I’m starting to have a large amount of lps and sps in my reef and just started testing for cal and alk. My alk is at 7 and cal is at 340. I’m looking into dosing kalkwasser or soda lime in my auto top off but I read that it can increase ph too high. Right now my ph is sitting at about 8.2-8.3 how much more will kalk raise my ph??
New to dosing kalkwasser
- Thread starter Tangina20
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rushbattle
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I would adjust up with CaCl slowly, over 3-4 days, if Ca is that low. Double check that Ca number is correct though. Maybe do some water changes to make sure all chemistry is somewhat reset and take another test first?
What are you supplementing alkalinity (carbonate) and calcium with now?
1.25% of tank volume of saturated limewater will raise pH 0.7 units. But that would have to be all at once, and the effect is only temporary. So in a 100 gallon volume, you would have to pour in over a gallon all at once to raise pH that much.
I wouldn't worry about kalk raising your pH too high.
I would probably recommend using baking or washing soda to raise the alk 0.5-1.0 dKH. Then using bulk calcium chloride to raise the Ca to about 400ppm. Then add some kalk to top-off (it doesn't have to be full strength), test daily for alk and Ca, and see how it goes.
Limewater in ATO can work. Some folks don't recommend it because evap changes by the season, while alk demand is more stable. You might look into some sort of timed pump or dosing system.
GMay
Active Member
I would not recommend calcium hydroxide (Kalk) addition via the ATO. Evaporation changes alone will make it hard to maintain a constant alkalinity and calcium. You would be better off using a dosing pump that adds Kalk in small doses every hour. This will provide the best result with the least risk to your tank.
rushbattle
Valuable Member
That is what I do, I dose every 30 minutes for 24hr/day. Easy to set the on time on my dosing pump to adjust daily dose.
Hitman
Reefing One Day @ A Time!!!
I agree kalk not only is kalk addiction unstable in a ato but hard on pumps. I use a doser and dose 20 ml every 15 minutes, 1 ml CA every hour, and 1 ml Alk every hour. This keeps my 240 gallon tank at 9 dkh, and 420 ppm CA with ph at 8.32 during the day and 8.21 at night per apex.
rushbattle
Valuable Member
I know you already mentioned this, but confirming you mean a pump for Kalkwasser?
CircleCityBill
Community Member
I would recommend a peristaltic pump on a timer. I have used the Litermeter basic pump for a number of years--seems really solid. https://spectrapure.com/DOSING-TOP-OFF/LITERMETER-DOSING-SYSTEMS/Basic-LiterMeter-Dosing-Pump
Also have an Avast peristaltic pump. Slightly cheaper, but has a slower flow rate. https://avastmarine.com/collections/avast-built/products/peristaltic-pump-for-auto-top-off
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I've really never seen good examples of that. Most reef tanks have more tan enough aeration and/or elevated CO2 in the home air to keep pH from getting too high.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I'd make a one time correction to calcium with calcium chloride, then use limewater/kalkwasser or a two part equally until calcium deviates substantially again. It may be low due to a low calcium salt mix and/or a lower than 35 ppt salinity.
I use an aqua lifter on a light timer to pump limewater. Runs a couple minutes every couple hours.
Can't get any more affordable than that.
I did a 15% water change yesterday and calcium only went up to 360 and alk is still st 7, I’m thinking about going to petco to get some sea chem reef advantage calcium and baking soda to raise the numbers until I figure out what I’m gonna do about dosing. Would you guys recommend I just bring calcium up to 400 right away or slowly over a few days??
rushbattle
Valuable Member
Seems like a reasonable plan. If you are certain about salinity then I would do as you propose, over 2-3 days. What are you using to measure salinity, which kit for Alk and Ca, and what salt mix are you using?
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