BUILDING A DREAM....SPS Dominated Tank build

[aquaph8]

I would think with that low of a demand and seeing as your ph is steady(meant to say good), oh and plus since you are carbon dosing, id go with a 2 part over the kalk reactor. Thats just my opinion. I would love to use kalk alone in my tank due to having low ph and no carbon dosing(Its easy to see alk rise pretty high with kalk and swing if not controlled precisely) but it wont meet demand plus my evap isnt predictable. SPS are a bit too finicky to have no control over cal and alk. Thats my view anyhow.

Noob, I agree with Chris. I love kalk but I also have low PH. If I were to run kalk on your tank I would have it on a timer and only run it at night. That way your getting the Ph boost only when you need it. DKH of 7 isn't too bad though. If your carbon dosing its about right.

 

[Reef_Noob]

I would think with that low of a demand and seeing as your ph is steady(meant to say good), oh and plus since you are carbon dosing, id go with a 2 part over the kalk reactor. Thats just my opinion. I would love to use kalk alone in my tank due to having low ph and no carbon dosing(Its easy to see alk rise pretty high with kalk and swing if not controlled precisely) but it wont meet demand plus my evap isnt predictable. SPS are a bit too finicky to have no control over cal and alk. Thats my view anyhow.

Hiya Chris,
Totally agree with you. My inexperience with Kalkwasser dosing and SPS being sensitive to swings is one reason I'm hesitant to try Kalk dosing. But I may give it a try once demand is high in my system. Thanks a lot for the input
Il stick to 2 part for a while.

 

[Reef_Noob]

Hey reef noob! I just read through the whole thread and great tank. I originally wanted just a full blown SPS tank but I can't help it I love the LPS in the sand, I think I will always do mixed reef tanks. That sun coral must look amazing when it comes out to eat. As for your question, I dose Kalk through an auto-top tunze osmolator and had great success in keeping alk stable after you figure out the consumption rate. I have yet to try out a kalk reactor so I'm sure others will chime in. I'm sure you'll want to gradually dose alk up to where you want it, then the reactor can help keep it stable as long as your other params are in check, especially magnesium. I also have to dose two-part to keep up with the consumption rate so my kalk dosing is just to lessen any swings.

hello TucanSam007 :wavehand:
Thanks a lot for your kind compliments....a real motivation booster for me...Thanks!!
I am in 100% agreement with you...i love LPS and always lookin out for some variant out of ordinary pieces and il sure get em...i think i still have more spaces on my sand bed...hehehe
The sun coral..lot of mouths = demanding to feed...but i usually dose some frozen mysis over the mouths once the lights are out and they open to feed...i am doing this twice a week. So far so good. some might think its insufficeint, but i have a freind who has been keeping this coral, a larger colony with this twice a week feeding regimen for almost 6 years and the coral is a very happy one. so i am following this regimen, and more over i cant affort to pollute my tank coz i wanna keep the nutrients low.

Thanks a lot for your input regarding my Kalk Reactor query
2 part dosing is the road i am gonna take for now and as the demand becomes more il hook up the Kalk Reactor setup. I will need to work out a precise equation on demand - dosing ratio first.

Aprreciate that you had gone through my humble thread

 

[Reef_Noob]

Het Noob!

Congratulations for your wonderful reef, everything was planned with precision! Awesome fishes and your corals are really beautifull! The landscape is very original and your sps colonies are in very good shape!!! It´s a long thread but it was worthy to read everything!

Congratulations again...

Hails from Brazil

D.

Heyyy Daniel...
Thanks buddy for viewing and going thru my thread....and your compliments mean a lot too...
Keeping SPS is a challenge, every day is a new day and cant slack on the husbandry....no pain no gain right

I am super glad that you found my thread worthy and you spend time goin thru it

Thanks again for visiting and you are always welcome to add your suggestions and comments

:beer:

 

[Reef_Noob]

Noob, I agree with Chris. I love kalk but I also have low PH. If I were to run kalk on your tank I would have it on a timer and only run it at night. That way your getting the Ph boost only when you need it. DKH of 7 isn't too bad though. If your carbon dosing its about right.

