Hello community i have a question about kalkwasser dosing. i have been dosing kalkwasser for about a month now and in the beginning i was able to achieve a steady 8.2 but lately it struggles to reach 8.01 .i have been mixing and storing it the same but for some reason it will not go higher than 8.01 even if i increase the dosage . sould i stop dosing for awhile and then resume or am i doing somthing wrong
kalkwasser Dosing
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Are you talking about pH?
It depends a lot on the CO2 in your home air, which may be higher in winter with windows more closed up.
Are you monitoring alkalinity? (should be)
Yes im referring to PH which is currently 8.11 and it pretty much doesn't go higher than that .right now im dosing 23.5 mL about every 15-20 minutes . alkilinity is 9.92 cal is 369-380 and mag is 1250 . also im dosing all for reef powder at 8.4 mL every 15 minutes . yes its winter here so windows are closed ,i added a intake line to skimmer as well but 8.16 is the highest i have been able to achieve.
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I would not try to add more alk of any sort unelss your goal is higher alk, but switching out AFR and adding in more hydroxide can boost pH more, as will other emans of reducing CO2.
I was thinking of stopping one of the 2 most likely the Kalk since its just a little more maintenace than the AFR . but i agree i think the combination of AFR and Kalk are affecting each other
o2manyfish
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Is your Kalk being mixed or stirred? If not being regularly mixed then the Kalk will settle to the bottom of your kalk container and then it's just fresh water in the top of the column.
Dave B
Dave B
o2manyfish
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Pending how long you are letting it sit before you use it the Kalk could be settling to the bottom and not getting added when you use the water as top off.
Dave B
Dave B
fishgirljockey
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I don't dose KALK. I use the buffer by Seachem which keeps you at 8.3 consistently. You dose it daily until it reaches 8.3 and then it stays. I also keep my MAG at 1500-1600; 1300/1350 is way too low still. You'll notice a huge difference in the corals when you increase it and I keep my CALCIUM at 500. My corals look like they're on steroids; juicy and puffy. I never have to dose anything unless I do a water change. I haven't had to dose my MAG or CAL in two weeks. The reef salt I use keeps the MAG and CAL consistent. My alkalinity stays at 10/11. The only thing I dose is; zooplankton by Seachem, marine snow (GAME CHANGER) by two little fishes and phyto-feast by reef nutrition. Very rarely I have had to dose MAG or CAL.
The marine snow and photo-feast I dose EVERY morning. The zooplankton I dose every Monday and Friday morning. EVERY evening I use Oyster feast by reef nutrition. Then I target feed every Monday and Thursday night with GONIOPOWER by two little fishes.
I have a 40 gallon breeder tank; I don't use a skimmer or refugium. I use a canister 207 fluval and a fluval regular filter (40-70g). Never had an issue about my nitrates and phos. I feel like the more things people try to do for the tank, the more it gets out of whack. I just let my tank be and let it work itself. The more I was checking on it, testing levels and dosing unnecessary things, the more problems I was having. Now, I just let the tank be and let it sort itself out and I never have any problems anymore!
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My experience is that you mix the calcium hydroxide solid with water well at first then the clear solution is saturated kalk and stays that way for a long time.
fishgirljockey
Active Member
Yeah I have heard about the hydroxide. That works well too! You can also point a powerhead towards the surface of the tank and that will raise the PH.
o2manyfish
Valuable Member
"I don't dose KALK. I use the buffer by Seachem which keeps you at 8.3 consistently. You dose it daily until it reaches 8.3 and then it stays. I also keep my MAG at 1500-1600; 1300/1350 is way too low still. You'll notice a huge difference in the corals when you increase it and I keep my CALCIUM at 500. My corals look like they're on steroids; juicy and puffy. I never have to dose anything unless I do a water change. I haven't had to dose my MAG or CAL in two weeks. The reef salt I use keeps the MAG and CAL consistent. My alkalinity stays at 10/11. The only thing I dose is; zooplankton by Seachem, marine snow (GAME CHANGER) by two little fishes and phyto-feast by reef nutrition. Very rarely I have had to dose MAG or CAL."
There is quite a bit of error in this paragraph. I'm not sure what your tank looks like, or what kind of livestock you are keeping. But dosing doesn't work in the manner you describe. You don't just dose to a certain level and then it stays there. The elements - Macro and Trace - are there to be consumed. Raising them to a set level is only a starting point. Maintaining them at the desired level is what the dosing does.
If you have an aquarium where you raised your Alk, Mag and Cal to the desired levels and they maintain those levels - until you do a water change - then something is wrong ----- NOTHING is consuming your elements. Now if your reef tank is a collection of softy corals then this makes sense - Because softy corals aren't pulling elements out of the water to build a stony skeleton.
When my system is in full swing (1500gallons) the alkalinity drops at a rate of .5 dkh per hour on a nice sunny day. That's a ton of alkalinity in 1500g to be consumed within a hour.
