CO2 Scrubber vs Kalkwasser

[Potatohead]

Ok my mind is blown a little bit. In another thread a member mentioned he is combining his mag and calcium solutions together (they're both chloride I guess) and I just found out I can do the same. So that will free up a dosing head for me and make this kind of a no brainer for kalkwasser. I may try a scrubber down the road but for now this seems like an easy thing to try.

 

[14 foot reef]

First. Tank looks great!

I'm sorry I thought this was a diurnal PH swing issue. Lol, that's my fault. So your main concern is simply steady ph while photosynthesis is occurring?

Well with a 6 dkh you have a ton of room to bump that up and (from my reading) will hand in hand increase your growth.

From your post I can't tell if you're dosing by hand or dosing pump. By hand you'll always have a swing I imagine unless you walk over at regular intervals and deliver precise amounts. Running the kalk through ato will certainly produce swings as it gets put in

Please do not consider running kalk through your ATO, too many points of failure, push RO though kalk reservoir on a timed reverse light cycle that will deliver your 24 hour calculated amount of evaporated water. Dosing pump pushing fresh clear RODI through Kalk is the best way.

 

[TokenReefer]

Please do not consider running kalk through your ATO, too many points of failure, push RO though kalk reservoir on a timed reverse light cycle that will deliver your 24 hour calculated amount of evaporated water. Dosing pump pushing fresh clear RODI through Kalk is the best way.

Me? I'm not... if I was following the original post I was just trying to say that using it with an ato would also produce swings, since the op is trying to avoid swings. Poorly worded perhaps

 

[Potatohead]

Not trying to reduce swings. Just want to elevate pH overall. The only reason I am doing this is to try to increase growth rate. That's it.

For now I can easily place a kalk reservoir near the tank and feed it with a dosing pump. If it works well I may get a reactor, or if it does nothing I may take it all off, I don't know, but I want to try.

 

[14 foot reef]

Not trying to reduce swings. Just want to elevate pH overall. The only reason I am doing this is to try to increase growth rate. That's it.

For now I can easily place a kalk reservoir near the tank and feed it with a dosing pump. If it works well I may get a reactor, or if it does nothing I may take it all off, I don't know, but I want to try.

If it were me, id probably just add the K1 Avast stirrer and be done. I Run the K2 on my 850 gallon system and it is a great tool for adding kalk evenly.

Watch Chris Meckley videos on kalk addition then modify it to what you need. Thats what I did and its been 100% successful,

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok my mind is blown a little bit. In another thread a member mentioned he is combining his mag and calcium solutions together (they're both chloride I guess) and I just found out I can do the same. So that will free up a dosing head for me and make this kind of a no brainer for kalkwasser. I may try a scrubber down the road but for now this seems like an easy thing to try.

Be careful. In general that cannot be done because many two parts put sulfate in the mag part and it will precipitate with calcium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Been banging my head against the wall for a few days now, have read a bunch of old threads. I have been dosing two part (bicarb) for five or six years, pH fluctuates between 7.85 - 8.05, maybe 8.1 depending on time of day. My sole intention for this is to raise pH.

I already own a bunch of kalk from years ago. Ideally I would use a reservoir and dose with a dosing pump. I do not have any spare heads on my doser so I would probably buy a single head Kamoer or something. (As a side question, is the tubing ok with kalk high pH?)

CO2 scrubber seems easy enough but I just hate committing to endlessly buying consumables. Very mixed reviews on this also. I also don't really suspect the CO2 in the house is all that high. 3000 square foot house with only myself and my wife, a medium sized dog and cat. Furnace does have a fresh air intake.

I guess I should probably just set up a kalk drip each evening for a week or two to see if any positive change...

Thoughts?

The relative benefit of the two methods depend critically on a number of factors such as skimmer aeration capacity, tank top aeration capacity, CO2 level in the home air and amount of kalkwasser added, but I believe that more often a scrubber will be able to have a larger effect.

 

[TokenReefer]

but I believe that more often a scrubber will be able to have a larger effect.

Interesting. Any good sources of information to help better understand alkalinity and kalkwasser?

 

[Potatohead]

Be careful. In general that cannot be done because many two parts put sulfate in the mag part and it will precipitate with calcium.

I am using Fauna Marin and they removed sulfate from their mag mix a few years ago. I remember reading they did this because they recommend to still do water changes (unlike some of the competition) and that will keep the balance. I double checked with them messaging through another site and they said it will work.

I can try and mix a bit first to triple check... Will it turn white if they are not compatible?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Interesting. Any good sources of information to help better understand alkalinity and kalkwasser?

Not sure exactly what you want to know, but there’s a lot more here:
What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

.

I can try and mix a bit first to triple check... Will it turn white if they are not compatible?

Yes.

 

[Potatohead]

Yes.

You rock Randy thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You rock Randy thank you

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

 

[doubleshot00]

Purely dependent on quanity dosed I'd imagine....

Thought the same thing until i dosed 3x as much.