Instructions for dosing Kalkwasser slurry (NOT saturated Kalkwasser!)

[Shooter6]

It's actually potassium hydroxide, but it seems like an awesome solution if you can get it figured out on your dosing needs

 

[Iant419]

It can and does work. I would start by saying you only tweak methodologies and do not change them. Everytime you do it is a 3 or more month set back for stony corals.

The issue is more of a risk analysis with specific requirements. Are you tapped out on evaporation rate? If not just research topic with no immediate action.

1 Slurries are 2 to 6% with mechanical stirring not pump. Pumping abrasive is a fools errand fpr ceramic on ceramic shafts.

2. The slurry can clog if usage is not small bore tubing without settling. You will get settling so a bit of a time bomb. One day of missing kalk due to a plug is bs and not worth it. This bs will happen when away.

3. Above 8.5 or 8.6 CO2 is mostly gone and desired effect is limited.

Ca(OH)2 + CO2 + NaCl goes to CaCl + NaHCO3 + H20.

pH creep is exponential going past this is useless. Bacterial types of growth will be modified.

4. Oddly excessive groth is linked to rtn annecdotally.

5. Extreme flow or a recirculating mixer in sump is also now needed. More pumps more points of failure unless an old school loose ac rotor pump.

The risk reward at this piint is cost savings for aquaculture farms. One large bottle of All for Reef powder is still a balanced additive and will get sick results with much less risk for me.

Keep pH high 8.4 and leave the coral mortality to the youtubers who likely have > 60% mortality rates.

That is my thoughts. Why pay 40 to 150 for frags and experiment on them. T5 bulbs and kalk all the way!! Chunky sticks can buy more balanced additives and salt.

Chummingham's reef used a multitank setup with staggered photocycles and kalkwasser slurry dosing to achieve a stable PH of 8.95 for two weeks and said he never noticed any problems except for insane growth and phenomenally happy coral. His night time lows nowadays are above 8.5 and often 8.6 and have been that way for YEARS at a time.

High PH is not anybody's issue! It's sudden wild swings. The mode of your PH sine just needs to stay consistent .2 to .3 or less.

He talked about that experiment he did on the reefdudes stream and mentioned that at some point that the lack of CO² in the water would at some point suffocate the zooanthelle, but he did not have that occur at a constant PH of dang near 9!

 

[pfoxgrover]

This is where my slurry journey ended. Just a little precipitation? In all fairness I think my pH probe was reading a little lower the true value.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Chummingham's reef used a multitank setup with staggered photocycles and kalkwasser slurry dosing to achieve a stable PH of 8.95 for two weeks and said he never noticed any problems except for insane growth and phenomenally happy coral. His night time lows nowadays are above 8.5 and often 8.6 and have been that way for YEARS at a time.

High PH is not anybody's issue! It's sudden wild swings. The mode of your PH sine just needs to stay consistent .2 to .3 or less.

He talked about that experiment he did on the reefdudes stream and mentioned that at some point that the lack of CO² in the water would at some point suffocate the zooanthelle, but he did not have that occur at a constant PH of dang near 9!

I can tell you for sure what folks will see at pH 8.95: substantial precipitation of calcium carbonate on pumps, heaters, etc. One might also precipitate magnesium hydroxide.

It may have those other effects too, but it is not a pure win win to drive pH up above 8.6.

 

[Iant419]

I can tell you for sure what folks will see at pH 8.95: substantial precipitation of calcium carbonate on pumps, heaters, etc. One might also precipitate magnesium hydroxide.

It may have those other effects too, but it is not a pure win win to drive pH up above 8.6.

I'm not sure how Chummingham avoided the precipitate snowstorm everybody talks about. He acted like everything was business as usual although he only maxed that 8.9 for a few weeks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not sure how Chummingham avoided the precipitate snowstorm everybody talks about. He acted like everything was business as usual although he only maxed that 8.9 for a few weeks.

Could be his pH was not accurate, or organics or phosphate or magneisum were sufficiently high to prevent precipitation.