Kalk dosing

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

So I recently got wiped out of my sps due to a crash so I figured Id take this time to.set up an ato with kalk. I have a 40 breeder. Only live stock left are many zoas, two small.chalice 2 small acan lords a small green plate 4 sps frags and a decent sized clam. I've been testing for 4 days and it seems my alk drops from 8.5ish to around 7.3-5each day(tested with hanna)My ato reserve holds 2 gallons. How much kalk should I add per gallon? I seem to evap about 1/2 gallon a day

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

Singlefin · Dec 29, 2012

That's pretty much where I was. BRS has a good calculator.

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

Singlefin said:
That's pretty much where I was. BRS has a good calculator.

Same alk drop as mine? How much kalk did you start with per gallon?

Pappy · Dec 29, 2012

Check your mag. That's why it's dropping mags low.

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

Pappy said:
Check your mag. That's why it's dropping mags low.

So is the kalk useless? Ugh more testing lol

KoleTang · Dec 29, 2012

How To Use the King of All Saltwater Additives Safely and Effectively

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

KoleTang said:
How To Use the King of All Saltwater Additives Safely and Effectively

Thank you for that. Can someone recommend a good Ph monitor? Controllers are too much. Looking for a good handheld

Steven R · Dec 29, 2012

classklown90 said:
Thank you for that. Can someone recommend a good Ph monitor? Controllers are too much. Looking for a good handheld

I am using the digital aquatics life guard hooked up to a wireless gaming bridge since it does not have a wireless option that comes with it and lets me know when things are dropping will also track the tanks trends and you can set alarm points for both ph and temp, if not milwaukee instruments has a nice hand held good luck and sorry for you losses

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

Steven R said:
I am using the digital aquatics life guard hooked up to a wireless gaming bridge since it does not have a wireless option that comes with it and lets me know when things are dropping will also track the tanks trends and you can set alarm points for both ph and temp, if not milwaukee instruments has a nice hand held good luck and sorry for you losses

Thank you it sucks :/. Handheld is more my style. R u referring to the milwaukee one that is around 20-30?

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

I'm also hearing that kalk might not be able to keep up with an sps tank. I thought since my tank is small that even if it were filled with sps, kalk could keep up with the demands if I saturated it..

Steven R · Dec 29, 2012

Yeah the 30 dollar one you just dip in the water.

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

Steven R said:
Yeah the 30 dollar one you just dip in the water.

Awesome thanks

classklown90 · Dec 29, 2012

Still curious if kalk will be able to keep my parma stable enough. It will be sps dominant

Singlefin · Dec 30, 2012

I have the same tank w a 20L sump. I evap. About 1/2-3/4g a day. My alk would drop 1 point a day as well. I use natural seawater for water changes. I could never keep my numbers up with water changes. Ran kalk for a couple months. Couldn't bring the numbers up. Started manually dosing calc. Alk and mag. Got my numbers where I wanted them. Calc. Would drop 10ppm a day. Finally ordered a dosing pump and stopped kalk. One less thing to mix and variable to account for since evaporation is always the same. When I had my numbers where I wanted it, seemed like kalk did ok. Still had to dose a little. I think kalk won't raise your numbers. You have to get it to where you want it and kalk will keep it around there.

Dtech07 · Dec 30, 2012

Singlefin said:
I have the same tank w a 20L sump. I evap. About 1/2-3/4g a day. My alk would drop 1 point a day as well. I use natural seawater for water changes. I could never keep my numbers up with water changes. Ran kalk for a couple months. Couldn't bring the numbers up. Started manually dosing calc. Alk and mag. Got my numbers where I wanted them. Calc. Would drop 10ppm a day. Finally ordered a dosing pump and stopped kalk. One less thing to mix and variable to account for since evaporation is always the same. When I had my numbers where I wanted it, seemed like kalk did ok. Still had to dose a little. I think kalk won't raise your numbers. You have to get it to where you want it and kalk will keep it around there.

+1 on this one:xd:

classklown90 · Dec 30, 2012

Yea I have my numbers where they need to be I was hoping to maintain with kalk

Pappy · Dec 30, 2012

classklown90 said:
Yea I have my numbers where they need to be I was hoping to maintain with kalk

Kalk should maintain and keep up for a while provided mags where it needs to be.

classklown90 · Dec 30, 2012

Pappy said:
Kalk should maintain and keep up for a while provided mags where it needs to be.

I have a mag tester on the way so that shouldn't be an issue

Dtech07 · Dec 31, 2012

Kalk is the best balance add I've seen for a tank. It has several pros and the con is if you rush and over dose. I started with a drop every two seconds and now at a 1 for 1 and my levels stay the same for four weeks which have shown great growth in my LPS and SPS and no algae outbreaks.

classklown90 · Dec 31, 2012

Dtech07 said:
Kalk is the best balance add I've seen for a tank. It has several pros and the con is if you rush and over dose. I started with a drop every two seconds and now at a 1 for 1 and my levels stay the same for four weeks which have shown great growth in my LPS and SPS and no algae outbreaks.

Great thanks for the info. My pump is not a dosing pump so I can't do drops per second.but so far eveythings is working well