alkalinity woes

[bob]

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted, but I was hoping to get a little advice on my alkalinity problems. My tank is about 1 year old and is doing well. I started with a 34gallon solana, and moved to a new 45gal (total volume) tank in august. I migrated all of the rock over, but started with new sand. I've been using kalkwasser in my top off water with good results as well. I do 5gal water changes (~10%) every 1.5 weeks or so; the salt I use is ESV 4-part salt that tests at ~8.5-9dKH.

As of late I began to notice that even though my SPS have great polyp extension, their growth is rather slow and their color is a bit dull. I started dosing every day, or every other day (if I forget) ESV B-Ionic calcium buffer system 2 part (10mL of each component). Even still I'm having trouble keeping my alkalinity above 7dKH even though my mag tests at ~1320ppm. I have a decent number of SPS & LPS colonies with great polyp extension, so I'm pretty sure my livestock is just using the calcium carbonate faster than the system can maintain it. I went a day without dosing and my alk dropped to ~6.5dKH. Last night I dosed 10mL of calcium, and 15mL of alk - today my alk tests at just above 7dKH.

My dilema is what is the best way to go about fixing this? I really hate dosing manually so I was contemplating buying 2 peristaltic pumps from BRS along with their 2 part solution, and buffering the alkalinity once a week. But then I came across this nano-calcium reactor that seems to have pretty good reviews. I know it'll cost more initially with the media+CO2 tank+regulator, but I wanted to get another opinion on if it would be worth it in the long run when compared to automated 2 part dosing. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Dang what kind of coral load do you have?

 

[CJO]

I really like using a calcium reactor, but it does take some effort to dial it in.

CJ

 

[blurry]

There are quite a few opinions on what is best.

two part like you are doing is in my opinion the easiest, can can be automated with dosing pumps like you suggested. To do this you can use a controller (reefkeeper/apex/etc) to control how many minutes the pump is on. that combined with knowing how many ml per minute you can adjust the dosing. There are fully integrated dosers like the bubble magus (what I use) and the liter meter (which is very nice) [there are more, just pointing out the common ones]. If cost is an issue consider moving to DIY two part using chemicals from BRS - they are easy to mix and cost quite a bit less than B-IONIC

You could also add kalkwasser mix via a dosing pump or a reactor. Kalkwasser is nice as it is cheap, and fully balanced (only one part) by itself. A lot of folks like to mix this in a brute and dose via a topoff pump or dosing pump. ether way, remember that this is an additive and the quantity you add should be calculated and controlled (go to BRS and click calculator at the top of the screen)

A calcium reactor is also a great item, though it is much more complicated than the previous method, requires more equipment, and some folks argua about the potential impurities of the media which is dissolving.

Considering the size of the tank you mentioned I would lean heavily towards the first two options and pass on the calcium reactor.

Just my opinion

 

[bob]

Dang what kind of coral load do you have?

I don't think it's too much, but who am I to judge? I wouldn't know a 'large load' if I had one =/ I have a few larger SPS colonies that are a few inches tall (garf bonsai 3", green milli 5", rainbow pocci 3", ponape birdsnest 2", brown birdsnest 4", multicolored birdsnest 3", joe the coral 8"), 3 large monti caps (orange 6", idaho grape 8", flower pedal 5", orange digi 5" tall), and a few decent sized frags (green slimer acro 3", blue tipped stag 3", strawberry shortcake in recovery 2", pink stylo 1", green enchinata 2"). Along with that I have some decent sized LPS as well (~15 frogspawn heads, galaxia 3", ~8 heads of duncans). I'm sure I am forgetting something...but that's the gist of it besides softies like zoas, shrooms and the like. Now that I look back at my list...maybe it is a big load for a 45 gal?

I really like using a calcium reactor, but it does take some effort to dial it in.

I was looking at the digital CO2 regulator - it seems to be the general consensus that tuning that piece of equipment is a breeze. Are there any other things that need to be tuned on a CA reactor?

Considering the size of the tank you mentioned I would lean heavily towards the first two options and pass on the calcium reactor.

At this point I'm leaning towards the two part system simply because of the smaller size of my system. I'm still more than willing to spend the money on the CA reactor if anyone thinks it would be worth it for the current load I have. I'm also freaking out because I go out of town for 1.5 weeks on the 4th of Jan, and my buddy who is watching the tank can only come every few days.

