Am I crazy to consider switching to kalk??

[Sangheili]

The problem i run into is that my dosing pumps aren't perfectly equal. Not many are. Unless you're going to pay $400+ for a Neptune Dos, you'll have two equally rated pumps that don't run the exact same. It's subtle but enough to cause my calcium and alk balance deviate over time despite my dose program for both being the same

Two things:

1) Measure each pump over a set time and adjust your dosing based on that (aka calibrate it).
2) Monitor and measure your dosing containers. When you see a discrepancy (like alk you dosed 1000ml for the last 10 days but only 900ml of calc), adjust the doser to correct.

Easy

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

35ppt with refractometer and apex. I'm calling 500 off scale. Red Sea test.

I'd add a bit more of the titrant and get an actual answer. 510 ppm calcium is fine. 800 ppm is not.

 

[Jlentz]

I'd add a bit more of the titrant and get an actual answer. 510 ppm calcium is fine. 800 ppm is not.

I'll give it a shot, it looked pretty close. I'm going to take my water into the LFS in the next week to have them check it as well.


As far as the imbalance goes, should I just start to match it and it will work itself out or do I need to try and get it balanced first, then match the dose.

I've tried to dose equally in the past and it seemed like the CA was just building up while the kh was just going down.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'll give it a shot, it looked pretty close. I'm going to take my water into the LFS in the next week to have them check it as well.


As far as the imbalance goes, should I just start to match it and it will work itself out or do I need to try and get it balanced first, then match the dose.

I've tried to dose equally in the past and it seemed like the CA was just building up while the kh was just going down.

Assuming the solutions were properly made and dosed, the latter might be from a high calcium salt mix. But if you know from long term use that such issues happens, mismatched dosing is fine.

 

[WhoKnew]

Kathleen, unless you're intending to deck your tank out with acropora and montipora, you won't need any of the aforementioned pieces of equipment.

All of these products and maintenance methods are done with the goal of elevating and maintaining stable levels of calcium, carbonate, and bicarbonate in the water. Those elements are used by stony corals to build skeletons and grow. You need to supplement them once your growth rates of said corals reach a point to where they can deplete the amounts in the water to their own detriment without your intervention.

A Kalkwasser reactor is a slow mix of calcium hydroxide powder in water that is gradually added to the tank as water evaporates, which supplements those parameters

2 part dosing is done through slow flow dosing pumps on timers that slowly add calcium chloride and soda ash solution to the water to keep those parameters elevated

A calcium reactor is a reactor chamber which runs on a circulation continually and has pressurized co2 added to it. It dissolves dead coral skeletons and aragonite and drips it back into the tank to add those elements into the water.

Having those parameters elevated and stable (not rising and falling through the days, as in hoping large water changes will be enough) is key to having healthy stony corals.

Unless you're going to focus on those types of corals, salt water alone should supply ample calcium, carbonate, and bicarbonate for fish and mobile invertebrates and soft corals. Hope this helps. Not about being old school or new age. Calcium reactors and two part dosing have been done for decades. It's just about addressing the needs of your intended liveatock

This is my current saltwater tank. It's been running for 5yrs. As you can see I have a 3.5lb clam that I have to dose Ca constantly. My new tank will be similar to this. I love my Stoney corals and don't have much luck with softies. So maybe I could use some advice on using one of the systems above. I have Multiple Sclerosis and don't work at this time. So I just thought change of water and parameters I would dose that way. But I am open for my new ideas for my tank to run efficiently. I'm like a sponge and want to learn all I can about my marine life. I was also a science major in college. Wish I has gone into marine biology instead. Any advice is welcomed.
Kathleen

 

[bobbychullo]

my understanding is Kalk can support a fully stocked tank up to 50 gallons without the need for supplements. over 50 gallons and you should switch to a calcium reactor, this is what I've read please correct me if I am wrong.

I run my GEO kalk reactor with a Litermeter III. I control the exact amount of saturated kalk that enters my system.

 

[Bpb]

It's too much of a generalization to say kalk can cover a tank of this size but not that size. A 50 gallon tank with several clams and a full army of acropora and montipora will no way get by on Kalkwasser alone. I've been down that road.

@Kathleen, Great looking tank. With no sump at all I would honestly suggest the best plan would be dosing pumps and a controller. But this is only if you're wanting to test weekly at minimum and can actually track and nail down a deficiency. If your ca and alk are at slightly elevated natural reef levels and they stay there, why dose?

 

[s2nhle]

I have a 46g bowl mix reef tank with clam and has been using kalk reactor with dosing pump for several years now. I may have add either 2 parts or calcium reactor soon.

 

[cvicente]

I have used 2 Part, Kalk stirrer and CaCO3 reactor. The best thing that worked for me was a CaCO3 reactor in conjunction with the Kalk stirrer. The stirrer is connected to the ATO and the GEO CR612 runs with natural coral rubble (not Reborn media). The controller had to be set in the low 6.5 to dissolve this media so I could get a 18dKH out of the reactor and 10dKH in the tank. I run high PO4 (.88ppm) levels so I have to maintain a higher than NSW dKH.