Preference: 2 part or kalkwasser?

[briancarterkc]

Did you make sure your alk and calc were in balance before you started dosing? When I first used kalk it wasn't proportional and I had problems dialing in the dose. Then I manually adjusted with 2 part and turned back on the kalk. Been running great ever since.

I may give that a try. I don't remember exactly now, but I'm pretty sure I was around 8 dKH and 420 calc when I started. Maybe alk was low when I started and that was the problem. That said, since I don't really use that much calc between water changes, baking soda is a pretty cheap solution.

 

[BigJohnny]

I may give that a try. I don't remember exactly now, but I'm pretty sure I was around 8 dKH and 420 calc when I started. Maybe alk was low when I started and that was the problem. That said, since I don't really use that much calc between water changes, baking soda is a pretty cheap solution.

Gotcha. Well it made all the difference for me, both viable options. Good luck!

 

[DMan]

All you need to know.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

 

[whixley101]

I have dosed two part for about four years using a bubble magnus dosing pump. I have seen expected results from two part. Kalk alone could never keep up with my system.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The "everyone should use kalk" advice is what I followed and why I wound up with a cloudy tank for two weeks. If your tank consumes alk or calc out of proportion with each other, kalk may not be your friend. I can't figure out why, but my alk depletes much faster than my calc and kalkwasser did not work for me.

Probably because you do water changes with a mix that does not match your tank.

 

[briancarterkc]

Probably because you do water changes with a mix that does not match your tank.

Can you say more about that? I use Reef Crystals. After a water change I'm at around 8.5 Alk, 400-450 Calc, 1320 Mg, which seems right. But then alk starts dropping (pretty much goes to 7.5 in a day). Is there a better mix to be using?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Loosing 1 dKH per day is perfectly normal. Anywhere from 0 to 5 dKH per day is within what most folks see.

Topping off to replace 1.25% of the total water volume daily with saturated limewater will add about 1.4 dKH per day. If your demand is higher or your evaporation is lower, limewater cannot keep up.

Reef Crystals is a fine mix.

When you over or underdose any balanced additive method, such as limewater/kalkwasser, you notice the rise or fall in alk fiurst since it responds much faster to dosing. A drop 1 d kH will onloy be accompanied by a 6-7 ppm drop in calcium, and most kits will not clearly detect thaty drop.

What I meant above is that if you truly have imbalanced demand (that is, tank demand is not about 1 meq/L (2.8 dKH) for each 18-20 ppm of calcium consumed), the most common cause is using a slat mix that does not match the tank. That is fine, but not a fault of the limewater.

In the very long run, calcium will rise using limewater to maintain alkalinity because magnesium gets into the calcium carbonate in place of some of the calcium, leaving that calcium in the water. That is why I used a lower calcium mix (normal IO) when I used limewater (for 20 years).

I discuss such possible imbalances in apparent demand here:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm

 

[briancarterkc]

Loosing 1 dKH per day is perfectly normal. Anywhere from 0 to 5 dKH per day is within what most folks see.

Topping off to replace 1.25% of the total water volume daily with saturated limewater will add about 1.4 dKH per day. If your demand is higher or your evaporation is lower, limewater cannot keep up.

Reef Crystals is a fine mix.

When you over or underdose any balanced additive method, such as limewater/kalkwasser, you notice the rise or fall in alk fiurst since it responds much faster to dosing. A drop 1 d kH will onloy be accompanied by a 6-7 ppm drop in calcium, and most kits will not clearly detect thaty drop.

What I meant above is that if you truly have imbalanced demand (that is, tank demand is not about 1 meq/L (2.8 dKH) for each 18-20 ppm of calcium consumed), the most common cause is using a slat mix that does not match the tank. That is fine, but not a fault of the limewater.

In the very long run, calcium will rise using limewater to maintain alkalinity because magnesium gets into the calcium carbonate in place of some of the calcium, leaving that calcium in the water. That is why I used a lower calcium mix (normal IO) when I used limewater (for 20 years).

I discuss such possible imbalances in apparent demand here:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm

Very helpful. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

 

[Anthony Novello]

Mostly softies few lps ...nothing but water changes

 

[Bunkinator]

I use both , ESV 2 part with a dosing pump, adjusted as demand rises, and Kalk, which helps keep alk and cal stable and PH a little higher (8.25 )than I get using only 2 part. test Alk EVERY day.

