Kalkwasser?

[OpenOcean33]

Hello everyone I am trying to find a way to stabilize my alk. I have been dosing red sea products for maintaining my alk. and calcium for the past year. However, lately my alk has been dropping lower than normal, I usually keep my alk at 10 dkh around the Red Sea recommendation. I noticed I drop down to about 8 after about a week or so. In which I haven't had this problem before it has been stable but I also started dosing some bacteria for my Dino battle. I was thinking about dosing Kalkwasser, however my calcium is always stable between 410-430. Would adding Kalkwasser increase my calcium too much while trying to raise my alk? Ive done a bunch of research and trying to figure it out but haven't found an exact answer.

 

[Butuz]

I dont think so. Kalk does not add alk or calcium, it maintains it. So you have to get both to where you need it. I dose Kalk through my ATo. I talked to Seachem specialist about kalk, see my build thread below. Unfortunately, dont remember which page, but probably around page 7 or 8.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

If your alk is steady at 8 and your calcium is stable, I would not see a reason to switch. That is a good range and I would not change something that seems to be working. Kalk is good to raise edit-phl but if not careful it is easy to overdose.

Sound like all is good to me

 

[OpenOcean33]

I dont think so. Kalk does not add alk or calcium, it maintains it. So you have to get both to where you need it. I dose Kalk through my ATo. I talked to Seachem specialist about kalk, see my build thread below. Unfortunately, dont remember which page, but probably around page 7 or 8.

I will read this thank you

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Good vid

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/Kalkwasser-The-Easiest-Way-to-Maintain-Ca-Alk-&-pH/

 

[OpenOcean33]

If your alk is steady at 8 and your calcium is stable, I would not see a reason to switch. That is a good range and I would not change something that seems to be working. Kalk is good to raise edit-phl but if not careful it is easy to overdose.

Sound like all is good to me

I guess because it was stable at 10 before and I guess I was running it based on their recommendation that is 11dkh. And this is exactly 2hat I dont want to do is overdose or have big swings.

 

[jent]

Your calcium is also dropping, it's just not able to be detected with your test kit. I think a drop of 2dkh should have a drop of only 13ppm calcium.

Kalk will add equal parts ca and alk to help maintain that. However IME chasing a 10dkh may be a bit hard and could burn your corals if low on nutrients or high on light. I think your level of 8 dkh is a safer goal to maintain.

 

[cain720]

I dont think so. Kalk does not add alk or calcium, it maintains it. So you have to get both to where you need it. I dose Kalk through my ATo. I talked to Seachem specialist about kalk, see my build thread below. Unfortunately, dont remember which page, but probably around page 7 or 8.

What? Kalkwasser 100% adds calcium and alkalinity. How else would it maintain it without adding it?

The reason people advise against using it to raise calcium and alkalinity is because it might cause a large PH swing. I've used kalkwasser to raise my Ca and Alk, but this was done with gradual changes to the strength of my solution.

 

[BeejReef]

Kalkwasser seems to be widely misunderstood.. lol. As Cain720 says, it's fine to use it to slowly adjust fairly stable levels.

FWIW, I use baking soda exactly like you would use Kalk to maintain (and slightly raise) my alkalinity until I was able to definitively detect a drop in calcium (and as it turns out, magnesium as well). Then I switched to Kalkwasser. I suspect Jent is correct that you are consuming calcium as well and just aren't detecting it yet. Just sharing what I did.