My Kalkwasser journey

[mmorrison55]

Im adding some acropora and stylophora corals to my display now that it’s about 10 months along and I want a better way to manage calcium, alkalinity, and most importantly increase my ph. I have not been able to get my ph up above 8.0 as of yet. As a result, Im dipping my toes into the world of kalkwasser and wanted to try and document the process with hopes I will learn from you all and maybe some others can pick up a few tips along the way as well.

My tank dimensions are 60”x24”x24”(22” water) in main display and sump is 39”x18”x16(8” water). Estimate of 100lbs of sand and 50 pounds of rock.


The calculator at the below site tells me my actual water volume is ~161.4 gallons

My ato is a trigger systems “crystal” 10.39 gallons based on its dimensions of 10”x16”x15”. Over the next few days i intend to measure my tanks evaporation average by measuring the reduction in water volume of my ato.

Below is what google returned on finding water volume in us gallons in my ato:

To find how many U.S. gallons fit into a 10" x 16" x 15" container, you first calculate the volume in cubic inches and then convert that figure to gallons
.
Here is the step-by-step calculation:

1. Calculate the volume in cubic inches:Multiply the length, width, and height of the container.
   • 
     
     10in×16in×15in=2,400in3
2. Convert cubic inches to gallons:A U.S. gallon is equivalent to 231 cubic inches. To convert, divide the cubic inch volume by 231.
   • 
     
     2,400in3÷231in3/gal≈10.39gallons

A 10" x 16" x 15" container holds approximately 10.39 gallons.

Using 1 inch of water loss per day as a reference, that would be 10”x16”x1” (160)/231=0.693 gallons per inch. So I should be able to use this to figure out my actual average evaporation, if I lost 1/2” of water that would be .35 gallons. Im using this as a potential of how much I could replace with kalkwasser if I wanted to do a 1:1 replacement with all kalkwasser solution. Im anticipating using much less like 15-25% kalk to rodi for daily top off, but will see how it goes based on my Ca, alk, and ph levels. I will feed my Avast marine kalk stirrer using a Neptune DOS

I currently am measuring all of those parameters with Neptune probes and a trident. And as a side note, my trident is currently out of commission for a few days, while I await a replacement from the Neptune trident service program. I also have Hanna checkers i use every month or so to ensure my Neptune parameters are not too far off from my hanna readings


So im in the very initial stages, trying to level set everything and figure out my dosing schedule. Over the next few days while I await my trident to come in, I will finish setting up my kalk stirrer and get an average of my daily evaporation to help with the dosing.

I’ll paste some photos of my set up tomorrow or the next day as I know folks like to see photos.

If I have left off anything glaring that I need to do or if you have any suggestions on how to make this process go smoothly, please share, and come along for the journey…

 

[bubbgee]

The way I did it was line up my ATO tank to mark where each liter was and then looked at it each day and came up with an average. Of course this changes during summer and winter. Then I dosed the amount through the avast k1). I use kalk for 70%-80% of dosing (overnight mostly) and then the rest via 2-part.

 

[mmorrison55]

Got the avast kalk stirrer and Neptune DOS connected to the eb832 and calibrated the DOS.

Took my 1st 24 hr reading of how much my ATO added to my display. Looks to be about 5/16”

One complaint about the avast marine stirrer is the narrow base. And since the lid just sits on top and doesn’t seal the reservoir, im scared of a tip over and continual spill of my ATO tank.

So I added a few cleats to secure the unit and keep it from tipping over. I can easily slide it in and out for maintenance.

 

[mmorrison55]

Over 4 days, 3.25 inches of water was removed from my ATO reservoir,or .813” per day avg.

Using my calculation in the 1st post of my reservoir holding .693 gallons per inch, this becomes

• 0.813 inches * 0.693 gallons per inch = 0.563469 gallons per day average of evaporation.

 

[mmorrison55]

 

[mmorrison55]

I think to start, I will add 50% of my water loss as kalkwasser, and the other 50% as rodi. And see how my ca, alk, and ph react.

Before I start the reactor, I think I should calibrate my ph probe. I’ve already calibrated my Ca and Alk via my trident today. I just need to have an actual test run and compare it against my Hannah checkers to ensure they are within range of one another.

I hope to actually start dosing kalk in a few days, but may wait a week since I will be going out of town at the end of the week.

 

[mmorrison55]

 

[mmorrison55]

Per Avast…

Minimum fill amount for K1 is 1/2 cup. if you get a fill kalkulation less than that, use this as your starting amount instead of the kalkulation

 

[mmorrison55]

It’s only been just over a day, and while I have not yet seen a climb into the sweet spot of 8.1-8.4, my ph has seemed to have leveled out.

I guess It’s possible my PH will raise higher once I start adding more of my daily evaporation to Kalkwasser? Idk…

Anyways, here’s a before and after. The dip and spike in the after is where I cleaned and then recalibrated my ph probe last night.

 

[mmorrison55]

My alk is increasing while my ph is not getting any higher like I would have hoped.

8.7 on the 16th and was 9.35 this morning, but currently reading 9.26 as of the evening test.

My max ph over that time has been 8.04 with average of 7.96.


Should I back my alk dosage down to reduce the alk from climbing any higher or is it safe to go up even higher to see if the ph rises any?