Proper way to dose/drip kalkwasser with CaRx

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Derrick Picker

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Not with the Kamoer I am using. It has to be 12 increments. I am thinking of swapping it with a litermeter and it will just do it all day for me.
 
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So far so good. I am up to 5L per day right now to keep up with the demand. Going to try some things though.
 
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So still struggling. At now 7L per day of kalkwasser. I have noticed that the pH barely moves. It goes up by about .1 then shoots back down. It appears the CaRx takes over. I am stable however on Alk/Ca though which is good. I am noticing that the water level is also increasing so this isn't going to work. I must be doing something wrong.
 

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I am pretty sure with my Kalk reactor it is always constant. So what, 12ph or something. My reactor has about a cup of Kalk in it. I think the more you put in the kalk just precipitates out.

The kalk doesn’t precipitate out, but beyond a certain amount it just stays at the bottom of the reactor (that is how a kalk stirrer works...keeps mixing new kalk from the bottom of the reactor as you dose solution out). Contact with air will cause that layer to form on the top of the water, though, and protects the mixture below from further precipitation.
So still struggling. At now 7L per day of kalkwasser. I have noticed that the pH barely moves. It goes up by about .1 then shoots back down. It appears the CaRx takes over. I am stable however on Alk/Ca though which is good. I am noticing that the water level is also increasing so this isn't going to work. I must be doing something wrong.
Your PH will still swing and how much your PH is affected by kalk (rom my understanding) is dependent on how much carbon dioxide is in your water. Quote from BRS below

How Does Kalkwasser Work?
Kalkwasser or Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)2 when mixed with fresh RODI water contains a perfect balance of alkalinity and calcium ions that can be added to your aquarium to help supplement what your corals consume when they grow. It is pretty easy to see where the calcium is derived from but the alkalinity can be a little more difficult to see, and when Kalkwasser is added to your saltwater tank a simple reaction takes place converting the hydroxide into available bicarbonate ions. Essentially the CO2 in your water and atmosphere will react with the hydroxide ions creating bicarbonate ions and increasing your tank's pH, due to less available carbon dioxide.
Ca(OH)2 = Kalkwasser
OH- + CO2 = HCO3 = Bicarbonate
OH- + HCO3 = CO3-- + H20 = Carbonate + Pure Water
 

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Since you have a calcium reactor I would let it do the heavy lifting for alk. Saturated kalk does not provide that much alk for the volume of solution you dose.

I would do the following

Figure out what the minimum evaporation per day is for the tank. Then subtract maybe 10% to safely get under that value. This becomes the maximum per day of kalk youll want to dose. The ato will provide any additional water to keep your water level stable.

Then you can use a dosing calc like the one below to figure out how much alk that volume adds.

Dosing calculator

The only way to add more kalk is to increase evaporation. All the rest of the cal/alk must come from your calcium reactor.
 

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So still struggling. At now 7L per day of kalkwasser. I have noticed that the pH barely moves. It goes up by about .1 then shoots back down. It appears the CaRx takes over. I am stable however on Alk/Ca though which is good. I am noticing that the water level is also increasing so this isn't going to work. I must be doing something wrong.

The volume of kalk dosed daily needs to be less than your daily evaporation rate.
 
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What is the best way to figure out evaporation per day? I can tell you at 5L per day which is what I am at the water level is increasing slowly so it must be too much. But that doesn't keep up with the pH demand. I did turn off the CaRx during the evening to try and steady the pH dip during the night but it caused the Alkalinity to go down too much as well. So I do not think this is going to work. Unless I am missing a step here.
 

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I wouldnt sacrifice my alk stability for higher ph numbers. A ph of 8 certainly isnt low enough to cause major issues. What are you trying to accomplish with higher ph? You can use a fan to increase your evaporation rate so you can pump more kalk in.
 
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Yea it’s seemingly more of a hassle than what it’s worth. My corals are doing decent but growth hasn’t been where I want to start fragging to my other large system. It’s not a big deal honestly to get the pH up for growth however it usually dips into 7.8-7.9 at night if I do nothing and keep the CaRX running.

I have my skimmer plumbed to the outside to assist with CO2 issues. I just have a ton of it though. I have tried a CO2 scrubber as well and that doesn’t do much either.

Just trying to get a good solution that can keep pH up.
 

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