 

[Aaron4890]

I have a 10 gallon nano, I found out that if I use fully saturated Kalk for ATO my pH would jump too high. So now I use BRS 2 part diluted down 1 to 3 parts

 

[rocknut]

I use a dosing pump (Neptune DOS) to dose RO/DI water from my top off water reservoir, through a Kalk reactor, and into the tank (still have my Tunze Osmo for remaining top off). My tank is pretty young so demand isn't very high, but the dosing pump allows me to program a set amount to keep my alk stable. Eventually I can start dosing some two part in addition to my Kalk as demand increases, but presumably less because of the Kalk additions. That's my plan anyway, and seems to add the extra set of controls.

 

[Tristan]

My tank for whatever reason consumes alk a lot faster than calc (and Mg is always at 1320) I've found I get a lot of precipitation if I use the typical 1.5-2 tsp of kalk per gallon top off. So, I stopped kalk and now I put baking soda in my ATO (about 2.5 T in 10 gal) and dose calc as needed. Keeps me at the 8 dKH and 450 calc I want.

Add some white distilled vinegar and you won't get that precipitation.

 

[RudyB]

The "everyone should use kalk" advice is what I followed and why I wound up with a cloudy tank for two weeks. If your tank consumes alk or calc out of proportion with each other, kalk may not be your friend. I can't figure out why, but my alk depletes much faster than my calc and kalkwasser did not work for me.

Check your Mag, The only time mine wen out of wack was when my Mag was low. As for me I does Kalk in my Tunze ATO using the Tunze Kalk doser and I supplement with BRS 2 part. My 150G tank is mixed but heavy on SPS.

 

[john.m.cole3]

I use the tunze kalk dispenser also. It's great! No measuring. Just dump a few teaspoons in the container when you fill up your ATO, close it up, and you get a fully saturated solution every time your Osmolator kicks on. Worth the $90 IMO

 

[john.m.cole3]

here's a pic

 

[MPS]

Since I have a 110Gal Mixed reef, it sounds like the best next step is to add a Kalk supplement. I run my ATO directly from the RODI filter to my sump; no ATO reservoir. With that said, I feel like the best approach would be to mix the kalk in a dedicated reservoir and add it via a dosing pump.
Any warnings or validations on this approach?

 

[Greybeard]

tunze kalk dispenser

Loved the idea... but it didn't work out well for me. I've got one, currently unused, in my sump closet. Used it for a year or so. I had problems with it siphoning back into the ATO reservoir, and I found that cleaning it was a pain. The cheap check valve it came with failed quickly... as I kind of expected... a check valve, with undissolved kalk sludge running back into it? Didn't figure it would last. Found a way around that, by moving the height of the dispenser and my ATO reservoir so that it wouldn't siphon. Still, cleaning it was a pain. Needs to have QD hose connections and shut off valves on it, so you can easily pull it out of service and rinse it out. Gotta clean out the old Kalk sludge eventually.

In any case, I'm a Kalk + 2pt kind of a guy. Took the Tunze calcium dispenser out of service, and I just mix up a gallon jug of kalk every week, and dose it via a regular dosing pump. Same dose every day, evenly spread out over the day, regardless of evaporation. I'm also dosing ESV B-Ionic 2pt, in fairly low quantities, and manually dosing ESV Magnesium as needed (rarely).

 

[Greybeard]

I feel like the best approach would be to mix the kalk in a dedicated reservoir and add it via a dosing pump.
Any warnings or validations on this approach?

I switched to this method several months ago. Works out very well for me. Cheap (Coral box) dosing pump, dosing Kalk and 2pt throughout the day. pH, Calcium, Alkalinity are very stable, and easy to tune. Just have to refill my gallon jug of Kalkwasser once a week.

With ANY Kalkwasser dosing system, I recommend a pH monitor, preferably one that can alert you to problems. It's rare that a peristaltic dosing pump would overdose, happily, it's never happened to me, but IF it happens, you're in trouble! My Apex alerts me to high pH, and shuts down the doser. It also shuts off the doser if water level exceeds my high level limit in the sump.