Say you could slowly dose dry calcium hydroxide (kalk) in a reef tank water mixing chamber.....

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

since alk measurements are pH titration based- could I use pH as an indicator and rig up my apex to shut off the dosing if my pH goes uncharacteristically high or low?

my pH is pretty good- 8.38/ day, 8.52/night. Once dialed in, do you think pH monitoring would work, or would you only recommend doing this if you have auto alk testing?

Only in the very crudest sense of stopped dosing or big overdose. No tuning is going to work.

 

[telegraham]

my pH is pretty good- 8.38/ day, 8.52/night. Once dialed in, do you think pH monitoring would work, or would you only recommend doing this if you have auto alk testing?

also- how long before you consider a 5gallon magnetic stir plate or an external overhead stirrer? That slurry is going to do a number on regular pumps

I'm using the KHD to control slurry peristaltic dosing (1cup/gallon concentration) and using pH as the safety cut-off.

As for mixing, the Jebao SLW has, so far, been a champ. I'll resist magnetic, and will instead go mechanical with an external motor and stir bar when the SLW gives up (if/when).

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Quick update. You can check the details out on Instagram (Mahina Corals) where I have posed my kalk slurry journey. Long story short it works amazingly. I have turned off my calcium reactor (I call them carbonic acid generators now). My daily average pH is through the roof (8.4 in my system for an average). I went with the liquid slurry dosing method.

I forgot to ask the other night (great presentation btw), by what mechanism do you keep the RO water topped off from the container you are dosing your slurry from?

 

[pfoxgrover]

@Lousybreed @telegraham was looking to give this a try at some point. I could find the mixing prop that I saw telegram show in one of the videos but didn't easily find a suitable motor so far. Was hoping to find something simple and compact. Any idea on the appropriate specs I should be looking for like RPM etc.? I saw a few promising ones but they were either load or run at 153 degrees which would be annoying. Have you given any more thought to a magnetic stirrer with some added protection for abrasion? How is the SLW doing so far?

 

[Lousybreed]

Ok everyone!! Good to see this post is alive and well. I will try to quickly address the main concerns. To keep the slurry stirred up we have gone to using Jebao SLW or SOW pumps. They seem to be working perfectly. No more agitators or stir bars. We are using 1/8” silicone tubing for the slurry line to and from your dosing pump. I started keeping my alk lower, like 8.3-8.5 and now the system is DEAD STEADY. Like boring steady!!! Still ironing out some kinks. I will be launching some IGTV videos to further explain the system in one cohesive video. I am Mahina corals on IG. Please follow my voyage!!!

by the way this was the best switch I have made for my aquarium. So simple. Mix one ingredient. Keep it suspended. Dose it into high agitation. Sit back as your pH goes beast mode. Easily the cheapest method for heavy demand systems.

 

[Lousybreed]

I forgot to ask the other night (great presentation btw), by what mechanism do you keep the RO water topped off from the container you are dosing your slurry from?

I make it batch by batch. Meaning when my tank goes low, I add XXX pounds of water, they multiple the pounds of water by 0.04 (I run a 4% kalk slurry) to figure out how much kalk to add to the tank. I put the water in first, then add the kalk. Boom. I have my dosing for the next three weeks all taken care of. Loving it!

 

[RobB'z Reef]

I make it batch by batch. Meaning when my tank goes low, I add XXX pounds of water, they multiple the pounds of water by 0.04 (I run a 4% kalk slurry) to figure out how much kalk to add to the tank. I put the water in first, then add the kalk. Boom. I have my dosing for the next three weeks all taken care of. Loving it!

Lol yeah I figured that out on my own after I thought about it haha. Been paying more attention to IG these days than here as much.