Your 'theory' that your salt mix is keeping these numbers consistent is flawed. The Salt Mix/water change is only the starting point. Once your salt is completely dissovled then there is a selection of elements that you add to your aquarium. But your salt mix doesn't maintain these levels, it merely provides a desirable quantity that is available for your corals to consume.
If you have a good filtration system, then the point of water changes is to 'topoff' the elements that have been consumed since the last water change. But the salt isn't capable of 'maintaining' these values as you stated.
Dosing maintains the consumed levels so that your water is stable and the corals have what they need to thrive and survive. If your tank is flourishing then these elements are going to constantly drop based upon consumption until they are replaced (water change or a dose). Using tools like an Alkatronic to measure alkalinity every hour you can see how the alkalinity consumption increases as the lights turn on and drops once the lights turn off.
This consumption of alkalinity (in this case because we can easily measure it every hour) is not stabilized by the salt you use. The quantity is fixed and will continue to drop until their isn't adequate levels for the coral to be able to be happy and consume it. That's why dosing 2 part, is done throughout the day usually. That's why a Calc Rx runs all day, it's constantly replacing the consumed Alkalinity (and depending on the technique - Cal, Mag, Strontium) and others.
Kalkwasser is a simple means of replacing that consumed alkalinity by replacing the evaporated water from the system with kalkwasser in a regular top off. While it's not a perfect replacement - that's what testing an additional dosing does.
Dave B
There is quite a bit of error in this paragraph. I'm not sure what your tank looks like, or what kind of livestock you are keeping. But dosing doesn't work in the manner you describe. You don't just dose to a certain level and then it stays there. The elements - Macro and Trace - are there to be consumed. Raising them to a set level is only a starting point. Maintaining them at the desired level is what the dosing does.
If you have an aquarium where you raised your Alk, Mag and Cal to the desired levels and they maintain those levels - until you do a water change - then something is wrong ----- NOTHING is consuming your elements. Now if your reef tank is a collection of softy corals then this makes sense - Because softy corals aren't pulling elements out of the water to build a stony skeleton.
When my system is in full swing (1500gallons) the alkalinity drops at a rate of .5 dkh per hour on a nice sunny day. That's a ton of alkalinity in 1500g to be consumed within a hour.
Your 'theory' that your salt mix is keeping these numbers consistent is flawed. The Salt Mix/water change is only the starting point. Once your salt is completely dissovled then there is a selection of elements that you add to your aquarium. But your salt mix doesn't maintain these levels, it merely provides a desirable quantity that is available for your corals to consume.
If you have a good filtration system, then the point of water changes is to 'topoff' the elements that have been consumed since the last water change. But the salt isn't capable of 'maintaining' these values as you stated.
Dosing maintains the consumed levels so that your water is stable and the corals have what they need to thrive and survive. If your tank is flourishing then these elements are going to constantly drop based upon consumption until they are replaced (water change or a dose). Using tools like an Alkatronic to measure alkalinity every hour you can see how the alkalinity consumption increases as the lights turn on and drops once the lights turn off.
This consumption of alkalinity (in this case because we can easily measure it every hour) is not stabilized by the salt you use. The quantity is fixed and will continue to drop until their isn't adequate levels for the coral to be able to be happy and consume it. That's why dosing 2 part, is done throughout the day usually. That's why a Calc Rx runs all day, it's constantly replacing the consumed Alkalinity (and depending on the technique - Cal, Mag, Strontium) and others.
Kalkwasser is a simple means of replacing that consumed alkalinity by replacing the evaporated water from the system with kalkwasser in a regular top off. While it's not a perfect replacement - that's what testing an additional dosing does.
Dave B
fishgirljockey
Active Member
I know what you mean. I have mostly softies. I have a few hard corals, but its 90% softies.
Me too
Randy Holmes-Farley
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You've been hoodwinked by a marketing claim. There is zero scientific accuracy to such a claim.
The pH of seawater is controlled by the alkalinity and the CO2 level in the water. The CO2 level changes by photosynthesis and respiration in the aquarium (and a few more minor processes) and variations in the CO2 level in your home air.
The higher the alk, the less the daily swing in pH will be for any given change in CO2 because the bicarbonate and carbonate tend to buffer the water (buffer means to resist a change). The pH swing is also lower at higher pH because that buffer pair works best at pH above 8.4 and more and more poorly at lower pH.
The only way that alkalinity supplements impact anything except the alkalinity is by the immediate effect they have on CO2. That is why some lower pH and some raise pH ad some have no pH effect at all. But that effect is instantaneous. There's is no way the alk in the tank after adding Seachem buffer is appreciably different in terms of pH stability than any other alk additive at the same final pH.
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That effect may raise or lower pH, and may do different directions at different times of the day.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Solids will settle, but the dissolved calcium and alkalinity (hydroxide) doesn't settle.
