Can I dose Kalkwasser Hourly via dosing pump

[Reefdom]

hoping for a little help as per the title.

I’ve just moved over to a larger tank (65g) and fragged a lot of what I had as I wanted to start from smaller pieces, some LPS, Duncan, acan and SPS. Stylo, birdsnest, montis.
I was doing Red Sea 3 part but wanted to try kalk at first with this tank for ph benefits.
I’m reluctant to go with my ato as it varies with evaporation, and when I change filter socks or do water changes it can add a fair bit at once.

Would using a doser to add a little kalk every hour have an effect on ph? I’m not too concerned with meeting consumption needs as I can use my other dosing channels to cover this and I don’t mind doing that. The kalk dose would be fixed and the 2 part would be adjusted for consumption.

IF dosing kalk hourly will cause too much ph fluctuation or not be enough to register a positive effect on ph I won’t bother.

At the moment I have hooked up a weak solution to dose 5ml once an hour. It doesn’t precipitate out but it’s probably too weak to do anything to ph either, I just wanted to see mechanically how it would work.

Any thoughts?

 

[JCOLE]

Following along as I am interested in doing this as well.

 

[Reefdom]

I’m going to slowly increase the amount t I dose hourly over the next few weeks and see what happens. I do need a ph pen however to take a closer look at what the tank is doing

 

[joseserrano]

Yes you can do this. Just test to not over dose on 2 part and kalk. Also keep an eye on the doser. It will eventually clog.

 

[sghera64]

Yes. I do that. I only dose at night (8PM until 10AM), on the hour. My ATO sits up by the ceiling so I don't use a dosing pump. Instead, I open a Keurig valve to allow gravity to force the water through the tubing/Kalk reactor into my DT's overflow plumbing. I figured out how much water my tank evaporates in 24 hrs (which changes based on house humidity or season) and turns out to be about 6L. I then split that 6L aliquot up over 17 doses. NOTE: I also add some kalk around 2PM and 5PM to keep the pH up.

One thing you will want to do is keep an eye on "numbers" that would indicate you are adding too much too fast: Rapid Ca or Alk depletion, too high of pH. So, measure your Calcium and Alk (or just Alk) consumption 3 days in a row while not adding any kalkwasser or bicarb/carbonate. You might drop, say, 0.5 dKH per day. Then start your hour Kalkwasser dosing regimen. You Alk should drop a lot less, hold steady or even go up. If it drops MORE than any of those 3 days, you need to add the Kalk more slowing, or in a more turbulent part of the system, or just add less of it. A pH spike or sustained high pH (say > 8.5) will be a secondary clue.

 

[Reefdom]

Cheers for the info. I’ve been checking alk daily for the past week and keep a log. I’ll keep checking daily as it takes a few mins in the morning while I’m checking over my tank so it’s no biggie.
I do need a ph pen though to be on the safe side.

Anyone doing this with a ph probe and an apex? Any shift in ph over the course of an hour and around the time of dosing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Cheers for the info. I’ve been checking alk daily for the past week and keep a log. I’ll keep checking daily as it takes a few mins in the morning while I’m checking over my tank so it’s no biggie.
I do need a ph pen though to be on the safe side.

Anyone doing this with a ph probe and an apex? Any shift in ph over the course of an hour and around the time of dosing?

The pH effect depends entirely on how much you add. You certainly can see the rise if you add enough, then it drops back over time as the tank pulls in more CO2.

I show the pH effect of hydroxide here:
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/5/chemistry

In my test, adding 0.5 meq/L (1.4 dKH) of hydroxide (like limewater) boosts pH instantly by about 0.66 pH units. Higher boost at lower alk and lower starting pH.

If you add 1/10th of that each hour, the initial spike would be, very roughly, 1/10th of that size.

 

[Reefdom]

Thanks. Think I need to get my calculator out. My main concern was that the fall in ph after dosing kalk would be quick enough that the next dose and subsequent hourly doses would cause too much of a drop before the next peak. If the fall after dosing before the next is small enough then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

I’m adding 10ml at once, on the hour to 230l actuall water volume. Alk sits at 9dkh

 

[sghera64]

Thanks. Think I need to get my calculator out. My main concern was that the fall in ph after dosing kalk would be quick enough that the next dose and subsequent hourly doses would cause too much of a drop before the next peak. If the fall after dosing before the next is small enough then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

I’m adding 10ml at once, on the hour to 230l actuall water volume. Alk sits at 9dkh

What is you concern about the pH drop? Does it have to do with the pH not being steady?

 

[Fiesty]

I have a lot of coral in a 200 gal. I dose kalk to the max amount possible (just under evaporation level). I dose slightly more at night to keep ph up. I then dose soda ash 2 part to maintain the desired levels of alk and calcium. Ive had great luck with doing it this way. Again, if needed, max kalk dosed every hour to level of evaporation and then soda ash 2 part dosed each part every other hour in addition to meet tank needs. This will definitely help raise PH.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I was using kalk in my ato for a long time but realized depending on the season my tank evaporation would change. I have been dosing fully saturated kalk via a brs doser every 15 minutes for a few months now and love it. It keeps my ph high and stable and it keeps my parameters from fluctuating because my kalk is a set amount now instead of depending on evaporation. This is the only way I would dose kalk now. Only thing I wish now is that i had a larger reservoir so the kalk tank would last longer aka less maintenace on my end

 

[mcwhng]

I was using kalk in my ato for a long time but realized depending on the season my tank evaporation would change. I have been dosing fully saturated kalk via a brs doser every 15 minutes for a few months now and love it. It keeps my ph high and stable and it keeps my parameters from fluctuating because my kalk is a set amount now instead of depending on evaporation. This is the only way I would dose kalk now. Only thing I wish now is that i had a larger reservoir so the kalk tank would last longer aka less maintenace on my end

How do you ensure the kalk dosing line doesn’t clog?

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I think with how frequent it goes off it doesn’t have enough time to clog. I use the faster brs doser pump and I haven’t had any issues with clogging as of yet but I do check the tip of the hose when doing water changes