Alkalinity and Calcium Supplementation Methods Poll

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 20, 2023

I thought it would be interesting to poll members to see what are the most used methods for regular additions of calcium and alkalinity in an established reef aquarium. Pick all that apply to your situation.

The question is not asking about occasional corrective doses, but routine supplementation.

Thanks in advance!

revhtree · Jan 20, 2023

Ooh can't wait to see the results!

ReefDreamz · Jan 20, 2023

Primarily kalkwasser via a kalk reactor but supplementing alk with Brightwell Alkalin-P. My tank uses more alk than Ca.

14 foot reef · Jan 20, 2023

Kalkwasser dosed opposite light cycle by DOS through Avast marine stirrer. 15,000ml per 12 hour lights off period. And to smooth out the swing from day to night I dose BRS two part on the lowest alk readings of the day monitored 4 times per day by Neptune Trident.

Potatohead · Jan 20, 2023

Now I'm not the smartest guy ever but what is the difference between these two

Commercial two or three part system of any single commercial brand
Independent alkalinity and calcium dosing of commercial brand(s).

Basically asking if we stick to one brand or not for the different parts?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 20, 2023

Potatohead said:
Now I'm not the smartest guy ever but what is the difference between these two

Commercial two or three part system of any single commercial brand

Independent alkalinity and calcium dosing of commercial brand(s).

Basically asking if we stick to one brand or not for the different parts?

The first is something like ESV B-ionic or Seachem Reef Fusion, etc. Types designed and intended to be dosed together, often but not always 1:1.

The latter would be, say, Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium and Seachem Reef Carbonate, which are not specifically designed to work together.

n2585722 · Jan 20, 2023

I have been using All For Reef, but I have had to add KH buffer for alkalinity to keep it near 8.5. I use the Kamoer KH Carer to do the Alkalinity now.

chipmunkofdoom2 · Jan 20, 2023

I dose 25mL of saturated limewater every 10 minutes, all day, every day. Works great.

If I ever get to the point where my tank doesn't evaporate enough, I'm going to switch to a DIY NaOH solution and calcium chloride. I'll probably dilute it a substantial amount, say by 10x. That way, I can dose a set amount every hour and get a constant pH boost like with limewater, and I won't be limited by evaporation rates.

KrisReef · Jan 20, 2023

“Water Change Only “ is not the same thing as Water Change.

I just did a water change (replaced water with higher Alk water) to bump up alk in a tank where I normally run a calcium reactor only.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 20, 2023

KrisReef said:
“Water Change Only “ is not the same thing as Water Change.

I just did a water change (replaced water with higher Alk water) to bump up alk in a tank where I normally run a calcium reactor only.

Correct. The intent there is for those who only use water changes to supplement calcium and alk. Nothing else. Many people do it incidentally, and I did not want to collect those responses.

In your cause, it you regularly intentionally use water changes for a substantial part (say, more than 10%) of your alk and calcium dosing, then pick it too.

bakbay · Jan 20, 2023

I'm on the CaRx camp since I'm super lazy - just need to swap out the media once a year! Yes, definitely lower pH but I've since gone to CO2 scrubber, throwing away CO2 media is less messy IMO. In the end, I think that all these methods work (YMMV) but it comes down to trading time vs money.

kevgib67 · Jan 20, 2023

I have All for Reef being delivered today. Weekly wc isn’t cutting it anymore, low ca and alk.

JoJosReef · Jan 20, 2023

I currently add about 3mL AFR in my 10g office nano M-F and add AFR to ATO water for weekend.

If like to switch to a system that tracks ALK, Ca, and Mg automatically and then dose those three separately, vecause I think my tank consumes more ALK than Ca, and I don't know how much Mg it goes through.

Reef Keeper system looks interesting.

spsick · Jan 20, 2023

Randy’s recipe #1 for the last 10+ years via BRS and added Part C a couple years ago to make a more complete supplement like B-Ionic.

KrisReef · Jan 20, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Correct. The intent there is for those who only use water changes to supplement calcium and alk. Nothing else. Many people do it incidentally, and I did not want to collect those responses.

In your cause, it you regularly intentionally use water changes for a substantial part (say, more than 10%) of your alk and calcium dosing, then pick it too.

I guessed most of this and figured that there might be others out there who wanted to reply who might make the same misreading mistake (that I almost made) providing poll answers.

Thanks for the clarification.

taricha · Jan 21, 2023

I thought the result of this poll on people's alkalinity targets was pretty interesting too.

taricha said:
Not sure why it's such a perfect normal distribution and centered so precisely on 8.1-8.5, but good job everybody.

MrGisonni · Jan 21, 2023

All for Reef in my 30 mixed reef and about 15 mls of Brightwell magnesium supplement weekly to keep my mag around 1350 or so. My alk fluctuates slightly from 8.8 to 9 dkh and calcium is fairly stable around 420. One bottle and one dosing pump....easy.

exnisstech · Jan 21, 2023

On my reefer 170, about 40g total I am able to stay right around 8.4 using kalk in the ato reservoir with nothing else. On my 180g I drip kalk with a brs doser on a timer. I'm not really sure of the amount being dripped as I have increased the drip time several times since I started. I think I'm dripping 20 minutes on 5 minutes off now. I also dose 25ml of ESV 2 part daily in the same tank. Alk stays around 7.4 or so. I don't really have a target number on either, I just try for consistency and keep an eye on the corals. I manually dose by dumping the alk in an overflow and the cal in the return flow. I know not very scientific but I'm not a very scientific guy. Thanks very much to those of you that are. Without you folks I would have already failed and threw in the towel.

Wildblue4 · Jan 21, 2023

BRS 2 part in my 220. About ~100ml of both a day for a newer mixed reef. Target 9.5 Alk and 420 Cal. Mag stays around 1420.
I was just going to ask if anyone that uses BRS 2 part, how they like it or go with something else. I have good color and growth I think but have just been trying Corals for a couple years. Just did fish only for many years.