2 part to kalk

[becon776]

Hey all. So I am an old school reefer (2001). But believe it or not I have NEVER run kalk.
I am currently running brs 2 part and dose about 35 ml. Each part to keep alk and Ca at 8 & 430 respectively. Tank is a rsr 450. Running via dos and controlled by trident. Here's the rub. I am also running a co2 scrubber which is recirc to skimmer. Its a PITA. And adds more consumables to the tank budget.

I am thinking of switching to kalk. This would give me a pH boost and possibly allow me to get rid of scrubber, free up a DOS head and allow me to dose Mg. Thoughts on these goals?

How much kalk would I have to dose to keep up with 35ml of BRS 2 part?

 

[Doctorgori]

ever consider just dosing both?

 

[dwest]

Hey all. So I am an old school reefer (2001). But believe it or not I have NEVER run kalk.
I am currently running brs 2 part and dose about 35 ml. Each part to keep alk and Ca at 8 & 430 respectively. Tank is a rsr 450. Running via dos and controlled by trident. Here's the rub. I am also running a co2 scrubber which is recirc to skimmer. Its a PITA. And adds more consumables to the tank budget.

I am thinking of switching to kalk. This would give me a pH boost and possibly allow me to get rid of scrubber, free up a DOS head and allow me to dose Mg. Thoughts on these goals?

How much kalk would I have to dose to keep up with 35ml of BRS 2 part?

You’ll need about 50 ml of saturated kalkwasser to each 1 ml of 2 part. Always check alkalinity frequently during the changeover. Good luck.

 

[becon776]

Yikes that is 1.5l per day seems like that is a lot of work to keep making kalk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You can switch to a very high two part made from sodium hydroxide and get the exact benefit of limewater (kalkwasser) without the large volume limitations.

 

[nereefpat]

Yikes that is 1.5l per day seems like that is a lot of work to keep making kalk

That math seems right, assuming saturated kalk. A 5 gallon bucket would last about 12 days.

In case it isn't clear, using sodium hydroxide, you still have to dose Ca. It's also dangerous stuff to handle.

 

[becon776]

You can switch to a very high two part made from sodium hydroxide and get the exact benefit of limewater (kalkwasser) without the large volume limitations.

Does that come with the substantial pH boost as well? I'm kind of trying to get rid of this CO2 scrubber media

 

[becon776]

Ok so I am considering moving the DOS to basement. There is a trigger 10 gallon ato container in my local club I can get for a decent deal. I would want to dose directly into tank correct? The return section if sump is not huge and seems like 1-2 liters per day may cause precipitation?? Also would the trigger Ruby be an appropriate container to use for this? I seem to remember that it's important to keep airtight

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, it would ben identical with respect to pH boost per unit of alk added. That's the reason for coming up with it:

Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

In a previous thread, I posted a true two part DIY recipe: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-diy-two-part-recipes-with-higher-ph-boost.344500/ But some folks may want to just swap the new ingredient into my 2/3 part recipe (as used by BRS, for example). Here's the original recipe link...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok so I am considering moving the DOS to basement. There is a trigger 10 gallon ato container in my local club I can get for a decent deal. I would want to dose directly into tank correct? The return section if sump is not huge and seems like 1-2 liters per day may cause precipitation?? Also would the trigger Ruby be an appropriate container to use for this? I seem to remember that it's important to keep airtight

Volume does not cause precipitation. if anything, it reduces it.

High pH locally is the main driver, followed by the alk part of the supplement.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Ok so I am considering moving the DOS to basement. There is a trigger 10 gallon ato container in my local club I can get for a decent deal. I would want to dose directly into tank correct? The return section if sump is not huge and seems like 1-2 liters per day may cause precipitation?? Also would the trigger Ruby be an appropriate container to use for this? I seem to remember that it's important to keep airtight

You won't get localized precip from dosing normal saturated kalk over the course of a day or night, it's too dilute for that when dosed appropriately. Air tight is not needed, just keep a cover on it to minimize co2 interaction with the ambient air to prevent carbonates from forming. It's not normal to circulate your water in an ato which would increase that so in practice is impact is pretty minimal in the time frame you would normally use up a container that's not the size of a brute trashcan.