Supplemental kalkwasser -- question to the SPS experts

[t5Nitro]

For those of you with kalk reactors, what is the way you prefer to implement them into your system?

I currently dose AFR during the photoperiod, and manually dose some 2-part in the mornings when lights are off since the AFR requirement is getting much higher.

I was thinking of adding a kalk reactor to my next tank. It seems like it might be nice to feed a reactor via a secondary ATO on a timer to run overnight only. I know my sump water level fluctuates a decent bit pending on when I clean out the overflow grates and even cleaning the powerheads in the tank will push more water down and raise the level, so I'm looking to see if there are other methods that might be more reliable that everyone is using.

Maybe a dedicated peristaltic pump to feed a kalk reactor on a timer to run so many minutes every hour? Let me know! Whichever is least likely to fail is ideal. =)

 

[Dburr1014]

I'm no expert but any means, I have SPS that grow well. I have a maxima that's getting pretty big, my tank is mixed.
My Kalk reactor works off my ato. It only runs from 10:30 pm until 1:00p. Off from 1 until 10:30 during the day, so for 9.5 hours no topoff every day. My pH climbs to about 8.4 or so during the day. It starts to dip at 8/9 pm so that 10:30 boost in ph and overnight helps keep it all stable. By morning my pH is about 8.25ish.

But yes, I/sps keepers should be dosing a set amount everyday... But it seems to work for me for now. Parastaltic pump would be a great way to go for dosing Kalk.
How much time all depends on your load and how much other means of dosing isn't able to keep up.

 

[gatorbait01]

I just added a kalk stirrer to my setup just to help out w pH. I'm using a channel on my GHL doser to dose over night. I would go the doser route so your dose is not tied to your evap as it can vary. I'm switching to another dosing pump for kalk only as my GHL only allows 8 individual intervals if your not using a 24hr cycle. I just got a kaomer x1 pro and plan to dose 24 intervals over a 12 hrs period in the evenings. Will see how it goes, as it's definitely improving my pH. Now, I'm currently dosing 2L per day in a 100gal sps system and keeping a close eye on my alk/ca and tweaking my 2 part dosing regiment. Started dosing a week ago.

 

[nereefpat]

Maybe a dedicated peristaltic pump to feed a kalk reactor on a timer to run so many minutes every hour? Let me know! Whichever is least likely to fail is ideal. =)

Yes, that's a good plan. I would almost always suggest running them on a timer/doser rather than tied to an ATO.
You also don't have to involve a kalk reactor/stirrer. You can just mix up a jug of kalk and pump it in with a doser.

 

[t5Nitro]

Ahh good to know. I thought it had to be kept stirring. Thats pretty easy then. Any particular doser or tubing / sizing recommended to avoid frequent occlusion? My AFR gets a hard deposit at the opening of the dosing line that i pinch out about once a week, so if its like that it won't be too bad.

 

[nereefpat]

Ahh good to know. I thought it had to be kept stirring.

The advantage to a stirrer is that you can just dump a ton of CaOH in the bottom and you just add more or clean it out every once in a while, while water is added via ATO or doser. I mix up kalk in a 6 gallon bucket and pump it in on a timer, so I have to do it every 5 days or so.

Any particular doser or tubing / sizing recommended to avoid frequent occlusion? My AFR gets a hard deposit at the opening of the dosing line that i pinch out about once a week, so if its like that it won't be too bad.

Clogging is something to consider. I'm weird. I use a small pump that uses airline tubing. I knock off the deposits at the end as needed, and every once in a while pump vinegar through it to clean it out.

 

[ScottB]

I run a stirrer (Reef Octo 250) with my APEX doser. The DOS pulls water UP from a RODI reservoir and pushes it into the bottom of the stirrer. The stirrer then overflows via gravity into the sump.

The APEX DOS is great for this purpose, as it is so easy to control the rate of flow over time. And so easy to make changes to dial in. Here is my current schedule, and a chart of my pH range. The pH chart may look volatile, but it isn't. Really happy with this setup. No fuss.

Added bonus: this has cut my 2-part dosing from 1/2 liter per day to only 1/4.

 

[dmantz1]

I figured out my daily evaporation rate. Mix up a 5-gallon bucket of kalk and add that amount during my 12-hour lights out period. I use an Apex DOS. PH is between 8.27 and 8.33. My SPS grow like crazy ever since I started this method.

 

[TX_Punisher]

I figured out my daily evaporation rate. Mix up a 5-gallon bucket of kalk and add that amount during my 12-hour lights out period. I use an Apex DOS. PH is between 8.27 and 8.33. My SPS grow like crazy ever since I started this method.

How many tablespoons of kalk would you say you’re adding per gallon of rodI?

ive pretty much got the same setup as Scott. Except I’m not dosing 4000ml/day of my mix. More like 1200.

 

[GarrettT]

It seems like it might be nice to feed a reactor via a secondary ATO on a timer to run overnight only.

Let me know! Whichever is least likely to fail is ideal. =)

Is PH stability your main concern? What about Alk stability? My Alk consumption is much higher during the day than at night.

I run mine off a 50ml/min brs doser for 13mins 12 times a day, so about every 2 hours.

 

[t5Nitro]

Garrett, just looking to maintain alk, something to dose overnight. That's a lot of volume you're dosing. Sounds like it takes a considerable amount more volume to get the same as traditional 2-part?

 

[ScottB]

Garrett, just looking to maintain alk, something to dose overnight. That's a lot of volume you're dosing. Sounds like it takes a considerable amount more volume to get the same as traditional 2-part?

This is totally a back of the envelope calculation that does not account for changes in consumption or variance in kalk saturation levels over time. Still, it will keep you in the same ballpark.

The rough trade off in ALK dosing at 4000ml of kalkwasser, my daily ALK dosing dropped from 240ml to 120ml.

So, 4000 / 120 = 33X.

ESV 2-part ALK solution is about 33X more potent than my average kalkwasser solution.

 

[GarrettT]

You are correct. What’s even more surprising is that I only started adding corals (frags) a few months ago and I’m already reaching my evaporation limit of 2 gallons. If it wasn’t for the PH benefits, I’d just stick to a CaRx. I don’t like having to monitor calcium, so I try to avoid dosing 2 part as much as possible.