Milwaukee MC 720 PH DOSING CONTROLLER DEVICE to control ph in reef tank

[gregrock68]

Curious to see if any of the reefers on here have used this Milwaukee 720 PH dosing controller and pump kit? Yes, it's made for freshwater but I'm curious if it could be used for saltwater to control the pH dosing kalkwasser? I know Chris Meckley has developed a method where he doses saturated lime water to control the pH and it seems to work really well, and his method controls the alkalinity as well. I wanted to see if anybody else has experience first using this controller, and if so do you have any suggestions?

 

[exnisstech]

I have the meter but only monitor with it. I'm not sure why but when I ran kalk I didn't even notice a pH boost like many report so I'm not sure how well dosing kalk automatically based on pH readings will work. I always dosed based in alkalinity.

 

[gregrock68]

Gotcha. What about dosing alk based on the pH readings? Isn't this the principle of the Aqua Wiz: stabilizing the alk to control the PH? Any thoughts?
@randyholmesfarley

 

[EnterName]

I don't have this particular device but I have a GHL Profilux that could be used for the same thing together with a doser.

I personally don't really like dosing something based on live parameter measurement with probes. I had asterina starfish climb on the probe messing up the measurements significantly, and probes will drift and fail sooner or later. That's also why I have multiple temperature probes to avoid accidentally boiling my fish when the probe fails.

If you are sure you will be able to act before it fails, go for it, but otherwise I would learn the tank's pH behavior and alkalinity consumption to dose based on a fixed schedule.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Gotcha. What about dosing alk based on the pH readings? Isn't this the principle of the Aqua Wiz: stabilizing the alk to control the PH? Any thoughts?
@randyholmesfarley

No, it’s not how that device works. It determines alkalinity by pH in water fully aerated. Reef tank water does not stay fully aerated.

One cannot/should not control pH in a reef tank.

All pH raising additives are alk boosting and most pH lowering additives are alk lowering.

One cannot control pH and hope to retain a stable alkalinity.


The worst situation is a room with high CO2 where pH is driven low by that air. If you keep adding alk to raise pH, alk may skyrocket.