can someone shed some light in simple terms on the best method for dripping kalk into your tank…
i have a sump/fuge…so i believe that would be the best place to drip it right? and because of the pH i should drip at night? i have a kent doser that i set up at night to drip phyto that i plan on using for this…
i really dont need to do it right now i dont think, but my tank is slowly growing more sps/lps and i would just like to get some more info on this for now…
i was reading the instructions on the kent marine container but it seemed a little more complicated on there than it should be.
but i was reading that you should be able to accurately measure your pH before dripping calc…should i have the pH reader first of just dose lightly till i get it down…
Be a good Idea to have some kinda moniter, tried to find pics of mine. Mine has a moniter that doses 2 part to raise ph when it falls, but it also shows what the ph is through a digital display
Do you have decent Ca, Mg, and Alk test kits? It would be much better to have an idea of how much kalk you really need rather then just adding little bits figuring it’s low. I would purchase a pH monitor first.
That being said don’t let the reading on the pH meter send you into a panic or have you do anything dramatic quickly. Once your Ca, Mg, Alk, and pH are at more ideal ranges most of your corals will brighten up and grow A LOT faster. That being said if nothing is on it’s way out now and you are not having major issues dosing too quickly or too much could throw things off and give you problems. Take it slow make little adjustments and test frequently.
I work on plenty of tanks where I knew the chemistry is pretty far off, but things continue to survive and something things grow at a decent rate. If I’m only able to work on the tank once every two months then I usually can’t trust that anyone else will be able to test the tank or know when or how much to dose. You can go with the statement if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but at the same time I have to repeat what I said earlier, once your chemistry is at more ideal ranges most of your corals will brighten up and grow A LOT faster.
i really dont have a lot of corals that are stripping out the calc, but im adding more each week it seems like and gettin rid of my softies…
i just cant really keep my alk down which is bothering me…by down i mean i cant consistently keep it around the level i would like…it always seems low…ill have to test when i go home today to get some exact numbers up…
everything else tho seems on, calc, mag, an ph, i never seem to have problems with. probley because of my water change schedule that i stick to.
i want to look into buying a nice controller next that i can use now, and expand in the future as my needs grow/change.
:TWOCENTS Ive think ive tried at least everything once. Ive done the chemistry dance that Jon is talking about and it was a disaster. Im not saying that dosing is a bad thing, but if you do, it needs to be very consistent. I know we have members that dose kalkwasser, and i built a reactor and gave it a shot for about 6 months and i would never do it again. Personally, i think kalk reactors are best used in conjunction with a Ca reactor and are not very effective on their own. To answer your question, there are three different devices you can use to read PH. There are simply PH “probe” readers like the one by hannah instruments that are designed to turn on, read, turn off. Then there are PH monitors that will give you a constant display for the value of your PH. Then there are PH controllers which is a monitor that you can set high and low range values for that will switch an electrical outlet when the PH is outside of this preset range.
I guess the question is why do you feel like you need to dose kalk? what parameter(s) are you hoping to effect? how big is your tank?
everything else tho seems on, calc, mag, an ph, i never seem to have problems with. probley because of my water change schedule that i stick to.
dont change a thing! what your doing is probably the best possible thing you can do.
im not a chemist. ive read a lot of articles on the subject so i dont need links to more if anyone thinks my statement is inaccurate but dripping kalk lowered my alk. i used a Ca reactor and the effluent was always very high Alk, very low PH which is normal for these reactors. some adjustments can be made with a second chamber of medium, but a lot of people drip kalkwasser instead. it may be that this effect is unique because of the high Alk and it wont lower a normal Alk level, i dont know, but it did nothing to stablize my Alk or increase my Ca. Kalkwasser did, however, raise and stabilize my PH but i didnt notice a difference in my tank.
Dripping kalk will raise your alk (and Ca!). If it doesn’t you can add vinegar into your kalk mix and it will raise your alk (and Ca).
Edit: I’ll add the words IME, here, but there are many sources out there. Just keep in mind, what happens in my tank or what happens in someone elses tank doesn’t mean that is what is going to happen in your tank.
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:13, topic:2351”]
im not a chemist. ive read a lot of articles on the subject so i dont need links to more if anyone thinks my statement is inaccurate but dripping kalk lowered my alk.[/quote]
Im glad I’m not the only one… I’m not sure if it was perciptating right out or what, but everytime I tried to dose Kalk my Alk would drop. Kinda counter productive. Now I just use baking soda.
i was just under the impression kalk is really good if used correctly…and it would correct my alk issues, but it looks like it could throw the other parameters out of wack…
i want to go mostly sps/lps and i know alk in conjunction with the other parameters is very important…i know a while ago logan i was saying i wanted to start keeping sps, and you told me to practice keeping everything consistent first…and i have got it down now, its just the alk that i cant get right for some reason?
my stonies are doing fine…but i know i can make my water quality better…thats why i also think i really need to make this phosban reactor…or just buck up and buy one…
i know a while ago logan i was saying i wanted to start keeping sps, and you told me to practice keeping everything consistent first...
that was the advice i was given when i first started with SPS and it took me a while to have faith in it. there is just so much bad advice out there that i was under the impression that the only way i could have a thriving SPS tank is if my paramters were NSW levels. to achieve this i did a lot of the things you are compteplating doing with the gadgets. i had GFO, Carbon, Ca Reactor, Kalk reactor etc. Everytime i added one gadget, i needed another to compensate for it ;D I spent so much time adjusting levels to try and make them perfect that i never experienced really good results. Good salt and frequent water changes will keep your parameters where you need them and give you a VERY stable tank. On smaller tanks this method should work well with only the occasional dosing to keep things on track. On larger tanks its not nearly as feasible and reactors are probably necessary because of the costs and labor associated with a more passive method. Most people have seen the SPS growth i get, and here are my average parameters over the last 6 months.
The only thing i do is WCs and dose TM Bio Calcium occasionly to boost my Ca levels. I dont even own any other supplements other than TM ionic trace supplement that i rarely dose because im lazy ;D
Bellamy - I feel so much better:) Ive said this before and people tell me im crazy and then give me a link to a Farley article ;D I know what kalk is supossed to do chemically, but for me it ALWAYS lowered my Alk and did nothing for my Ca. I used my kalk reactor with and without my Ca reactor but the results were the same for me. I should mention though, that my Alk was very high to begin with and the kalk lowered it to where it probably should have been. It nevered dropped below 8 or 9 but was around 12-14 without it. Maybe if your alk is consistently low it can bring it up, but that was never an issue for me.
I use it in my top off with an ATO on the 95g. The main reason I use it is to keep my Ph from dropping too low at night. My house is so well sealed up when the windows are closed the c02 buildup is too high. Without kalk my Ph will get as low as 7.6. I don’t know for sure just how bad that is for the corals long term, but I don’t like seeing it drop below 7.8. I don’t rely on the kalk to maintain my calc, alk, or mag, I use 3 part for that.
I think there are better ways to supplement the big three, but if you just want to keep your Ph up Kalk works well.
The main reason I use it is to keep my Ph from dropping too low at night. My house is so well sealed up when the windows are closed the c02 buildup is too high
now that is something that i know plays a big part in PH! I didnt realize how much of a role this played until this last spring. My PH hovers around 7.8 but when i opened my windows and doors this spring it shot up to 8.2-8.3 and stayed there the entire time. A lot of people modify their skimmer setup to pull in fresh air from outside. It can make a HUGE difference if its possible in your scenario.