Check My Kalk Plan

[bevo5]

Hey all - so I've battled somewhat low PH for a while now. My daily 'swing' is 8.1 during the day down to about 7.9 at night. Not necessarily the worst ever, but I'd like to raise it up higher to help battle dinos. Say....8.5ish. Plus, kalk is cheaper than dosing the 2-part that I'm doing now. But mostly it's to help raise my PH

I'd just like someone to check my plans.

Tank is 200g volume mixed reef...mostly just LPS and some hardy SPS.

Two part dosing keeps me at about 9dkh and 430-450 calcium. I'd like to go a bit lower on ALK but I'm afraid it will move my PH even further south.

I run a simple ATO with two float valves that are about an inch or so apart in my sump. I have it hooked up to my APEX so it goes on 5 times a day for top off. I really don't get much evaporation as I go through about 8 or so gallons a week.

So my plan for Kalk:
-Mix 5g buckets of RO and kalk starting off at 1tsp per gallon (or less?). Let it clear and settle, then pour into my big ATO reservoir. OR just mix straight in the ATO reservoir?
-Stop the ALK 2-part dosing?
-Just pay attention to the PH/ALK and raise kalk concentration as needed.

My concern is that I'm going to bottom out my Alk when I stop 2-part dosing....if my kalk mixture isn't strong enough.

If i leave the 2-part on then I'm going to just run the Alk way up.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Reeferdood]

Why lower the alkalinity?
The lower your alkalinity is the harder it will be to have a higher pH.
Don't overthink Kalkwasser, just ease yourself in with a weak solution and adjust accordingly.
Don't use one part of a 2 part dosing plan, you will be chasing yourself all over the map when you add a kalk solution to the equation....
My .02

 

[bevo5]

True - not lower by much. I see a lot of people keep it around 8.0 is all. I'm not that far off, so I'd maybe remove that as a major concern.

Is it OK to mix in a separate bucket, let it settle, then pour the clear liquid in the reservoir or would mixing straight into the reservoir be OK?

Mainly I'm just worried about what to do with the 2part schedule. I suppose I could start with a weak kalk mix and cut my 2part in half then go from there...

 

[Reeferdood]

If you are not using a reactor I would mix in separate containers and let it settle out..
FYI, I keep my Alk at 9.5-10 as read on my Hanna checker..

 

[Scarybo]

I wouldnt stop using one part of a 2 part dosing plan. They are designed to be used together. You also mentioned you dont have much evaporation. My concern would Kalk be enough if your evaporation is low. I would start Kalk and reduce the amount of 2-part. At that point I would test to find the correct balance to maintain your desired levels.

 

[bevo5]

Got it...and I think that's the plan. I'll cut the 2-part dosing down while adding my kalk.

As far as the evaporation rate - could I just juice up the mixture a bit so the amount of kalk being added is higher throughout the day? That seems a bit dangerous....

 

[mic209]

From a personal experience, kalk through an ATO is a bad idea. I setup 2 part dosers to use with kalk and had my CA and ALK rock solid, this was in the winter and evaporation was minimal. Fast forward to summer, all my corals started declining and ALK and CA was rapidly rising. After weeks of troubleshooting, I finally realized that I was filling my ATO container more often due to more evap with summer temps and that's what was causing my ALK spikes. I know a lot of people use it through an ATO and have success, but I will never run it that way again. For you, since you're trying to raise ph, it'd be best to use it on constant slow drip because the ph increase is only temporary. So if you're only adding it every now and then, your ph will only go up every now and then.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Got it...and I think that's the plan. I'll cut the 2-part dosing down while adding my kalk.

As far as the evaporation rate - could I just juice up the mixture a bit so the amount of kalk being added is higher throughout the day? That seems a bit dangerous....

Not sure what you mean by juice it up, but you can't dissolve more than 2 level teaspoons per gallon of fresh water, unless you add some vinegar.

I wouldn't suggest dosing milky limewater (with undissolved solids suspended in it) unless the primary goal is a big pH boost when, for example, treating for dinos.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

From a personal experience, kalk through an ATO is a bad idea. .

I did it that way for more than 20 years.

 

[Reeferdood]

I did it that way for more than 20 years.

Not quite 20 here but close...

 

[bevo5]

Thanks for the replies - I am currently working through a little dino issue and am finishing up a 72hr blackout. It was limited to areas of the sand bed, and I've since corrected the contributing factors to get nutrients way down...but if this blackout doesn't work then I will be trying to raise the PH with the kalk mixture.

I am going to add 1/2tsp per gallon to my ATO reservoir, cut the 2part down a bit and just keep testing until I get it right. I figure that's a solid plan to ease into it without affecting things too much.

If I have to raise the PH higher to work out the dinos, I'll be back for more advice!