Hello Brett...
Thanks so much for the input.
I agree with you and Chris on holding off on Kalk dosing...main reason my pH looks stable for the moment. And i will keep in mind your advice on dosing Kalk to top off night time evaporation.

My Alk was 8dkh to start with and its gradually been dropping to 7 dkh...my SPS did look better when it was at 8dkh. Thats one of the reasons i wanna keep it stable at 8
A second reason is 8dkh is the ideal Alk, for ZeoVit dosing...ahemmm i am contemplating on that....just a notion for the future

 

[Reef_Noob]

Alkanity 7.4 dkh as of today...
This is what's been helping (1 week's dosing)...Alk is raising and pH has been rock solid with no fluctuation...whewww

 

[chrishayes]

Hey noob...just a thought. REading through your thread for awhile now I see you are jumping back and forth between system management types while not being decisive on your alk/cal replacement. This may be troublesome for you going forward. I know you are a smart man and hope that you arent jumping from this suppliment to that, over and over again!

I suggest just picking one . Especially the cal/alk maintenence. You can make any one of them work. If you go with 2 part and choose to dose manually, using kalk would be a great way to keep hourly swings to a minimum by just using it in your topoff and using the controller to stop topoffs if ph gets too high. Or, you could just use the kalk period but some way of controlling its addition is needed imo. Testing time to dial it in is tough plus you will likely run up on its limiting factor sooner than later, if not already there. What happened to the balling system you were gonna run? I cant imagine it would be anymore difficult to use. Just bump your parameters to where you want them then test 24 hours later. REcord your numbers, bump them back up again. 24hrs, test, record, bump. do this for several days to get a good average. Use your tested numbers along with the online calculator numbers youve used to bump your numbers then dose that amount each day, test at the end of a week to see if your dosing amount is gonna work. Adjust as neccesary. simpler than it sounds...

As to the zeo, vodka, biopellets, neozeo route, thats a personal choice but one that should be made at the outset of a system again, imo. It helps to tailor your decisions towards all aspeects of system design and implimentation. Know what I mean? So come on man, man up and choose your destiny, grasshopper! lol

Good luck bro!

 

[jbanks]

Love your tank Noob.. The aquascape is awesome. One of the more original ones that I have seen in a while. You're getting some great suggestions here from the above posters related to Kalk.. I use it on my tank full-time for auto topoff and it has to be one of the best additives I have ever implemented. As long as you can control it and there are fail-safes, it can't be beet for it's benefits. It's such a great way to keep you PH up, bind phosphates, and help to keep your cal and alk in check.. In the beginning, it can be used alone, but using two part IMO or a CR is much better due to the extra benefits of the trace elements you get with those methods.. Now that my tank has started to really grow out, I can see the benefits of supplementing my calcium reactor with Kalk.. I can visually see a difference the higher Ph makes with the florescence in my corals. As for auto-topoff, It's my oppinion that that is the way to dose Kalk in order to keep things stable. The thought here is that your tank evaportes water at a pretty consistent rate and changes when the seasons change.. As long a you are using a perastaltic type pump for your topoff, which will slowly top you rsystem off, there should be no concernable spikes to your PH and/or your Alk and it takes away alot of the headaches of guessing what the exact amount of Kalk should be. Fails safes are key as with many things in this hobby... I use a liquid level controler to turn on my topoff. That liquid level controller has two very accurate float mechanisms.. one to turn the topoff pump on when the sump evaporates below a certain level and one to shut the topoff pump down should the water in the sump get too high and/or if the first float switch fails and allows the topoff pump to continue running...

However you decide to go, best wishes!.. I'm looking forward to the ride!

 

[REEF SMAC]

Gotta agree with jbanks' post above. Kalk for auto top off has been great for me as well. Having it set up to be regulated by your PH controller is the only way to go IMO. This way your kalk is automatically added at night when your PH is already naturally lower. Works great to keep your PH stable day and night. It's dependent on what your evaporation rate is, it's cheap, and will definately help with ALK.

