Kalk addition

[allof fish]

So it’s finally time I start using kalk. Going to use it in ato for now until I venture on down the road later and get a stirrer. Been dosing 2 part but could benefit from the ph boost with the amount of acros I will have soon. Plan was to start off slow and only use half of full saturation. Is there a specific value to determine how much kalk will offset the amount of 2 part I have to dose? Also what could ph boost be with half saturation? I evaporate about 1.4G a day. Currently dosing 38ml of alk and calcium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What two part are you switching from? They vary in potency.

 

[allof fish]

What two part are you switching from? They vary in potency.

Brs soda ash and calcium. In some of my research the kalk likely won’t be enough to take all of it away especially starting out at half saturation. Just want to avoid large jumps until I get it dialed in with amount and testing

 

[Pod_01]

FWIW the soda ash you are using is providing pH boost…
Out of curiosity do you dose it all at once or multiple times per day?

 

[PPBlimpy]

I personally do not like Kalk in ATO. Dumps to much in at a time causing spikes. My ato runs 2x a day. also your evaporation rate varies between summer/winter, how humid it is, running fans or no fans etc. very unpredictable and difficult to get stable numbers in my opinion.

 

[allof fish]

FWIW the soda ash you are using is providing pH boost…
Out of curiosity do you dose it all at once or multiple times per day?

I know it provides some but not as much as I’d like. Multiple times thru a dos

 

[allof fish]

I personally do not like Kalk in ATO. Dumps to much in at a time causing spikes. My ato runs 2x a day. also your evaporation rate varies between summer/winter, how humid it is, running fans or no fans etc. very unpredictable and difficult to get stable numbers in my opinion.

Mine runs a few times a day. I thought I could see exactly how many thru apex but it was set to on instead of auto. Just really looking for that ph boost. I could dose it thru my apex but with only 1 doser I’d have to start hand dosing alk or calcium unless I got another doser.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Brs soda ash and calcium. In some of my research the kalk likely won’t be enough to take all of it away especially starting out at half saturation. Just want to avoid large jumps until I get it dialed in with amount and testing

My two part recipe, which BRS uses, is 46.5 times as potent as saturated kalkwasser.

Thus, each 1 mL of two part replaces 46.5 mL of kalk.

That said, if you see a pH boost, the demand for alk and calcium may also rise a bit.

FWIW, you can also use a two part using sodium hydroxide instead of sodium carbonate, giving an identical pH boost to kalk with no dose limitation and the same potency as the sodium carbonate two part.

 

[PPBlimpy]

My two part recipe, which BRS uses, is 46.5 times as potent as saturated kalkwasser.

Thus, each 1 mL of two part replaces 46.5 mL of kalk.

That said, if you see a pH boost, the demand for alk and calcium may also rise a bit.

FWIW, you can also use a two part using sodium hydroxide instead of sodium carbonate, giving an identical pH boost to kalk with no dose limitation and the same potency as the sodium carbonate two part.

this is great info!!! I am dosing b-ionic 2 part and when i run out switching to Kalk and this give me a great starting point

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

this is great info!!! I am dosing b-ionic 2 part and when i run out switching to Kalk and this give me a great starting point

FWIW, B-ionic is a bit more potent. It is 69 times as potent as kalk. :)

One can use this calculator to make such comparisons:

https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalcnew.html

 

[PPBlimpy]

FWIW, B-ionic is a bit more potent. It is 69 times as potent as kalk. :)

One can use this calculator to make such comparisons:

https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalcnew.html

Thank you!!! You are a Welth of knowledge

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome and thanks.

Happy Reefing. :)

 

[allof fish]

My two part recipe, which BRS uses, is 46.5 times as potent as saturated kalkwasser.

Thus, each 1 mL of two part replaces 46.5 mL of kalk.

That said, if you see a pH boost, the demand for alk and calcium may also rise a bit.

FWIW, you can also use a two part using sodium hydroxide instead of sodium carbonate, giving an identical pH boost to kalk with no dose limitation and the same potency as the sodium carbonate two part.

That’s good info. Is that with kalk at full saturation. My plan was to start with half and then work from them. Just really looking for a nice ph boost and keep it more stable

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That’s good info. Is that with kalk at full saturation. My plan was to start with half and then work from them. Just really looking for a nice ph boost and keep it more stable

Yes, sorry, full saturation. :)

 

[exnisstech]

Biggest pH boost I've gotten was adding an outside airline to the skimmer. I went from 7.6-7.9 daily swing to 8.0-8.3 occasionally hitting 8.4. Just throwing it out because not every one gets a substantial pH bump from kalk alone.

 

[allof fish]

Biggest pH boost I've gotten was adding an outside airline to the skimmer. I went from 7.6-7.9 daily swing to 8.0-8.3 occasionally hitting 8.4. Just throwing it out because not every one gets a substantial pH bump from kalk alone.

Yes unfortunately I’m not able to run a line to a window. I do have a co2 scrubber that helps a bit and gets me around 8.1-8.15 which is good but with me going heavy acro dominated I really want to get it up more.

 

[exnisstech]

Yes unfortunately I’m not able to run a line to a window. I do have a co2 scrubber that helps a bit and gets me around 8.1-8.15 which is good but with me going heavy acro dominated I really want to get it up more.

I understand. I ran my acro tank at 7.6 - 7.9 pH for over two years and I thought it did well. I added the airline and in 1.5 months my AFR dosage amount doubled because I had so much growth. I could see the growth without looking back at photos. It was probably the most difference i noticed from any single change I made. I don't frag tho and have to toss trimming or pieces I break so when I moved into a new tank recently I didn't connect the airline.