BambooKing
Community Member
I have been dosing kalk to keep my ph stabile at 8.3 for a year now. I mix and store the kalk in a sealed container and I add the kalk powder, stir it until it reaches 10.3 on an EC meter. Maximum saturation. It takes about a month for my 20 gallon container to run out, and about halfway through the month my dkh begins to drop. By the end of the month, I am at 8.3-8.5 on my Hanna and my KH carer. When I mix up a fresh batch of kalk my dkh climbs to about 9.5. It will sit in the 9’s and then slowly drop over the next month.
I know Kalk is fairly stable but this monthly drop is annoying, and also doesn’t make sense to me. I was under the impression that the ph of Kalk and the dkh were tied to each other. If the Kalk is losing potency over 30 days than shouldn’t the ph be declining too which would lead to the controller needing to dose more Kalk to hit that 8.3 number? If that is the case then the dkh should actually increase over the month right?
I know there are many of you out there dosing to ph instead of dosing to dkh. Do you experience this decline in dkh by the end of your Kalk supply?
Also should I be concerned about a dkh that swings from 9.5 to 8.5 every month? Is this normal since I am supposed to be mostly caring about the ph stability?
I am considering moving over the Randy’s improved 2 part with the PH boost. That would allow me to control my input of dkh and also get the ph boost. Has anyone made the switch? Thank you.
I know Kalk is fairly stable but this monthly drop is annoying, and also doesn’t make sense to me. I was under the impression that the ph of Kalk and the dkh were tied to each other. If the Kalk is losing potency over 30 days than shouldn’t the ph be declining too which would lead to the controller needing to dose more Kalk to hit that 8.3 number? If that is the case then the dkh should actually increase over the month right?
I know there are many of you out there dosing to ph instead of dosing to dkh. Do you experience this decline in dkh by the end of your Kalk supply?
Also should I be concerned about a dkh that swings from 9.5 to 8.5 every month? Is this normal since I am supposed to be mostly caring about the ph stability?
I am considering moving over the Randy’s improved 2 part with the PH boost. That would allow me to control my input of dkh and also get the ph boost. Has anyone made the switch? Thank you.
