drummereef
Team RC
Ah I see. I didn't realize you had a kalk reactor. That makes sense the way you are going to do it then. Might take some time to play with the levels but it sounds like a solid plan to me.
Aquaph8's 225 Build
- Thread starter aquaph8
- Start date
Ah I see. I didn't realize you had a kalk reactor. That makes sense the way you are going to do it then. Might take some time to play with the levels but it sounds like a solid plan to me.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
That's pretty much how it is now, the problem is that when the evaporation increases or decreases it also effects my Alk
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Ah I see. I didn't realize you had a kalk reactor. That makes sense the way you are going to do it then. Might take some time to play with the levels but it sounds like a solid plan to me.
I'm always a little apprehensive when it comes time to improving upon what's been working for so long. Thanks for your thoughts, I'm gonna shoot for three times per hour like you suggested. Ill wait for the weekend so maybe I can get some much needed cleaning under the stand done at the same time
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
What about mixing it in the actual ato container and keep a small powerhead for circulation and go that route? Just throwing ideas.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
I thought about that but then I would have a perfectly good kalk reactor not getting any love, LOL
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Hahaha, that's all I got. My only excuse is because its there.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
You could always sell it and not feel guilty.
Reef_Noob
New member
Hi Brett,
What I did to measure how much top off was needed daily was I pulled the ATO tubing from sump and dropped it in a bucket for one whole day (24hrs, keep a note of the time) I had to do it 3 times in summer and 3 times during the winter to get an idea on how much water was evaporating.
Usually Kalk is added via top off,,,but if there is too much day to day fluctuation in evaporation the Alk can be affected. But usually the evaporation rate is pretty constant unless there is big change in room temperature (say weather) or if your are adding additional lighting or changing the lighting period.
IMHO measure how much top off water is added to your tank daily...see if there is variations in that.
Or maybe you can start with night time top off with Kalk and during day time just RO top off.
Another thing take Alk measurements at different times of the day. Sometimes if you had made a Alk test just after some Kalk has been dosed then it can give a high value.
Most of all observe your pH and your SPS if they are doing fine then don't tinker
Just putting out some idea...hope it helps buddy.
What I did to measure how much top off was needed daily was I pulled the ATO tubing from sump and dropped it in a bucket for one whole day (24hrs, keep a note of the time) I had to do it 3 times in summer and 3 times during the winter to get an idea on how much water was evaporating.
Usually Kalk is added via top off,,,but if there is too much day to day fluctuation in evaporation the Alk can be affected. But usually the evaporation rate is pretty constant unless there is big change in room temperature (say weather) or if your are adding additional lighting or changing the lighting period.
IMHO measure how much top off water is added to your tank daily...see if there is variations in that.
Or maybe you can start with night time top off with Kalk and during day time just RO top off.
Another thing take Alk measurements at different times of the day. Sometimes if you had made a Alk test just after some Kalk has been dosed then it can give a high value.
Most of all observe your pH and your SPS if they are doing fine then don't tinker
Just putting out some idea...hope it helps buddy.
drummereef
Team RC
I'm always a little apprehensive when it comes time to improving upon what's been working for so long. Thanks for your thoughts, I'm gonna shoot for three times per hour like you suggested. Ill wait for the weekend so maybe I can get some much needed cleaning under the stand done at the same time
Sounds good. Maybe I missed it but what's going to be your "primary" dosing method, Kalk or 2-Part? Should be pretty easy to dial it in if you've decided what your primary method will be. Just aim a little shy of your demand and make up the rest with the second dosing method. The calculator should get you really close either way.
Or as RN suggested... What I might do is, dose Kalk when the lights are OUT and 2-part during the lights ON cycle. That way you can really dial in what your tank needs in 24 hours based upon your light cycle.
drummereef
Team RC
So your 2-part would be considered the primary dosing source, where the Kalk is taking up what's left over. You obviously could continue this, just calculate what's "exactly" needed from your kalk reactor and dose accordingly. Then the ATO will just make up for fresh water loss independent of your dosing.
Raoul5Duke
Active member
I really like your plumbing setup and configuration and am thinking about copying it in a build I plan for later this year. Is there anything you would change about the manifold, 2 y-split returns or the y-split back into your sump? Anything you wish you would have done different now that the tank has been up and running for a while? Thanks.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
I'm gonna play around with it this weekend, I think I have an extra dosing pump laying around somewhere.
Only thing I would change is the valves, the cheap ball valves are hard to adjust.
prop-frags
SPS Slave
Brett,
this is a timely discussion - I'm thinking of much the same set of things right now.
Since moving our Kalk dosing to it's own pump (separating from ATO), it has been tricky to dial things in. So I've been looking at "balling light" method. Have you guys looked into this as well? Obviously, we'd need to do the same set of pre-work here to determine exactly how much alk and Ca is being consumed.
this is a timely discussion - I'm thinking of much the same set of things right now.
Since moving our Kalk dosing to it's own pump (separating from ATO), it has been tricky to dial things in. So I've been looking at "balling light" method. Have you guys looked into this as well? Obviously, we'd need to do the same set of pre-work here to determine exactly how much alk and Ca is being consumed.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Im pretty much doing that now I think except I dose the mag portion manually. M&T aren't you using a calcium reactor at the moment? Are you thinking of taking the reactor off line?My biggest issue with this change is getting it setup initially and not throwing things off too far during the change over.
Raoul5Duke
Active member
Thanks for the reply. Yeah the price tag on the nicer valves is hard to swallow, but I plan on using gate valves for the manifold as I will be running at least 1-2 reactors and possibly a display fuge & frag tank off it. I love the simplicity of the manifold system and using 1 big pump to run everything.
prop-frags
SPS Slave
Yes, thinking of taking the Ca reactor offline. That or possibly adding another chamber to it so that we can reduce the pH-lowering impact it's having. We're having to run the Ca reactor really hard to keep up with all the SPS in the tank and and dosing Kalk can't keep up with the depressed pH effect caused by all the CO2. It's a dilemma I think many big SPS keepers face...I was just thinking that at least with balling we can carefully control all the different additives...
zibba
New member
Interesting conversation and an issue I'm researching to make sure I'm set up properly moving forward. I still haven't pulled the trigger on a kalk reactor, which I'd set up to be dosed through the ATO, for the reasons drummereef pointed out (my evap rate changes) and I can't make a decision on a calcium reactor for the reasons M&T pointed out (I'm struggling with low pH levels). Anyway, carry on!
