Big 2 Stability Adventures

OnPointCorals · Jul 20, 2018

Hey Guys. I need to hear what you all think. I’ll sum it up quickly (sorta):

My system is ~4 years old, 75 gallon DT + 40b sump + 45 gallon Frag tank (140 gallons of calculated actual water volume). The Entire system is SPS dominant. I have a lot of Stoney coral in both tanks and am just about maxed out for space (inevitable upgrade soon

).

I have dosed 2 part for the life of the system. My last daily dose amount was 140ml of Alk and 140ml of Calcium a day. This kept my Alk rock solid at 8.2 – 8.3. It was getting out of hand mixing a new gallon every 3 weeks (I was using gallon reservoirs).

Two month ago I decided to supplement my dosing with Kalkwasser. I bought a Kalk reactor and started the dialing in process. I tested every day. I started by dropping the 2 part down from 140ml to 60ml and adding ½ gallon of saturated kalk via a rector and peristaltic pump.

My Alk had been swinging for the entire dialing in period, pretty dramatically. Anywhere from 7.0 – 8.6. It took some time and I have even experienced some stn from these swings (Still seeing effects of these swings).

Fast forward to today. Current dosing 90ml of Alk and 90ml of Calcium a day + 1 gallon of saturated lime water. Alk has been steady now for a week, hopefully it will stay this way. Also I have since upgraded my 2 part reservoirs to 2.5 gallon containers.

Now the question I am presented with is it worth it? I am only saving 50ml of 2 part daily, I have the Kalk reactor to now maintain and refill every 2 weeks (only takes 30 seconds I know). I do now have the 2.5gallon reservoirs which will allow me to not have to mix 2 part as frequently. I am considering simplifying and going back to just dosing the larger 2 part amounts without the kalk reactor.

The biggest advantage I would miss is the raised PH throughout the night. Pre-Kalk night ph 7.8-7.9 with a day of 8.2 – 8.4. Now I have a night PH of 8.0-8.1.

Before many people respond I am aware that a Calcium Reactor might be a very good avenue to explore in the future.

rkpetersen · Jul 20, 2018

You've pretty much summed it up. You can go either way but I'm really happy with having added a kalk reactor because it does let me cut down on two part dosing somewhat, reduces the potentially excess minor and trace element build up (in my case, excess potassium) that can come with heavy two-part dosing, and has an excellent effect on maintaining pH that two-part alone can't do. I dose 10 seconds of kalk every 30 minutes, and my alk stays in the 8.4-8.8 range.

chipmunkofdoom2 · Jul 20, 2018

If your alkalinity is stable now and you've figured out why it became unstable in the first place, I would continue using the kalk reactor. If not, I would change something to get the values stable.

How are you running your kalk reactor? Is your ATO pulling from the reactor? If so, consider putting the reactor on a dosing pump so that the doses are more measured and more even throughout the day. I think one of the reason that calcium hydroxide has such mixed popularity in the hobby is because it's almost always dosed with ATOs, which are nowhere near as measured and precise as a dosing pump. Almost all of the problems associated with the use of limewater are due to dosing issues, such as having too much added at once or having the ATO stick on. In other words, good drug, bad delivery system.

There's also nothing wrong with just using two-part. I think there's a common misconception that at a certain point, you need to switch to a calcium reactor or more sophisticated method of supplementing because two part just can't keep up. Two part can work for any tank of any size with any demand. Sure, it has pros and cons. If you go through a lot, like you do, you'll need some large dosing reservoirs. But, two five gallon buckets wouldn't take up that much space, and would last almost 4 months at a dose rate of 140ml/day. Plus, other supplementing methods also have their pros and cons.

OnPointCorals · Jul 20, 2018

Yes I am dosing the Kalk through the reactor using a dosing pump split into 10 equal doses. 1 gallon total is dosed per day separate from my ATO (although it is pulled from the same RO/DI reservoir).

OnPointCorals · Jul 20, 2018

Yes it does seem to be dialed in now. It took me a lot longer to dial in then I expected. Some of my Acros colonies are not happy about that.

MontiFanatic402 · Jul 21, 2018

Im in the same boat as you....almost exact same setup too, minus your frag tank. Im dosing 130ml of Cal & Alk a day, so i feel your pain. Im too scared to dose kalk, i fear i will kill my Acro colonies while i dial in the dosage. Its crazy how much these corals are pulling out of the water! Good luck, i hope you continue to have success.

rkpetersen · Jul 21, 2018

What brand of two-part are you guys using? They can vary in cencentration by quite a lot. The numbers are somewhere in my post history, but off the top of my head, BRS is less concentrated than B Ionic, which is less concentrated than Reef Fusion. I was using large quantities of Reef Fusion at one point, but found that my potassium crept up to around 550 from using the alkalinity component at near-maximum recommended dose. I eventually diagnosed this and got it under control, although now I see that some suggest keeping your potassium really jacked up.

OnPointCorals · Jul 21, 2018

rkpetersen said:
What brand of two-part are you guys using? They can vary in cencentration by quite a lot. The numbers are somewhere in my post history, but off the top of my head, BRS is less concentrated than B Ionic, which is less concentrated than Reef Fusion. I was using large quantities of Reef Fusion at one point, but found that my potassium crept up to around 550 from using the alkalinity component at near-maximum recommended dose. I eventually diagnosed this and got it under control, although now I see that some suggest keeping your potassium really jacked up.

I'm using BRS soda ash and Calcium. Yes Reef fusion has a lot of other trace elements that regular dry goods do not. I used Reef fusion for the first year of my tanks life. That and bionic are so expensive and I am very satisfied with BRS goods. Yes I am sure it is less concentrated.

rkpetersen · Jul 21, 2018

I believe BRS is 1.9 meq/l and RF is 4.4 meq/l. So, theoretically, you should need to use 43% as much RF as you're using now. I haven't done the comparison but I suppose it still costs more though.

OnPointCorals · Jul 23, 2018

Tested last night and my alk is dropping still! I got to add another dose of 2 part to my programming. I'm going to end up saving maybe 30ml a day.

I think I was just expecting Kalkwasser to pick up more of the slack from 2 part dosing than it has. Hopefully this is the final adjustment to get me back to Stability-ville where I came from originally.