So I've been doing this for a while now and one thing that I really not sure if I've been doing right is topping the tank off. When I first started in the hobby I would add my R.O top off and when I would go to check my parameters I would find that my Mg, DKH, & Ca had plummeted. Took me a while but eventually I hit my head and said you dummy you're adding water with a zero value of course its going to drop. My solution, which now I'm second guessing was to get the Mg, DKH, & Ca levels in my top off water to desired levels before adding it to the tank. After doing some more research into this I'm finding people saying how doing that will throw the levels in my tank off. I guess my question is lets say my tank levels for calcium in the tank are 400, if the top off water has a value of 400 there should be no swing right? Same thing if the calcium in the tank is 350, if I have the top off at 400 it will bring the tank values up. I understand I may still have to dose the tank a little bit to keep it at a desired level but this should limit any major parameter swings to some extent, no? Also if the tank was maintaining a Ca value of 400 would doing this have any risk of making levels higher then desired or would it just maintain that level regardless of how much needed to be added throughout the week?
Top off water
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Crabs McJones
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If you're looking to replenish calcium and alk with your top off water, Kalkwasser may be a good option for you. Lets see if we can get some more input from other users and see what they say
If you're looking to replenish calcium and alk with your top off water, Kalkwasser may be a good option for you. Lets see if we can get some more input from other users and see what they say
Reeferdood
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First off....
ATO is nothing more than pure water, do not add the 3 elements to it since they do not evaporate. The only reason they would fall is if you are adding too much water at once, do you use an ATO??
ATO is nothing more than pure water, do not add the 3 elements to it since they do not evaporate. The only reason they would fall is if you are adding too much water at once, do you use an ATO??
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+1 for kalk. How big is your tank? The corraline algae in my tank obliterates calcium to the point if I go a few days without adding some type of supplements, I notice a difference. I like it too much to constantly scrape it out, so dealing with calcium is a constant battle
+1 for kalk. How big is your tank? The corraline algae in my tank obliterates calcium to the point if I go a few days without adding some type of supplements, I notice a difference. I like it too much to constantly scrape it out, so dealing with calcium is a constant battle
First off....
ATO is nothing more than pure water, do not add the 3 elements to it since they do not evaporate. The only reason they would fall is if you are adding too much water at once, do you use an ATO??
As of now what I'm using for my ATO is a dos pump I have it add a gallon over the course of 24 hrs which is right about where my evaporation is at the moment
SPR1968
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+1 to all of the above
The top of water is just to maintain the correct salinity and water levels in the system to replace the evaporated water.
And welcome to R2R as well!
The top of water is just to maintain the correct salinity and water levels in the system to replace the evaporated water.
And welcome to R2R as well!
GoPitt88
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I agree with the above. An ATO is replacing evaporation only. If you have corals consuming those constituents, then you'll need to either dose with Kalkwasser, or 2 Part. Do you have many corals?
By the way, welcome to R2R![emoji16]
By the way, welcome to R2R![emoji16]
DesertReefT4r
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Billldg
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+6 for Kalk, top off water is to replace the water that evaporates leaving the salt behind, Kalk is used to replace the minerals your frags use up in the water. If you want to add supplements another way then your ATO then I would suggest 2 part dosing.
I've finally set the dos pump up to add 1 gallon a day over 24 hours as opposed to dumping a gallon in all at once, tracked it for 2 days now no change in alk or ca. feels really good to learn something new and watch parameters stay stable. Thanks everyone for your good information and inputs.
