Should I be using Kalkwasser?

[wvcorals]

Been using Seachem reef Builder to maintain alk. I don’t ever test ph. I do weekly water changes. I don’t dose anything else. I use io reef crystals. Just curious on your thoughts. I have 75g sps dom.

 

[Miami Reef]

7.8-8.5 OK
8.1-8.3 is "better"

Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley

[note: edited on 5/29/2022 to update the nitrate and phosphate sections with higher recommended levels.] One of the main roles of an aquarist with a coral reef aquarium is to ensure that the conditions are right for their tank inhabitants. There are many different attributes of the aquarium...

www.reef2reef.com

Using Kalkwasser is a fine way to add calcium and alkalinity; maintain a more elevated pH.

I think it's important to have a pH pen-style probe with a 2-point calibration so you can know your baseline pH prior to initiating a high pH additive like kalkwasser.

 

[wvcorals]

Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley

[note: edited on 5/29/2022 to update the nitrate and phosphate sections with higher recommended levels.] One of the main roles of an aquarist with a coral reef aquarium is to ensure that the conditions are right for their tank inhabitants. There are many different attributes of the aquarium...

www.reef2reef.com

Using Kalkwasser is a fine way to add calcium and alkalinity; maintain a more elevated pH.

I think it's important to have a pH pen-style probe with a 2-point calibration so you can know your baseline pH prior to initiating a high pH additive like kalkwasser.

I need to pick up a good dosing pump. The guys at brs said not to add Kalk to ato. Thanks for responding. Little nervous about messing with ph

 

[Grill]

Tidal Gardens just released a video about kalk, it should give you some good insight.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Been using Seachem reef Builder to maintain alk. I don’t ever test ph. I do weekly water changes. I don’t dose anything else. I use io reef crystals. Just curious on your thoughts. I have 75g sps dom.

There are many ways to add calcium and alkalinity, and every one of them has its own pros and cons. There's no "should" use method.

I used limewater (kalkwasser in german) for 20 years and think it a fine method, but it is not perfect and you need to understand its limitations, such as slow dosing, solubility limitations, and the pH rise.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

There are many ways to add calcium and alkalinity, and every one of them has its own pros and cons. There's no "should" use method.

I used limewater (kalkwasser in german) for 20 years and think it a fine method, but it is not perfect and you need to understand its limitations, such as slow dosing, solubility limitations, and the pH rise.

Randy I've heard smearing a little kalk paste onto aiptasia is a great way to just have them "melt away" but I have concerns over using it for this use in a 10 gallon nano with a few SPS due to the alk rise...is this a valid concern? Obviously I'd use caution not to kill off too many at once but would just a dab on a few aiptasia every few days cause a dangerous spike? Is this method of killing aiptasia too risky?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy I've heard smearing a little kalk paste onto aiptasia is a great way to just have them "melt away" but I have concerns over using it for this use in a 10 gallon nano with a few SPS due to the alk rise...is this a valid concern? Obviously I'd use caution not to kill off too many at once but would just a dab on a few aiptasia every few days cause a dangerous spike? Is this method of killing aiptasia too risky?

Yes, its a method some use, and yes, it can boost alk and pH substantially in a small tank. You can use a calculator to gauge a worst case scenario when using a fixed amount of solid calcium hydroxide, or you can do one and monitor what happens in the tank water and see how much it is an issue.


You can use this calculator, and enter a volume of 630 mL of limewater (kalkwasser). That is equivalent to using 1 g of dry calcium hydroxide (assuming it all dissolves in the aquarium).

 

[nereefpat]

I need to pick up a good dosing pump. The guys at brs said not to add Kalk to ato.

Generally, it's best to dose kalk with a doser instead of ATO. People do use ATO for kalk though. Keep in mind that you'll have to account for the alk and Ca that kalk adds, so you would have to decrease your reef builder.

 

[wvcorals]

Should I test my ph first? If my ph is stable around 8.2 should I still be using Kalk. When dosing what is the set point...your alk number or ph. Say I want 8.5 dkh do I dose until that number? Can ph go way up at that dkh number? Kalkwasser seems like its for folks that have trouble keeping ph up?

 

[nereefpat]

You need to dose kalk based on alkalinity, not by pH.

If you have stable pH of 8.2, it might not be worth it.

I don't think pH will get to a dangerous high level, as long as your tank has surface agitation. Besides, if it gets too high, it will just precipitate alk and Ca.

Generally, yes, people get interested in kalk for the pH benefits. The other benefits are that it adds Ca and alk in the correct ratio, it's really easy to use, cheap, pretty hard to screw up.

 

[mdb_talon]

Should I test my ph first? If my ph is stable around 8.2 should I still be using Kalk. When dosing what is the set point...your alk number or ph. Say I want 8.5 dkh do I dose until that number? Can ph go way up at that dkh number? Kalkwasser seems like its for folks that have trouble keeping ph up?

The pH impact can be significant but it is also temporary. Assuming you are spreading the dose across the course of the day it is hard to imagine getting too high of a pH. I dose about 4gallon of fully saturated limewater daily(in 250g system). My PH stays around 8.4-8.5. without the kalk my my pH was around 8.1 to 8.4.