you add the less work your ATO needs to do :)

However, I'm lazy and don't want to fill up dosing containers all the time so Balling/AFR/etc. are a better fit for me personally.

 

[Dj City]

So....
Turns out that Avast Marine has a great Kalculator.

According to their calculator and direct input from them, I should be dosing approximately 2650ml daily.
This is based off an approximate 1 gal daily evaporation rate on the conservative side and letting kalk reactor make up 70% of that evaporated water with saturated kalk and let my ato take care of the other 30%.

I think this should be a good enough starting dose?

Now I need to figure out "when" to dose.

I have my dosing pump set up to dose 110ml every hour for 23 hours a day.

Maybe I should only dose at night or....

A little guidance would be much appreciated.

 

[rishma]

I’ve always dosed at night, but it’s really not necessary. Just habit at this point.

Assuming you based your dose off your alkalinity consumption, you should be good to go.