KH Guardian: Automatic Alkalinity Controller- My Experiences

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 21, 2017

spieszak said:
i've never dosed equal parts alk and calcium in 10 years of reefing. Dose for what your tank uses.

It likely uses close to equal amounts (as do all tanks), but your water changes may skew that (or your two part is not perfectly balanced).

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 21, 2017

petemichelle said:
what are your other parameters, magnesium, alk and calcium, also salinity???? is it possible that I would need to does different rates for alk, and calcium to keep them both stable, or are the uptakes tied together always exactly equal? in other words would it be possible that I need to dose alk at 160 ml per day and calcium 175 ml per day? to keep them stable at 7.5 and 440???

Uptake rates are pretty close to balance, but a few things can skew them, such as water changes with a mix that doesn't match the tank, or a sulfur denitrator that depletes alkalinity.

spieszak · Apr 21, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It likely uses close to equal amounts (as do all tanks), but your water changes may skew that (or your two part is not perfectly balanced).

Agreed. Just noting it because its easy to get out of whack relying on equal parts as a "rule"

Rick.45cal · Apr 21, 2017

spieszak said:
Agreed. Just noting it because its easy to get out of whack relying on equal parts as a "rule"

I think also some of what you see is the differences in the resolution of the different test kits as well. The difference between the resolution of an alkalinity test kit and a Ca test kit is like the difference between a 357 revolver and a shotgun. There's a significant difference in a single drop of titrant between the two tests. Because of that I've decided to trust my 2 part, and so far it has been very consistent. But I also match my new saltwater for all changes to my tank parameters, and have an automatic waterchange system that continuously changes a small amount of water, so there are no big fluctuations. Everytime I check my Ca it is always where I last checked, as long as my alkalinity is about in the same place.

DP REEF · Apr 22, 2017

Great, now I get the "TL_ERR!"

Tried replacing my tubing and reconnecting the segments on my KRS line. Have purged the KS line several times and don't see any air being drawn into it, at least up to and past the check valve going to the tube from the unit.

What else could it be?

DP REEF · Apr 22, 2017

1/3 to 1/2 of my drops don't make the click noise however i see the red light flash.

Rick.45cal · Apr 22, 2017

Have you filed a support ticket?

That's a new one too me.

DP REEF · Apr 22, 2017

So it seems the white "dropper nozzle" is not rigidly fixed to the frame. It can move up and down if you move the tube that it is connected too. The tip of the injection nozzle was halfway down between the two lenses that detect the drop speed. Fixed it and it seems to be operating better (No TL_Err).