Kalkwasser question

[t blackwell]

ok ..I have never used kalkwasser ( i know you must be careful with it) I have a 220 tank with just a couple of corals..like as in 4...and a 50 cube with maybe 5-6..want to add some..when i test the dkh on the 220 it averages 8..a low i have seen is 7.8 on it...the 50 cube averages 8..i have seen a low of 7.2..what is idea..I dont have sps really just lps mostly..im thinking..if i use a small amount of kalkwasser in my ato on these tanks would that be the stability that i may be missing..ive had mixed results with my coral frags...is kalk us a bad idea until you have lots of corals? I was thinking I could try like a half teaspoon in the 2.5 ato reservoir of my 50 cube..and my 220 holds 15 gal ato..maybe two three teapoons in that..just enough..whatever that is..to keep thing stable..is this a bad idea?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Kalk is a great way to maintain levels. It is something that needs to be done properly and don’t breath in the dust while mixing.

1/2 teaspoon will not really do anything. There are lots of vids on dosing.

Brs has a good one

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/Kalkwasser-The-Easiest-Way-to-Maintain-Ca-Alk-&-pH/

 

[Spitty]

I’m a fan of kalk, but I drip it instead of using it in an ato. Dripping keeps parameters more steady. What is the Ph in your tanks?

 

[Jet915]

I started with kalk, in a low demand system which it sounds like yours is currently, it should be fine. Eventually, as your corals grow and demand is higher, u might need to switch to a reactor or 2 part. i just switched to 2 part as my saturated kalk (2 teaspoon per gallon) could not keep my alk stable anymore...

 

[NS Mike D]

with few corals, water changes should be all you need. What salt are you mixing and have you measured ALk and CA of you slat mix before the water change. How often are you doing water changes.

Start with nailing down your consumption between water changes. after making sure you have the right salinity and know the Alka and CA of the new water. Give an hours after changing the water and test the tank. Keep testing until you see some consitency in consumption rates.

From there you can decide on what to dose if anything

FWIW I have a mixed reef and run slightly elevated NO3, PO4 and Alk (about 9dkh). I use 1 tsp per gallon of Kalk in my ATO and does a capful of ALK daily manually as my alk consumption is slightly higher than ALk and my pH hoovers about 8.3 (kalk raised pH).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m not sure how any additive that is dosed the same amount every day is going to increase alk stability? Is that what you mean by stability?

 

[t blackwell]

on the 220 I will change 30 gals about every 5-6 weeks. sometimes a little sooner sometimes a little longer.maybe once every 6 months I may change 60 galls occasionally..but generally 30 gals every 1.5 to 2 months. on the 50 cube I am doing about 40 percent one time every 4-5 weeks.

 

[t blackwell]

I started with kalk, in a low demand system which it sounds like yours is currently, it should be fine. Eventually, as your corals grow and demand is higher, u might need to switch to a reactor or 2 part. i just switched to 2 part as my saturated kalk (2 teaspoon per gallon) could not keep my alk stable anymore...

I guess what im wondering is..mine is low demand for sure..but can I use a very light dose of kalkwasser in my ato ..just to create more dkh stability..I know kalk raises ph..but how much will it raise dkh and calcium in very light doses..I tested my 220 the last two days..dkh was 8.3 calcium was high 520 ( tested today-think this is because I manual dosed calcium from two part about two weeks before I ended up doing a 30 gal water change..so I think that drove my calcium up ..when i dosed it it had dropped to 385 so I raised it to about 360..then two weeks later I ended up doing a water change so I think thats how my calcium got too high..mag is fine.... I think it took about a month ish for my calcium before to go from like 450 down to 385. I wish my calcium wasnt high or i would consider the light light kalk in the ato..and just test after say 5 days. ..I guess i wondering if when i get it in line..i can use a very light amount to just keep it in a range from dropping very much...but obviously I dont want it to rise ..just to kind of level it out and bring the ph up a little and keep the dkh say 8-to 8.5 something like that...Its my understanding that kalkwasser is great for stability......so i have to wait on the 220 due to my high calcium.
.on my 50 cube I tested dkh 7.9 calcium 460 mag about 1380...I have a 2.5 gallon ato reservoir for this tank and id say it goes close to 5-6 days before I have to add water. couldnt I try like half a teaspoon in the 2.5 gals and see how it does in a few days...you know just a very low amount but enough to keep things from dipping and of course hopefully keep ph on the upside. let me know..and by the way I appreciate all of you who replied for weighing in and helping me ...thank you! I will reply to each one over the day or so

 

[t blackwell]

just fyi I have been using red sea coral pro salt. my 220 salinity has slowly been raised from( 1.022-I always ended up at this even though i was shooting for 1.023) over about two weeks and today it tested 1.024 which is fine by me. the 50 cube is run at 1.025.

 

[reelredfisah]

I have used Kalk in the past and thought about going that way again. But to be honest I feel that since I have an auto water change setup it might not be needed. But that could be the wrong way of thinking on my part.

 

[t blackwell]

I’m not sure how any additive that is dosed the same amount every day is going to increase alk stability? Is that what you mean by stability?

