Alk and calc in your nano

[patiof]

mrs. patiof and my daughter got me chris brightwell's book on nano aquariums for father's day and i was somewhat surprised to see he did not recommend kalkwasser for maintaining alkalinity and calcium in a nano tank.

instead, he recommended calcium carbonate, which is most likely run through a reactor, although there may be some other ways to implement it.

got me to wondering, what other folks use on their nanos.

in his book, i think he considers nanos 15 gallons or less, but i'm okay with the reef central definition, which is under 30 or 40 iirc.

what methods for maintaining calc and alk in your nano? it would be good to know what kind of tank (softies/mix/lps/sps) you have and the size, but just a vote is appreciated too.

 

[patiof]

crap! i wanted to have an option for calcium carbonate/reactors.

unfortunately i don't seem to have edit my own post privileges yet either.

 

[patiof]

oh, and 10 gallon mixed.

i should go back to bed.

 

[ReefWreak]

It's probably due to the age of his book and lack of widespread 2 part or kalk solution when written.

I'd recommend kalkwasser if you're using an ATO and not growing big SPS colonies like I am. Should be more than enough with an open topped 10g tank.

I have a 29g biocube, and dose about 24mL of each part of 2 part (ESV) per day.

 

[AlSimmons]

I'm using Kalkwasser in the ATO reservoirs for both my 20 gallon tanks, but every now & then I'll have to use baking soda, epsom salt etc to bump the numbers up a little. (mixed reef)

 

[Nano sapiens]

Also using Kalkwasser and have been exclusively for over 30 years (never had to join the "My pH is low" threads)

My 12g is an old mixed reef and I manipulate the lighting to stay just shy of using 100% kalkwasser to avoid the complication of using a second CA/Alk source.

 

[Jixar243]

I use the BRS two part with an automatic doser. I used to manual dose but my alk and cal. swing was too much. I dose 30ml a day of each one.

 

[patiof]

:reading:

just ditched my red sea titration test for alk.

i'm thinking if nothing else, the hanna checker will take my mood out of the equation.

so far, seems like even in a 10 gal, with only one lps, my alk swings way more than i'd have ever suspected it would. :eek2: :hmm4:

 

[ReefWreak]

I would not recommend moving to a hanna alk checker. If you want simple, go with the API alkalinity kit. It's not "precise" but it's good enough, and super simple. They're all titration though.

The alk checkers are useful when you NEED accuracy, like with ultra low-range phosphate (actually use the phosphorous checker for that). For everything else, they're a huge PITA to get working consistently enough to be useful. I have the one for phosphorous, and it's a huge headache to get right. Now, I like being able to measure very very accurately my phosphate levels, but it's likely not worth the cost and effort for most people.