 

[spscrazy]

I started using kalk & will never go back to a 2 part it's so easy & my corals have never been happier when I go out of town for a few days to visit my daughter my husband can do the kalk in the top off with no problems

 

[Eynonreefer]

I stopped using ESV Salt for this reason, and just recently a friend of mine had the same problem switched salt problem solved. I was never able to keep my alk above 6 using ESV, call and spoke with Bob (I think that was his name) the head chemist from ESV, he suggested for me to get a accurate digital scale, which I did and same problem. Test your Cal, bet dollars to donuts it's some were around 600. I will never use or recommend ESV to anyone.

 

[Sasquatch]

I didn't see any mention of your ph?

 

[bob]

I started using kalk & will never go back to a 2 part it's so easy & my corals have never been happier when I go out of town for a few days to visit my daughter my husband can do the kalk in the top off with no problems

I use kalk in my ATO =( It helps, but not near enough.

I stopped using ESV Salt for this reason, and just recently a friend of mine had the same problem switched salt problem solved. I was never able to keep my alk above 6 using ESV, call and spoke with Bob (I think that was his name) the head chemist from ESV, he suggested for me to get a accurate digital scale, which I did and same problem. Test your Cal, bet dollars to donuts it's some were around 600. I will never use or recommend ESV to anyone.

Really interesting, I've never heard this! Are there a lot of others with this problem? What methods did you try to keep your alk up? My calcium test around 440ppm or so. My fresh salt water using ESV tests at 8.5-9dKH - is this what you were getting?

I didn't see any mention of your ph?

My pH hovers around 8.0-8.2 pretty consistently.

 

[Kbra]

What's your magnesium at?

 

[Dowtish]

he said it was 1320 ppm in the OP.

 

[Nuocmam]

I'd first verify your magnesium with a other test kit. Low mag can make it difficult to maintain stable alk & cal. Really high calcium can also suppress alk. After that I would very slowly over a period of weeks raise alk by daily dosing of soda ash(sodium carbonate). Eventually you will hit your desired level. Hth

 

[bob]

I'd first verify your magnesium with a other test kit. Low mag can make it difficult to maintain stable alk & cal. Really high calcium can also suppress alk. After that I would very slowly over a period of weeks raise alk by daily dosing of soda ash(sodium carbonate). Eventually you will hit your desired level. Hth

Good call. Since I'm partially color blind I always have a little bit of trouble with these tests. With the help of my non-color blind girlfriend I retested my mag (sailfert test kit) and found that it's only 1260ppm. So as of now that looks to be the problem. Any recommendations on a good Mag supplement?

I'm probably going to get the dosing pumps from BRS and their two part solution rather than the CA reactor for cost reasons. I know that comes with mag but their directions say to pour it in at the end - does this usually work? Or would it be better to dose it periodically?

 

[Troylee]

Top off with brightwells kalk+2 and use brightwells magnesion... That's all I use on my tank now no dosing 2 part at all and it's coming around nicely... I also use esv salt and have no issues...

 

[redtop03]

I've found that when I was trying to dial in my dosing pump that my alk was being consumed faster than the calcium,I had read that it is supposed to be consumed in equal parts but I kept increasing the alk to compensate with little luck,after reading this article When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com I was doing things wrong,even though the calcium was testing fine,I had to increase its dosage to match the alk in order to keep it balanced.....after I finally got it dialed in,my calcium and alkalinity are stable and my ph is also more stable as well...

I also dose kalk with an aqua lifter pump and a DIY reactor at night time only to help with the nighttime ph swing....kalk is great at replenishing both cal and alk in equal parts but it can drive your ph to dangerous level if not careful and really shouldn't be relied on entirely to replenish with

 

[caudill187]

I would dose the calcium the same as the alk as Redtop mentioned.

As for dialing in the calcium reactor, when using an electronic regulator (as I do....and love it), one still has to find the right combination of flow rate through the reactor and the amount of CO2 supplied to the reactor (bubble count). The electronic regulator just gives you very precise and easy control of the bubble count. These two variable have to be balance with the pH of the system (drops when adding CO2). It can also be difficult to get a constant through through the reactor as powerhead pressure varies and lines get clogged. These things can take a while, especially if you can't leave well enough alone like me

As mentioned, I'd use additives for a system the size of yours, although I am not familiar with that particular calcium reactor.