Well..keep in mind I am a relative newbie...im still learning chemsitry..even though I understand it in a general sense ..I have had mixed resuts with corals.....I meant using a very small amount in an ATO so that the alk..for example..stays more stable...by stable I mean not dropping or rising much....the thing is..I have what you would call a low demand system ..kind of..meaning im not loaded with corals...obviously I dont test dkh 3 times a day..more like once a week..I havent ever used kalkwasser but I have BRS two part solutions that I have used very sparingly when I was first trying to get things in line...I have tried to figure out why ive lost some different corals and I admit i paid little attention to ph..I assumed mine was stable and ok when i tested it once in a blue moon. a big mistake..I have addresed this by ordering a hanna ph tester..I have also attached outside airlines to both of my skimmers and when i get the ph tester I will see what is going on a couple times a day. before I used my api ph test ..but very rarely tested it when I tested it once and it seemed fine I obviously was more focused on the other tests...I assumed that ph was not an issue - I didnt know any better..I have noticed the corals I do have do look happier since I did the airline thing. I just thought that since kalk supposed gives small amounts of alk calcium..and raises ph..that would be "helping to make my chemistry more stable" since I really dont have enough demand to regularly use the two part..type thing..so you end up going a period and then when something finally drops down some..then im not dosing things together and I think they can more easily get unbalanced...that way...whereas..if i could figure out s perfect amount of kalk to put in my ato..my numbers could kind of stay in a small range window.

 

[t blackwell]

with few corals, water changes should be all you need. What salt are you mixing and have you measured ALk and CA of you slat mix before the water change. How often are you doing water changes.

Start with nailing down your consumption between water changes. after making sure you have the right salinity and know the Alka and CA of the new water. Give an hours after changing the water and test the tank. Keep testing until you see some consitency in consumption rates.

From there you can decide on what to dose if anything

FWIW I have a mixed reef and run slightly elevated NO3, PO4 and Alk (about 9dkh). I use 1 tsp per gallon of Kalk in my ATO and does a capful of ALK daily manually as my alk consumption is slightly higher than ALk and my pH hoovers about 8.3 (kalk raised pH).

I am a little inconsistent with a water change schedule on the 220...I would say my average is maybe every 6 weeks..give or take a week or so..I will change about 30 gals. sometimes I go a little longer and maybe change a higher amount ..but realistically im not going to change the water every two weeks...( even though that would be good..just being realistic) I have never messed with my sandbed ( vacuuming) I have been told this is an issue but I have a very active diamond goby and many nassarius snails..etc..I have a feeling that unless you vaccum your sandbed very regularly you are likely either not doing anything effective or possibly stirring up more than you remove..I dunno...my consumption is pretty slow I think..my thought was..if i can just get my numbers in line..I could simply use a very light amount of kalk in the ato ..and just..keep it in a range...the more time passes with low consumption..it seems its more likely to get slack..or to get unbalanced when something finally needs a dose of some of the to part. I need to research and read about kalk and see if you can use a very small amount and it wont keep raising the alk and calcium..I really dont know my consumption rate..when I test and I have started testing dkh at least once a week..calcium more like every few weeks to month...doing that calcium would take a good while to show a meaningful drop..the dkh averages about 8..as low as 7.6 and high as 8.3 ( in the 220) when it shows 7.6 I will dose a small amount of the two part alk and use the brs calculator to bring it back to say 8.0 or 8.1. this is fine I suppose..but calcium is fairly slow and I dont want to waste testing too frequently..this tends to make you slack on catching it when i finally does drop enough to matter. I would test it like once a week and got confident..then more time and it would still be in good range..then suddenly more time has passed and while its not horrible it low enough to raise it up. example...say i go back a couple of months..I got it in the range of 450 to 480..then for several weeks it barely changed..so i waited longer to test...still over 400..so you get slack checking it..then I get around to testing it and its 380...so I raise it ..this is probably a far less stable way of doing it..I know I should test once a week..the caclium test is a little more annoying to do...and you hate to waste the reagent and so on...I dunno..I guess I need to learn a lot more about kalkwasser...and see if i can accurately work out a small amount so im not rasing things but just maintaining..thats the stability i seek...maintaining a range without lopsided dosing and so on with the two part..

 

[t blackwell]

with few corals, water changes should be all you need. What salt are you mixing and have you measured ALk and CA of you slat mix before the water change. How often are you doing water changes.

Start with nailing down your consumption between water changes. after making sure you have the right salinity and know the Alka and CA of the new water. Give an hours after changing the water and test the tank. Keep testing until you see some consitency in consumption rates.

From there you can decide on what to dose if anything

FWIW I have a mixed reef and run slightly elevated NO3, PO4 and Alk (about 9dkh). I use 1 tsp per gallon of Kalk in my ATO and does a capful of ALK daily manually as my alk consumption is slightly higher than ALk and my pH hoovers about 8.3 (kalk raised pH).

the last 3-4 months I switched to red sea coral pro..before that i used FOSTER/SMITH reef salt for a while ( i think it had issues especially with mag)

 

[jtvaughn]

Please watch this video to get an understanding of what you may want to achieve