 

[jpsika08]

Good luck with the Alk Nup.

Also a two part system using a doser is a good idea, as you introduce more inhabitants into your tank, these elements consumption will be higher, so keep testing your water when introducing fish and corals in order to guarantee levels are met each time you dose

 

[Reef_Noob]

Hey noob...just a thought. REading through your thread for awhile now I see you are jumping back and forth between system management types while not being decisive on your alk/cal replacement. This may be troublesome for you going forward. I know you are a smart man and hope that you arent jumping from this suppliment to that, over and over again!

I suggest just picking one . Especially the cal/alk maintenence. You can make any one of them work. If you go with 2 part and choose to dose manually, using kalk would be a great way to keep hourly swings to a minimum by just using it in your topoff and using the controller to stop topoffs if ph gets too high. Or, you could just use the kalk period but some way of controlling its addition is needed imo. Testing time to dial it in is tough plus you will likely run up on its limiting factor sooner than later, if not already there. What happened to the balling system you were gonna run? I cant imagine it would be anymore difficult to use. Just bump your parameters to where you want them then test 24 hours later. REcord your numbers, bump them back up again. 24hrs, test, record, bump. do this for several days to get a good average. Use your tested numbers along with the online calculator numbers youve used to bump your numbers then dose that amount each day, test at the end of a week to see if your dosing amount is gonna work. Adjust as neccesary. simpler than it sounds...

As to the zeo, vodka, biopellets, neozeo route, thats a personal choice but one that should be made at the outset of a system again, imo. It helps to tailor your decisions towards all aspeects of system design and implimentation. Know what I mean? So come on man, man up and choose your destiny, grasshopper! lol

Good luck bro!

The jumping is mainly a mental thing...i am still sticking with the 2 part dosing and thats all i am doing now and not mixing up nething else.
It is working for me and parameters are stablized except for the Alk, i do feel it can be adjusted quite easily by the 2 part. I am currently dosing the Brightwel Aquatics Alk supplement and it is getting my Alk up gradually.
To be honest the indecision is mainly due to the fact that i am gonna try something new ( Kalk Reactor/Balling) and the fear of the unknown is causing the jitters I dont wanna ruin everything with something i am not sure of...thats all. All that said i am slowly edjing towards Kalk dosing (via top off at night) cause of its advantages long term. I will, once the demand increases.

Balling is something i really wanna try out...but need to gather more info on that before i do any damage. If i am gonna start balling method then il be stoppin the 2 part dosing, and Balling with be automated and never gonna do it manually. So there will be need for more investment :uhoh3:

Yes is do agree its better to have started with the Zeo method at the outset itself....i seriously was considering that...but grasshopped on that
As for ZeoVit its something for the future....we all need something to dream about right? And "variety is the spice of life" right

Thanks again for the input

 

[Reef_Noob]

Love your tank Noob.. The aquascape is awesome. One of the more original ones that I have seen in a while. You're getting some great suggestions here from the above posters related to Kalk.. I use it on my tank full-time for auto topoff and it has to be one of the best additives I have ever implemented. As long as you can control it and there are fail-safes, it can't be beet for it's benefits. It's such a great way to keep you PH up, bind phosphates, and help to keep your cal and alk in check.. In the beginning, it can be used alone, but using two part IMO or a CR is much better due to the extra benefits of the trace elements you get with those methods.. Now that my tank has started to really grow out, I can see the benefits of supplementing my calcium reactor with Kalk.. I can visually see a difference the higher Ph makes with the florescence in my corals. As for auto-topoff, It's my oppinion that that is the way to dose Kalk in order to keep things stable. The thought here is that your tank evaportes water at a pretty consistent rate and changes when the seasons change.. As long a you are using a perastaltic type pump for your topoff, which will slowly top you rsystem off, there should be no concernable spikes to your PH and/or your Alk and it takes away alot of the headaches of guessing what the exact amount of Kalk should be. Fails safes are key as with many things in this hobby... I use a liquid level controler to turn on my topoff. That liquid level controller has two very accurate float mechanisms.. one to turn the topoff pump on when the sump evaporates below a certain level and one to shut the topoff pump down should the water in the sump get too high and/or if the first float switch fails and allows the topoff pump to continue running...

