Kalk stirrer question.

[Seasonedreefer]

I recently purchased an Avast marine stirrer and love it!!!! But I'm still trying to figure out the right amount of kalk to put in the reactor to help keep my params in check. I know that I will every once in a while have to manually add Calcium and ALK and Mag but it seems like my system is really tearing through the three mentioned above and after testing my ph it is still at 7.8 (thinking it would be higher) I'm always sure to test later in the day before my lights go off to get the most accurate ph reading. I'm using Brightewell's kalk+2 and started with a 1/4 cup in the reactor. I added another 1/4 cup a week later. My evaporation is a little less than a gal a day. I use an aqua lifter pump with an air line check valve as suggested by Avast so it tops off at a really slow rate. I have a 75 gal mixed reef with about an extra 20 gal or so of sump water accounting for skimmer volume mr1 reactor volume etc. I like to take it slow but does anyone have an idea of how much I should really be adding to my reactor? I have some what followed the directions from avast and brightwell but cut the dose's down do to not having a ton of coral although... I do have some bigger caps and stuff. Any suggestions guys?

 

[Electrobes]

Technically I don't think it matters. Water can only be so saturated with Kalk... anything past that and it just precipitates out of solution. 2 tsp per gallon will be tops. In a reactor it's different.. you put a bunch in, and water passing through it slowly mixes what needs to be mixed into solution.

If you had a tub and just used an ATO with the tub.. the amount of kalk would matter. If I had 5 gallons of water and I wanted full saturation I would need 10 tsp of kalk. Anything past that would just be waste, but anything less could alter my pH, etc.

 

[mojo]

I always just keep about an inch or so on the bottom of the reactor. Electrobes is right. Once its saturated you cant really make it more or less saturated.

 

[btkrausen]

The only thing you need to watch carefully is your pH, as it'll sky rocket when adding more kalk to the reactor. Check out the sticky threads under Reef Chemistry, they have a lot of info in them. (I know, cause one of them is mine) :)

 

[Rockadile]

yeah with a stirrer I dot think it matters much at all I just wouldn't put too much in so it can stir easy enough but it is only going to put in so much. you have to remember that kalk is highly dependent on how much water you lose due to evaporation. so if you don't lose much you aren't going to be adding much kalk and vice versa.

I would also get a second opinion on your water tests with my kalk stirer I almost never need to add any cal or alk it stays pretty stable and have about 20 sps frags growing in my 90.

 

[btkrausen]

What i've done in the past is to determine, with testing, how much water to run through the reactor to compensate for evaporation loss, and then adjust your kalk level from there. This way you successfully accomplish two things, top off and calcium/kH input for a steady tank.

 

[Seasonedreefer]

I guess what I'm more or less trying to figure out is the potency of it and how fast it is lost. If I added. 1/4 cup at the start how long is that good for if it is constantly being stirred 24 hours a day? I'm sure after a week or so it has to lose it's potency or becomes less of a concentrated solution even if it is in complete saturation right?

 

[btkrausen]

The best way is to measure honestly. I keep an eye on my pH probe, and know that it is generally 8.3-8.4 throughout the day. When I see it consistently dropping a little below, and when my calcium starts to drop a little, I know its time to add a little bit more.

I've been running a kalk reactor for many years, and its work perfectly like that for me.

 

[Seasonedreefer]

It just seemed odd cause at first my params were all staying up pretty good and now this is the lowest they have ever been. All the corals do seem to be growing and coloring up better since I added the stirrer I'm assuming because of the constant addition of the major 3 but I can't imagine with the corals I have it's depleting everything that fast. A week ago my ph was at 8.3 now it's 7.8 and I always test same time of day so I know that's not it. And in a weeks time my cal went from 450 down to 350 mag same thing 1375 to 1150 I just don't get how it is dropping that much with the addition of kalk via top off.

 

[btkrausen]

if your Mag is dropping off that fast, it could be a reason that your calcium is as well. Magnesium is required to keep calcium at a higher level. You will see a nice growth improvement with Magnesium additions as well.

 

[Seasonedreefer]

The kalk+2 is supposed to have mag though. Or so it says...... I did add a fresh cup of GFO a week ago after a WC but I doubt that would have anything to do with it.

 

[btkrausen]

Yeah, I had bought a big jar of the Kalk +2, but never got around to trying it and see any results. I always had great luck with the BRS kalkwasser, and then I also used the BRS Magnesium to maintain it. Once I got my Mag up, I rarely had to dose it.

Have you done water changes recently? That could cause the drop as well, if your new water didn't have such a high level of calcium and magnesium in it.

 

[Seasonedreefer]

WC last week using Reef crystals not really doing anything I wouldn't normally do. I have BRS mag mixed up and ready to go i just never really used it how much can you safely increase your mag in one dose? 150 ppm a day? I dunno that was just a guess?