A in-depth look at my plan kalk users read

[Curtis Rose]

Hey guys so, I have doing research for the new build. I want to use kalk for my new 50 gallon lagoon going to be mixed reef. Right now I’m running a lps/softie tank its 13.5 gallons with an alk usage of abt .4 a day. So for the new build I want to dose kalk via doser. I understand that according to randy I can dose up to 500 ml of saturated kalk at a given time with a .2 bump in ph given his 1000ml per 100 gallons raise .02. So I’m trying to Figure our what dosing for me could look like. So say my 50 gallon (actaul volume more like 40 gallons) tank used .5 dkh a day. That would mean it would need 643 ml per day, break that into 12 doses 2 hours apart with a 15 min dose time. That would be 53 ml per dose. Does this sound correct am I way off or am I correct in assuming that a 53 ml dose would be ok every two hours? And not greatly affect the ph. Obviously I will exceed this eventually and I have done the math for up to a 1 dkh usage and I still would be under the recommended .2 ph bump at a given dose? How long does it take for ph to go back down? I’m concerned at over doing the ph because my little 13.5 gallon seems to stay at 8-8.3 ph according to the api test and the new tank will be going in the same place as the current setup. Thanks in advance. This is really getting into the meat and potatoes of reefing for me. It’s fun but confusing at the same time.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Dose Kalkwasser overnight when your PH is falling, it will help with swings and stability. the amount you will need to dose will take some trial and error along with testing to find the sweet spot.. I’m currently dripping approximately 800ml of Kalk into my 40 gallon mixed reef overnight (9pm-9am) and still have to supplement with 2 part (14ml of each) to keep my numbers stable.

 

[Curtis Rose]

Does my math sound right for a ballpark? And that’s a lot I’m sure I’ll get there one day I’ll be using a doser tho to slowly dose kalk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The total dose looks low for the desired dKH. Did you use a calculator?

 

[Curtis Rose]

Yea I did seems like a lot to me but I have never used kalk and understand it maintains levels slowly instead of all at once

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Reason I ask is that 50 gallons boost by 0.5 dKH needs 830 mL of saturated limewater. But I see now you corrected total volume down to 40 mL.

Splitting that up into several doses is a fine plan.

 

[Curtis Rose]

Ok thanks I appreciate you looking into it. Is is safe to assume I’ll have around 40 gallons total volume? Probably putting in around 20 pounds of dry rock and around 15 pounds live from my existing system. Along with 20 or so pounds of sand? Maybe I should assume a lower actual volume then increase the dose till it’s right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The saturation level of the limewater is likely a bigger uncertainty than the volume. I’d pick a lowish dose and start and see what happens.

 

[Curtis Rose]

So how is it we can be uncertain? If we add exactly two teaspoons to exactly one gallon aren’t we going to get the same level of saturation? Or am I confused? If this is the case how wouldn’t I have to adjust after every new batch?

 

[Curtis Rose]

Thank you tho I appreciate your information you are the one I was looking for to answer these questions!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So how is it we can be uncertain? If we add exactly two teaspoons to exactly one gallon aren’t we going to get the same level of saturation? Or am I confused? If this is the case how wouldn’t I have to adjust after every new batch?

If you make it in batches it should be reasonably well saturated (if stirred appropriately (not too long it too short). If you use a kalk stirrer, all bets are off on potency).

I made mine in batches and even with excess on the bottom, the water is not necessarily saturated.