However you decide to go, best wishes!.. I'm looking forward to the ride!

Hiya Jonathan...

Wow to get a compliment like that from ya its really a BIG plus for my efforts and i really thank ya for that.
As for Kalk dosing, i am definately taking your advice on it and yes i am planning to dose it to top off evaporated water, set on a timer to come on at night.
I do have all the necessary stuff before hand itself(you can see from the pic below which i posted when i started my thread , as i always knew i will be ultimately going the Kalk route coz of all the benefits you had mentioned

You definately are doing it right..using a Calcium Reactor in combo with Kalk dosing is the one of the best practices...and boy your reef is living proof to it.
I fully agree with your advice and i will definately follow it up...and also installing the fail safe mech to prevent an overdose.

Thanks again for your kind encouragement to me and my build....and its great you are following my reefing ride

 

[Reef_Noob]

Gotta agree with jbanks' post above. Kalk for auto top off has been great for me as well. Having it set up to be regulated by your PH controller is the only way to go IMO. This way your kalk is automatically added at night when your PH is already naturally lower. Works great to keep your PH stable day and night. It's dependent on what your evaporation rate is, it's cheap, and will definately help with ALK.

Hi REEF SMAC
So another vote from you too to good ol Kalk.
Definitely another push for me to go the Kalk way.
And yes il be working forward in that direction.
Thanks and appreciate your input and suggestions.
:wave:

 

[Reef_Noob]

Good luck with the Alk Nup.

Also a two part system using a doser is a good idea, as you introduce more inhabitants into your tank, these elements consumption will be higher, so keep testing your water when introducing fish and corals in order to guarantee levels are met each time you dose

Hey Juan!
Nice to hear from ya buddy.
Yes I think the Alk swing is due to increase in bioload and I was pretty much expecting it. But I'm not panicking yet coz seems to be in control. Iv also started feeding TLF Reef Snow, coz Prodibio can strip a tank of nutrients.
I'm gradually bringing Alk up hoping not to stress the SPS.
I will be listening to everyone's advice regarding Kalk dosing. So next will be installing my Kalk Reactor setup.

 

[chrishayes]

Hey noob! Yeah, thats what I thought. Mental gymnastics in this game is common, I knew you were smart enough not to try all those moves out in person!

I just dont see how balling could be so different from 2 part. I mean its basically the same things plus trace elements and a splash of voodoo right? lol

Hey, this is personal I guess, but im not trying to say anything negative. Just an observation, you seem to be on here a lot like I am which means you might be at home a lot of the time, again, like me...two part by hand is SUCH an easy way to maintain alk/cal. IF your around a lot, split your doses in 1/3rds or hell, be a human dosing pump and add .25ml every 10 minutes if you are really bored! lol

I think using your kalk reactor as a suppliment to whatever method of supply is best. Take it from me, its TOUGH to constantly clean out an ato container from using kalk in it! So you are on the right track, use a timer along with your ato if you want. as long as you are dosing it at night and have a control on not putting too much in at once(you saw from my thread what happens when you use too much, I consider myself lucky I never lost anything) then youre golden!

What about using a timer on you your ato? I dont know if you can get a timer thatll let you do multiple on/off sequences but im sure you can. Forgive me, I dont remember if you have a controller? anyhow, set the timer for nightime to come on for 10 minutes or so depending on how many ml/min your pump does, for several hours throught the night. This would take care of your topoff plus since youll be topping off through your kalk stirrer at timed increments you dont have to worry about it dosing too much at once, while still topping off enough to meet evap...its a cheap simple "controller".

