Kalkwasser..Do I really need to keep dosing

[Budman's Corals]

I have a Two Little Fishies KW Reactor 300 (Kalkwasser Reactor) w/ 1 lb Kalkwassero Do i really need to keep dosing this through the ATO , I have a calcium dosing pump thats just sitting under the cabnet and calcium i could just dose calcium not kalk

What do people think

 

[jservedio]

The reason you dose it through the ATO is to dilute it down because Kalk is really nasty on pumps (and usually your ATO pump is super cheap). I don't know if I would dose Kalk through a dosing pump directly. I use 1/8" tubing to siphon off my Kalk mix into my ATO res and it is basically looks like I dipped it in concrete after using it for a few months - I wouldn't want that on the tubing inside a doser especially if you are using a roller-type doser - you may end up with a cracked tube and a ruined pump.

 

[Budman's Corals]

The reason you dose it through the ATO is to dilute it down because Kalk is really nasty on pumps (and usually your ATO pump is super cheap). I don't know if I would dose Kalk through a dosing pump directly. I use 1/8" tubing to siphon off my Kalk mix into my ATO res and it is basically looks like I dipped it in concrete after using it for a few months - I wouldn't want that on the tubing inside a doser especially if you are using a roller-type doser - you may end up with a cracked tube and a ruined pump.

Sorry I wasn't clear on my post so i edited it..

 

[jservedio]

Sorry I wasn't clear on my post so i edited it..

I see what you are saying. You would need 2 dosing pumps - 1 for calcium and 1 for alkalinity. Kalk is a balanced additive meaning it increases both Ca and Alk in balance. For dosing, you need both parts of your 2-part to match what kalk is doing. Also, when doing 2 part if you use Sodium Carbonate instead of Sodium BiCarbonate, you will increase your pH just like Kalk (but not as drastically so).

 

[Budman's Corals]

I see what you are saying. You would need 2 dosing pumps - 1 for calcium and 1 for alkalinity. Kalk is a balanced additive meaning it increases both Ca and Alk in balance. For dosing, you need both parts of your 2-part to match what kalk is doing. Also, when doing 2 part if you use Sodium Carbonate instead of Sodium BiCarbonate, you will increase your pH just like Kalk (but not as drastically so).

AH So i might wanna keep dosing kalk then till i get another pump and alk mix..right now nothing seems to drop calc/alk every once in a while i will add Calcium thru the doser pump but its like once a month,is that normal for kalk to keep the levels up like that

 

[jservedio]

If you don't have a lot of corals, you may never need to dose anything at all and you can replenish your Ca, Alk, and Mg through just your weekly water changes. You should ONLY be dosing based on consumption and need. If you aren't testing for it, never dose it. You should only be dosing Kalk based on a need for it. If Kalk is keeping your Ca and Alk where it needs to be without shooting your pH through the roof - there is no need to start doing 2-part.

If you want to do 2-part, make sure you calculate exactly how much you need and dose each part of the 2-part system according to consumption which you calculate through testing. Normally, you will be adding equal amounts of 2-part to keep Alk and Ca in balance and making adjustments as needed.

Test frequently.

 

[Budman's Corals]

If you don't have a lot of corals, you may never need to dose anything at all and you can replenish your Ca, Alk, and Mg through just your weekly water changes. You should ONLY be dosing based on consumption and need. If you aren't testing for it, never dose it. You should only be dosing Kalk based on a need for it. If Kalk is keeping your Ca and Alk where it needs to be without shooting your pH through the roof - there is no need to start doing 2-part.

If you want to do 2-part, make sure you calculate exactly how much you need and dose each part of the 2-part system according to consumption which you calculate through testing. Normally, you will be adding equal amounts of 2-part to keep Alk and Ca in balance and making adjustments as needed.

Test frequently.

yeah im sure my corals dont use that much right now.there all small..levels stay 420all the time

 

[jservedio]

Yeah - then there is no need to dose anything (including Kalk) unless you notice your levels dropping between your water changes. If you are dosing Kalk now and your levels aren't changing and staying rock-steady, you should probably continue dosing it. Also, if you stop dosing Kalk all together, you should slowly taper it down so you don't crash the pH.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I have a Two Little Fishies KW Reactor 300 (Kalkwasser Reactor) w/ 1 lb Kalkwassero Do i really need to keep dosing this through the ATO , I have a calcium dosing pump thats just sitting under the cabnet and calcium i could just dose calcium not kalk

What do people think

Check it out @budman ,
For my current set up that i am getting ready to break down for the new SCA- 150, I use a Kalk Stirrer and l and I run a 3 part dosing Schedule, ALK, CAL AND MAG with a Eshoops IV Master&Salve dosing system. I run a Peristaltic Pump thats connected to my saltwater mixing station and I use that as a ATO.
How I have it set up is I connected the output of my peristaltic pump to my Kalk stirrer and then I simply run a 1/4'' RODI line from my mixing station's RODI tank to the input of the peristaltic pump. It works awesome and sucks the water 30 feet no problem from my mixing station that's in the garage.
After tweaking and testing and tweaking and testing for about a week, I was able to finally hit that sweet spot which took a while but I got it and my parameters are now all with in range. My 3 part dosing Schedule runs something like this, I dose 5ml twice a day in the early am and @ midnight. My kalk is on a timer and is set up to come on every 4hrs for 15 minutes and the Peristaltic Pump doses 1.1ml per minute of Kalk and that keeps my PH right around 8.

FYI, please bare with me on attachment 1, my Panworld pcs of junk took a dump on me and I only used it maybe 3 times, so I went with the new Reef Octo VarioS4 from reef Octopus which will give me 1100gph which is perfect for these 25 gallon Acto Moto storage containers.
So I am in the process of hard plumbing it back on the station just waiting on one fitting to come in from BRS.

I also, run a new GHLMaxi doser for my automatic water changes so I never touch a thing. I have that connected to the salt barrel on my mixing station and the other line is in my sump. The old water the the ghl maxi dosing pump removes is re routed into a sink in the garage like the RODI lines. Hope this helps you or gives you a idea!

I am going to do a video on how every is hooked up and works on my FLSharkvictim YouTube channel. Please feel free to subscribe - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZVSZtsb3-MYAih1QoKMqRw

Current tank: 120 / New build SCA-150 coming soon

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

yeah im sure my corals dont use that much right now.there all small..levels stay 420all the time

Alkalinity decline is the first thing you'll notice if you are not dosing enough calcium/alkalinity/magnesium.

Test it when not dosing and see if it is dropping.

I wasn't entirely clear on what's happening, but it may be your limewater (kalkwasser) is keeping things stable.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

Quick question, @Randy Holmes-Farley[/USER] should i stop dosing my 3 part and test since i AM dosing kalk even know my PH number is always right around 8?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Quick question, @Randy Holmes-Farley[/USER] should i stop dosing my 3 part and test since i AM dosing kalk even know my PH number is always right around 8?

I'm not sure I understand. You should only dose limewater/kalkwasser and a two part based on alkalinity, not on pH.