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Would the ph be more damaging than increasing alkalinity? Ive been wondering this but haven't seen any data.
I have also learned so much from reading Randy's articles Thanks RandyAlkalinity spike could be more damaging to sps. The pH if to high could be more damaging to many things. If there's a limewater over dose first thing I would test for is pH and if over 8.6 correct it to get it to 8.5 with soda water or heavy aeration if you don't have sodawater. I wouldn't use anything that would spike alk more. Then the next thing I would look at is alkalinity. If over 14 then start doing some water changes to bring it to at least 13. Then just do nothing and not dose anything until the alkalinity goes down on it's own to your target amount.
Been there done that. I've learned a lot from my mistakes over the years. Plus, Randy and the chemists of the chem forum have been great.
Alkalinity spike could be more damaging to sps. The pH if to high could be more damaging to many things. If there's a limewater over dose first thing I would test for is pH and if over 8.6 correct it to get it to 8.5 with soda water or heavy aeration if you don't have sodawater. I wouldn't use anything that would spike alk more. Then the next thing I would look at is alkalinity. If over 14 then start doing some water changes to bring it to at least 13. Then just do nothing and not dose anything until the alkalinity goes down on it's own to your target amount.
Been there done that. I've learned a lot from my mistakes over the years. Plus, Randy and the chemists of the chem forum have been great.
So a limewater overdose is potentially more threatening than two part? Its like a double whammy ph and alk, while two part is mainly alk but also ph.
I would generally agree, but also remember that a kalk overdose is much harder to achieve, as the volumes are much greater.
Thats pretty true.
I think wed need spme serious math to figure this one out.
@Randy Holmes-Farley
@JimWelsh
I think every single person is doing Kalk wrong!!!!
Why not add Kalk just like every other additive. Calculate the amount needed in a 24 hour period and dose that much exactly, based on evaporation NOT ALK/Cal consumption.
My Kalk system is simple:
Container: 32g Brute
Pump: BRS 50ml/min ATO pump/doser
Timer/Control: APEX
My pump comes on 4 min every 1/2 hour, this amount matches my evaporation rate. That rate and dose has not changed in the 1+ year I have been doing it.
Never had an over dose. Never spiked pH, never flooded the sump. Only issues that you hVe to deal with is refilling the container. If everyone did Kalk like this everyone would be doing Kalk. There is no reason not too. Include it with any system to help stabilize pH and ALK. Maintains Cal. Will NOT increase salinity. Will not cause an imbalance of ions. Is also your ATO.
If your system is small find a slower pump for better fine tuning.
Do Not Use Switches for control, ONLY alerts!
You already should have an idea of the evaporation rate, use that as a starting point. Adjust the timing as needed. Once set the evaporation rate may change a little with the seasons but no enough to cause danger, just adjust.
A pump that can be calibrated is great for tuning.
Must not allow a siphon!
Must be consistent, so regular pumps are out unless you can assure that it will add exactly the same amount every time. Aqualifters will not work for this setup, they are never consistent enough.
i totally agree !! i have a 50 gallon tank hooked up to a dosing pump , i dose 500ml of kalk. every hour , this matches my evaporation rate as well and i have a separate top off tank if needed but is only used to hold R/O water for now .
my PH doesn't drop below 8.0 at night , and in conjunction with my calcium reactor my Alk.and calc. stay stable .
never had a overdose problem or spike in any levels , the only thing was that i weakened the solution a few times by leaving a circulating pump on too long.
Bif24701, I'm curious about this statement, "Two part creates an imbalance in chloride and sulfate ions" Do you have anything I can read to back that up?
For what it's worth, I've dosed Kalk and 2 Part, and 2 Part is just too easy.
Here's my set up:
jebao dosing pumpKalk works great, but if you dose Kalk, I suggest you put it on a dosing pump instead of using evaporation, and if you're going to do that, you might as well dose 2 part. Once you get 2 part dialed in to match your uptake, your Alk and Ca will stay rock solid. I used to test my alk daily, then weekly, now bi weekly. It just doesn't change any more. Eventually my corals will grow and require me to up the daily dose, but that's a slow process.
2 of these containers http://www.ebay.com/itm/Liquid-stor...tube-inside-/161718835680?hash=item25a73199e0
and 2 part from BRS
On a side note, I don't have a lot of evaporation from my tank, so my tank was requiring more Kalk than the rate of evaporation. I don't have that issue with 2 part.
I've been dosing limewater with a Litermeter for 20 years. I just dial it in to my evaporation and make adjustments when needed. I live in WI so my evaporation does change with the seasons but it's simple to just add or subtract from the dosage with the touch of a button. It can't, won't, nor ever has overdosed.
Kalk overdose has always been my biggest fear, hence I designed a few safeties into my system that may help, i didn't want my ATO container and kalkstirrer directly connected as this can lead to huge amounts of kalk being added into tank if something goes wrong with a pump. What I did was to have a second smaller tank just 5L as an intermediate tank, one dosing pump pumps from my ATO into the Int tank small amounts of RO 4 times a day. My main dosing pump then pumps from this Int tank to the Stirrer on my dosing schedule. It dose 6L a day ( which is just under my minimum evaporation and I dose 24/7 so iworked out how much to pump into 2nd tank 4times a day to keep it from overflowing or running dry. This way it limits the amount that can be dosed in a given time that I set and even if it goes wrong and continually doses at 15ml/min 5L max won't do anything nasty to the tank.. for something to really go wrong both of my dosing pumps need to fail in the on position, and now I have the added safety of ph cutout through my Profilux as well, maybe you can take a few ideas to help you. I supplement with balling system as well to maintain Ca, Alk and mg levels.
Here in FL my evaporation varies so I use an Ice cap dosing pump to dose 91ml per hour of kalk out of a 20 gallon reservoir. For top offs I just have an Aqualifter attached to a float switch that's in my sump. For me having a reservoir of Kalkwasser is more simple and cheaper than 2 part. The 20 gallons lasts me about 25 days since I dose down to the 5 gallon mark before refilling. My ph stays at 8.2 day and night where before kalk it was 7.8
I'm crazy about kalk. But I have definitely had to change dosing over the last year just due to growth. But lucky I only run a 100g total volume. So my ato is only 5 gal. And I'm no where near saturation point for kalk. I started at about 1tsp per gal. And now I'm up to about 1.5tsp per gal. I've had the a spike here and there till I get the season dialed in. But from summer to winter not much change in evap.
Regardless I think Randys article on kalk is a good place to start if you have questions.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php