Stopped dosing vinigar today

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toejam

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I thought I would start this thread giving me a date to refer back to.

I think I am starving my tank. My nitrates are at zero and my macro is growing nice. So I will see what happens. I have already noticed some coraline growing already.
 
I am using this tiny thing. Rated for 400 gallons I believe.

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I might look into using kalc. I see alot of people using it. My biggest fear is not knowing how much to add. It will change my alkalinity. Maybe use a reactor or just make a 5 gallon bucket and drip it into tank? I dont know, it seems very confusing. Alot of people use it in there top off. I have 2-3 gallons of evaporation a day. I think that much would overdose my tank using this method.
 
  • Salinity: 1.025
  • Temperature: 77 - 81 °
  • Calcium: 400 ppm
  • Alkalinity: 8 - 9 dKh
  • Magnesium: havent checked in awhile, biweekly water changes I guess replenish this
  • Phosphate: 0.03 ppm
  • Nitrate: <3 ppm


I may have a PH issue. Its usually around 7.6-7.9

Kalk would help get me get into the 8 range ph

Now that I stopped dosing vinegar I believe the ph should rise up abit.

Some of my corals started bleaching, I am dumbfounded on whats going wrong. Things go bad so fast.
 
Tidal Gardens
Your pH will effect the corals and cause SPS to bleach. Are you checking carbonate. Carbonate along with calcium is critical for SPS. Carbonate and alkalinity are similar but for reefs you should be checking carbonate. Vinegar will lower pH. You need to get your pH up to 8.3 ish.

I use a calcium reactor on a 500 gallon system. One of the best things I've ever done. If you want to start using kalk, start with a low concentration then work your way up. I too was always confused with how to dose kalk and never did. Went the calcium reactor.

Keep us posted.
 
I dont have any way to test for carbonate. I have been reading up on Kalk and even posted a question here but I am still unsure of its use. I think I will try using a 5 gallon bucket with top off water and add kalk to it. I will turn off my dosing for alk and calc and I guess see what happens.
 
I use Kali top off with vinegar. My pH is 8.25-8.35 and the vinegar helps me keep the Kali super saturated. I mix it, let it settle, and dose the clear liquid as top off. Works very well. Granted my system is small and I only evap. 3/4 gal/day.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
I like the idea of using my RKL in controlling the amount of kalk used. I can set up ph limits like using a calc reactor. So I would have two containers one with ro water the other kalk, both using two ato connected to the controller. If the ph drops below 8 it uses the kalk top off. If its above it uses the ro water. This would keep the ph were I would like it. I have the alk and calc dialed in. I think this setup will make my alk unstable because I cant control how much alk and calc I am adding like with the two part. This is were I get confused.
 
Tested my mag today and read 1050. Why cant they make a salt that has high mag levels. I am going to start adding a cup of mag to my salt for water changes. I also bought some kalk and will start dosing some time this week. I also got a new ph probe.
 
I just make up a gallon of mag using randy's recipe and test mag after a water change and adjust as needed. So recently it was at 1300. I used the reef calculator to figure out how much solution to get me back to 1450 and added it. Next time i get down to 1300 I'll do it again. As far as kalk all you have to do is adjust the concentration in your top off water. I started with i think 2 teaspoons per gallon. It took my alk up to 12 and may cal to lie 600ish. So i started to dial back on how much kalk i put in my top off. Now i put in 6 teaspoons per 5 gallon jug and it keeps my alk right at 10 and call at 450. Kalk will deplete your mag level faster also, so keep that in mind.

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Nutramar Foods
Brett does the calc reactor add mag to the water?
 
From what I've read very little. Dolomite (Calcium Magnesium Carbonate) can be used as a supplement in the reactor to assist with mag.
 
so what does dosing vinigar suppose to do anyhow, ive read about people doing it just never understood what it is for
 
Chewy.com
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
I started my kalk journey today. Iam starting small and will keep a eye on the ph. I have a five gallon bucket with 5 teaspoons of kalk added using my ato. I went from 7.8 today to now 8.1. I now worried about it rising to the point of no return. Took my alk and calc offline. Ill keep you posted here on my results. I never had a tank crash and I hope I can avoid one here. I am also bringing my mag levels back up.
 

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