Two Part or Kalkwasser

kdtorgy · Nov 22, 2022

I'm fairly new to reefing and have a 30 month old mixed reef tank with some softies, a few LPS and a few SPS. I'm dosing BRS two part (soda ash and calcium chloride) along with magnesium with a Red Sea auto-dose which is working fine but I can't get pH above 7.9 to 8.0, even with a small chaeto fuge and a CO2 scrubber on the skimmer intake. I live in the midwest so opening windows is not an option for about 9 months a year. Tank is in the basement of a new house with 5 people, 2 cats and a dog. I can't run an outside air line due to the location of the tank. I'm wondering if switching from two-part to kalkwasser with the auto doser would be a good idea.

YOYOYOReefer · Nov 22, 2022

whats wrong with your setup, ph of 7.9 to 8 is pretty normal.

kdtorgy · Nov 22, 2022

seems a little low. From what I’ve read 8.3 is optimal but I could be chasing numbers which I know is not a good idea.

stoney7713 · Nov 22, 2022

kdtorgy said:
seems a little low. From what I’ve read 8.3 is optimal but I could be chasing numbers which I know is not a good idea.

Kalk could give you a bit of a boost, but no guarantee, I went from 7.9 to 8.1 with a little bit of Kalk but I have to watch it doesn't boost alkalinity too much, but my tank is still very young.

There are a lot of tanks that sit at 7.9 8.0, they thrive, if what you have works let it ride.

Breadman03 · Nov 22, 2022

Randy posted a thread for a 2 part recipe with higher pH, so I'd look into that as an option as well.

kdtorgy · Nov 22, 2022

There are a lot of recipes I found by him. I’m guessing the alkalinity recipe using sodium hydroxide instead of baking soda is the one to which you are referring?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 23, 2022

kdtorgy said:
I'm fairly new to reefing and have a 30 month old mixed reef tank with some softies, a few LPS and a few SPS. I'm dosing BRS two part (soda ash and calcium chloride) along with magnesium with a Red Sea auto-dose which is working fine but I can't get pH above 7.9 to 8.0, even with a small chaeto fuge and a CO2 scrubber on the skimmer intake. I live in the midwest so opening windows is not an option for about 9 months a year. Tank is in the basement of a new house with 5 people, 2 cats and a dog. I can't run an outside air line due to the location of the tank. I'm wondering if switching from two-part to kalkwasser with the auto doser would be a good idea.

Yes, switching to slow dosed kalkwasser or the sodium hydroxide two part will help with pH a bit.

kdtorgy · Nov 23, 2022

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, switching to slow dosed kalkwasser or the sodium hydroxide two part will help with pH a bit.

Hi Randy, thanks for your input. Someone referred me to your dosing recipes. I'm assuming you are referring to the recipe that uses 283 grams of sodium hydroxide in 1 gallon of water for the alkalinity part and 500 grams of calcium chloride dihydrate for the calcium part?

Hal3134 · Nov 23, 2022

What is your Alk? your pH is within normal range, so I wouldn’t worry if your alk, ca, and mag are all normal.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 23, 2022

kdtorgy said:
Hi Randy, thanks for your input. Someone referred me to your dosing recipes. I'm assuming you are referring to the recipe that uses 283 grams of sodium hydroxide in 1 gallon of water for the alkalinity part and 500 grams of calcium chloride dihydrate for the calcium part?

Yes, this recipe:

Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

In a previous thread, I posted a true two part DIY recipe: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-diy-two-part-recipes-with-higher-ph-boost.344500/ But some folks may want to just swap the new ingredient into my 2/3 part recipe (as used by BRS, for example). Here's the original recipe link...

www.reef2reef.com