So you believe that monitoring your major elements & dosing to keep them stable has made a big difference to the health & growth of your corals?
I'm also interested in your decision to change to kalkwasser?
Yes, monitoring and dosing alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium (to a lesser extent) made a significant impact on my corals. Originally I was only testing nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, and pH. The only thing I acted on was nitrates really, when they would rise I would do a water change. Zoas did fine, but didn't thrive. I lost a hammer and had issues with a toadstool.
I started dosing calcium and superbuffer for alkalinity... Although at first, I dosed reactively when I would notice calcium or alkalinity had dropped. I saw improvement but saw significant improvement when I started dosing daily, keeping levels consistent.
Why did I switch to kalkwasser instead of two part? Top of the list are price, ease, and pH. This is what I've learned...
pH - This is what pushed me to switch initially. My pH was always close to 8, but after I cleared out all the zoas for some reason pH dropped close to 7.7 within a day and the trend seemed downward the following days. I tried superbuffer but it didn't have an impact aside from boosting my alkalinity. Kalkwasser helps raise pH while maintaining calcium and alkalinity.
Ease - Kalk is supposed to be good at keeping calcium and alk levels consistent versus raising them. You're achieving calcium and alkalinity with one product. Plus, its easy to dose... you mix it with a large volume of water which you can then use essentially as your top off water (just use a pump or auto top off to add slowly).
Price - Just an added bonus. I just went with a big $10 jar from Kent to get started, but from what I've read you can get it very affordably elsewhere.
