Kalkwasser question

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So what's the deal with Chris then? He hammers the idea that alkalinity doesn't matter? Also not to reply to an email, is their a truth he doesn't want to entertain? I may have needed to sit back and re-think alot before giving you the idea of me replying as I did. Sorry about that.

That's the problem with the internet and others, myself included. I litterly take what I research or been told how to this, and how to that and roll with it.

So about the few different methods of just boosting pH with kalk. The online store I deal with gave me some advice that you can dose kalk and just get a pH lift or dose for cal/alk increase. I'm not a chemist and I'm dabbling in amounts of powder to use. I reached out to Hans from TM and said I like kalk but the idea of not having the traces bothers me as I've been a fan of AFR for a year now. I was told to see how much AFR it takes to go from 7 to 8 dkh and that's your dose when doing kalk. I know he's a busy guy and didn't pursue any more details.

Now with that aside, again I didn't intend to disrespect you whatsoever. I know ppl have opinions and yes some can be a bit misunderstood.

So this brings me to a touchy question as I know your feelings about the product Boost pH? Couldn't Brad get away with it as Brightwell makes the claim it doesn't raise alk? I know you were on the warpath some time ago with a few companies but I never seen what became of it.

It's also my nature to challenge ppl when I don't see the answer clearly in front of me

While I do not follow everything he says by any means, and can only speculate here, his kalkwasser advice seems pertinent and appropriate to the scenarios he experiences in his coral systems (high alk demand (even needing other alk additions than the kalkwasser ) and perhaps normal indoor CO2 as a commercial coral farm might have as opposed to a home.

How that advice translates to very different systems with very high indoor CO2 and very low alk demand is where I believe it breaks down.

Brightwell has retracted (or Jack said they would retract) the no alk claim when presented with data that they reproduced themselves.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

In one side, out the other

Thanks, that one should work well judging by the image. Do you know if BRS is available in the UK?

 

[jonelder68]

Thanks, that one should work well judging by the image. Do you know if BRS is available in the UK?

Big company so I’d assume they would ship to the UK but can’t say for sure.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Is that the skimmers design to use an air pump or your own contraption? Picture says a thousand words

What light are you using right now?

Also my apologies on other posts and hope to not derailed it to much. Randy can clean it up if he feels the need for it.

I'd trade you plating Monti anytime you want. I can't sell the stuff locally and sadly just toss the pieces away. It grows like a weed. Grows into the glass and pushes its base rock off its base and even though I just snap pieces off it's only 3-4 days and I see it's starting to mend and start growing again. My take on aminos are simple, yes they're good but without A you don't get B. As example my theory is if there's something else hindering growth then are the aminos going to help? I don't really know but even when I was bottomed out at 7.76ph and on a good day I'd get 8.1 things still grew. Do I use aminos? I did and still do. I used Brightwell Coral amino and seen no effect on my corals. I'm using Acropower now and not seeing anything different. So now I'm on a different path using Aquaforest life source mud. I did the first dose actually last night and have high hopes for it. Example, I seen things last night that's never been displayed before in my system. Today things are looking well but also the lights are still in ramo up mode. Maybe your corals are lacking something else like some of mine are.

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Light: https://www.aquaticsrevolution.com/...RQsApl_gWSkEUJEIPeS6ypAF_D_N7RjBoCw38QAvD_BwE

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Big company so I’d assume they would ship to the UK but can’t say for sure.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they do
Would this be the same as the universal scrubber from BRS, as in it has the correct intake configuration I mentioned?

Wavereef CO2 Scrubber Small

Increase the purity of oxygen to your skimmer by removing co2 from the air supply

charterhouse-aquatics.com

 

[Jari]

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they do
Would this be the same as the universal scrubber from BRS, as in it has the correct intake configuration I mentioned?

Wavereef CO2 Scrubber Small

Increase the purity of oxygen to your skimmer by removing co2 from the air supply

charterhouse-aquatics.com

Commercial scrubbers will work, but remember that it is relatively easy to build one for yourself. I have limited room in my cabinet, and built DIY CO2 scubber (basically any food grade and airtight container is ok) & dryer (I use ozone as well). The air goes: airpump -> dryer (you don't necessarily need this) -> CO2 scubber -> skimmer through the venturi.

 

[jonelder68]

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they do
Would this be the same as the universal scrubber from BRS, as in it has the correct intake configuration I mentioned?

Wavereef CO2 Scrubber Small

Increase the purity of oxygen to your skimmer by removing co2 from the air supply

charterhouse-aquatics.com

Yes looks like has 2 ports. One that extends in the canister to the bottom of the cylinder and then an “out” port at the top.

 

[Garf]

Personally I'd use an upside down coke bottle filled with media, just to see the effects and if you think the media is worth the cost. A couple of holes and a bit of hose and Bobs your uncle.

Or my favourite, an old bubble lamp

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Personally I'd use an upside down coke bottle filled with media, just to see the effects and if you think the media is worth the cost. A couple of holes and a bit of hose and Bobs your uncle.

Or my favourite, an old bubble lamp

Thanks, I was thinking of just making a DIY scrubber.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Yes looks like has 2 ports. One that extends in the canister to the bottom of the cylinder and then an “out” port at the top.

Thanks. I just found one on eBay as well, I assume the same goes for this

 

[Garf]

Thanks, I was thinking of just making a DIY scrubber.

I did something similar using kalk slurry. The media in proper scrubbers is a lot more potent;

Kalk slurry aeration

With ref to @Doctorgori thread a while ago; https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/pulling-air-through-saturated-kalk.580645/ His thread was based around changing a saturated calcium hydroxide into calcium carbonate by reducing the CO2 content in air passed through it to ultimately reduce CO2 in...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jonelder68]

Thanks. I just found one on eBay as well, I assume the same goes for this

That style would require a cartridge media like BRS one. Otherwise air would just flow in and out vs being forced through the media. If you look at the first one you listed it has an acrylic tube running from one port down to the bottom. Requiring air to travel from bottom up through your CO2 media. Just an FYI if you didn’t know.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

That style would require a cartridge media like BRS one. Otherwise air would just flow in and out vs being forced through the media. If you look at the first one you listed it has an acrylic tube running from one port down to the bottom. Requiring air to travel from bottom up through your CO2 media. Just an FYI if you didn’t know.

Oh, I see

Sorry, what do you mean by cartridge media? Surely this design should have the tube going from top to bottom otherwise I can't see how it would work

 

[jonelder68]

Oh, I see

Sorry, what do you mean by cartridge media? Surely this design should have the tube going from top to bottom otherwise I can't see how it would work

The media is in a cartridge like an RO carbon block etc.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

The media is in a cartridge like an RO carbon block etc.

Another image on the ebay listing shows this, I assume this is what you mean by the cartridge

 

[jonelder68]

Another image on the ebay listing shows this, I assume this is what you mean by the cartridge

Yep!