Kalk Question

[wahwoo]

I know that many reefers dose Kalk every day as top off. Do you build up to that level slowly as the demand for calc increases or do you just do it and let it all balance out?

I drip one gal of Kalk per week into our 40 gal. tank. The pH stays at 8.2, but the alk drops away from target. I cant read my Fastest Calc test so I need to buy a Salifert. Salinity 1.025-26. Nirtate and Phos lower than Salifert test levels when refugium is up.

Some additional dosing would probably help stabilize the Alk. Would I risk over dosing calc and causing a fall out snow storm if I increase my frequency of adding Kalk? How do I determine the best dosing schedule?

Dave

[multi striped 12]

Dave I drip kalk but not an expert..I only drip it at night and a buffered DI
during the day.. that may help you.??

[Pete Starostecki]

I couldn't ever get my calcium above 300. I gave up months ago without any apparent effects. However, I recently bought a much better ALK test and have been gradually increasing the alkalinity by dosing with baking soda. I've probably added about eight teaspoons in the past two weeks and have increased the alk from 5dkh to just over 8. I haven't tried dosing calcium yet, but my calcium levels are up to 315. BTW, I NEVER do water changes. I need to replace 5 gallons of DI water every 1.5 days.

Also, I don't drip anything. My water probably evaporates faster than that. I fill a painters bucket with water and run a 1/4" latex hose to siphon into the sump. It takes about 5 minutes to drain the bucket. I've never had any ill effects.

[myakkareef]

I dose kalk 24-7 as my top-off thru a kalk reactor. I know it stabilizes my ph. Honestly do not know what my readings are though for alk calcium or ph...Since the only test I have done in probally 2 years is salinity....Sorry not much help...I know that after I started dosing the kalk my nuisence algae went away and my tank became much more stable...COuld have been coincidence though...

[wahwoo]

Scott I dont think its coincidence at all. Petes experience of targeting Alk and getting the added benefit of increased calc levels seems to jive with how I understand the chemistry.

pH, Alk and calc work together in complicated ways that I dont fully understand. Im sure youve read the chemistry pros articles on RC. What I get out of it is that you usually get two out of the three on target and let the third fall where it falls. Having two on target stabilizes the trio.

If you hard target pH and Alk you are likely to have lower than desired calc levels, but all will remain stable. That scenario is not good for a reef tank since we need higher calc. So its better to hard target Alk and calc and let the ph fall off but find its stable level. This is what happens when using a calc reactor and people complain about low pH. They eventually stop fighting it and live with it which is ok.

If you only hard target one of the three, which is what Pete is doing and is exactly what I was doing with baking soda, you get unstable rises and drops. To keep the levels that you attain, two must be targeted. Likewise, if you hard target all three then you get a constant tug of war that you cant balance. Something will always be too high and another will be too low and eratic.

This is how I digested and simplified all the techno jargon in Reefkeeping Magazine. Does any one know if this is generally correct? If it is easily grasped this way, then theoretically, constant dosing of Kalk should address two (Alk and calc) and they should not be able to go over a certain level because they bind each other into stability... or if Im wrong then it could cause a calcium fall out. I think the fall out is more likely when struggling to target all three or just one. The examples you guys have given are in line with my understanding of it all. Does any one know if my explaination is right? Can any one else explain their dosing schedule and its affects? I want to increase dosing with Kalk or a two-part additive but Im afraid I might over do it.

[Bugs825]

my head hurts

Dave,
I used to dose 350 mL each night in my 29 gallon. Had a hard time getting good coraline and calcium stayed at about 300. THEN, at the meeting I hosted, the jury suggested that I double my kalk dose. I thought it would send the calc to to moon but it brought it to where it needed to be and now i cannot stop the coraline. I will admit that I have been slacking and not doing it every night. I NEED AN RO SYSTEM. Getting bottles of distilled water gets old.

1 gallon is 3840 mL. so I dose a little more than a gallon in a week. I think you could bump yours up a bit.

A few days ago I added about 20 pounds of my DIY oystercrete rocks and the tank looks great. Things are growing like mad. I need to post some updated pics.


Nathan

[benter]

wow...hope I am not screwing up..I drip kalk 24/7....usually 2 or 3 gallons a day...since i started Calcium stays @ 425, dkh has stayed @8, ph is steady @8.4..no more nuisance algae and coralline out the kayang yang..How do you overdose kalk...I just do tests every 3 or 4 days and have seen no probs so far... you guys are scaring me though!!!

[Agu]

I've been dripping kalk as topoff for years, even used it for topoff when I was running a calcium reactor. In conjunction with the reactor I could never get the pH much over 8 but the corals didn't seem to care.

Lately I've cut back to about 75% kalk in my softie tank because of the side effects. I got tired of scraping coraline off the glass.

IMO you can't drip too much kalk if you have calcium using corals in your tank.

jmo,

[multi striped 12]

Well try this on for a curve.....One of the guys who works with John at Itchy's uses the new Tropic Morin salt and adds nothing in his 200
just a weekly water change 30 gal.... that is what he told me

and he has an sps tank... Whatever works for you do it ..is a good motto

I have read that dripping kalk in a smaller tank is tricky just because
of the kalk strength..
but like Benter and Myaka said it keeps thigs steady
Yes bugs get thr RO DI
Now how much is that Oceanarius?? (sp) 3k?

[benter]

Thanks for that info Agu...I was sweating for a minute..I would assume that if you overdosed kalk, you would just get a calcium fallout?? Is that correct..Thanks..ben

[Agu]

Originally posted by benter
Thanks for that info Agu...I was sweating for a minute..I would assume that if you overdosed kalk, you would just get a calcium fallout?? Is that correct..Thanks..ben

Hypothetically if you add too much kalk it will precipitate out of solution and cloud your tank. However it's not a common occurance if you drip it slowly and other tank parameters are in line, esp alk and pH. Randy has many articles that would be helpful but bottom line is that if you're level of kalk addition is maintaining the ca,alk,pH you quote you're right on target.

Bad news is that as your corals and fish grow you may want to look into ways to increase ca additions and maintain buffering capacity.

[multi striped 12]

I agree with you Agu scraping is not fun...

Thats why I switched to night time only on Kalk say 6pm to 6am
or whenever I switch the pick up tube to the other pail...

[wahwoo]

Jim,

Are you saying that if you drip at night the coraline will not grow as much as if you drip during the day?

[multi striped 12]

No It is growing like crazy I'm not sure ...just last two days I went to dripping kalk all day ...