Whats your current cal/alk drop per day? if you know this then calcualte how many tsp to add. Ohhhh, wait. I realized something. With the stirrer, its all or nothing right? its always saturated correct? dang, so basically nevermind to all I just wrote! Youll have to use a ph controller to use it properly I would think unless demand was so high that using saturated kalk isnt enough to meet demand. Sorry, ive never used a stirrer...all the above was assuming using settled kalk in a container.

 

[Reef_Noob]

Hey noob! Yeah, thats what I thought. Mental gymnastics in this game is common, I knew you were smart enough not to try all those moves out in person!

I just dont see how balling could be so different from 2 part. I mean its basically the same things plus trace elements and a splash of voodoo right? lol

Hey, this is personal I guess, but im not trying to say anything negative. Just an observation, you seem to be on here a lot like I am which means you might be at home a lot of the time, again, like me...two part by hand is SUCH an easy way to maintain alk/cal. IF your around a lot, split your doses in 1/3rds or hell, be a human dosing pump and add .25ml every 10 minutes if you are really bored! lol

I think using your kalk reactor as a suppliment to whatever method of supply is best. Take it from me, its TOUGH to constantly clean out an ato container from using kalk in it! So you are on the right track, use a timer along with your ato if you want. as long as you are dosing it at night and have a control on not putting too much in at once(you saw from my thread what happens when you use too much, I consider myself lucky I never lost anything) then youre golden!

What about using a timer on you your ato? I dont know if you can get a timer thatll let you do multiple on/off sequences but im sure you can. Forgive me, I dont remember if you have a controller? anyhow, set the timer for nightime to come on for 10 minutes or so depending on how many ml/min your pump does, for several hours throught the night. This would take care of your topoff plus since youll be topping off through your kalk stirrer at timed increments you dont have to worry about it dosing too much at once, while still topping off enough to meet evap...its a cheap simple "controller".

Whats your current cal/alk drop per day? if you know this then calcualte how many tsp to add. Ohhhh, wait. I realized something. With the stirrer, its all or nothing right? its always saturated correct? dang, so basically nevermind to all I just wrote! Youll have to use a ph controller to use it properly I would think unless demand was so high that using saturated kalk isnt enough to meet demand. Sorry, ive never used a stirrer...all the above was assuming using settled kalk in a container.

:wavehand: Hi Chris,

If you ask me even i feel both are similar...but Balling is much popular in Europe...maybe its just an European thing But i feel there are some subtle differences in the contents by different manufacturers or maybe just voodoo. But it is a tried and tested method. Not an expert here thats why the mental gymnastics

Me online most of the time is thanks to 3G and Mr. Steve Job's invention the iPhone :lol2: thats how i get to be on and about in RC. But i feel i should respond as soon as i can to you and everyone who finds time in this busy busy world to post a comment or compliment in this thread of mine. I value each and everyones words. Responding to the comments in a timely manner is one way i can show gratitude, right?

As you had said ".25ml every 10 minutes" thats the best way to go about in dosing the additives and hence automation is the most viable choice save you time and also help out when you are out of station.

About the ATO i do have this setup, just to refresh:

This ATO system comes built in with a fail safe mechanism:
1) Its got two float valves
2) Its got a built in "time out" which are those tiny tabs you can see, that helps to control the maximum minutes the ATO pump can remain ON in one fill up session. So incase both the float valves fail, the whole top off water in the container doesnt get dumped into the sump.

If ya see my pic in post #352 (above) i will be using the Aquamedic Niveaumat Dosing pump hooked up with the Kalkwasser reactor for the dosing. And the whole setup controlled by my pH controller.
Hooking up Kalk dosing limited to top off night time evaporation can be achieved by connecting the dosing pump to a timer which comes ON at night. Digital timers can be setup to come on/off multiple time daily.

:beer:

 

[Reef_Noob]

I did post this flow chart in one of my very early posts (#74) for my idea/plan :idea: of the Kalk Reactor setup...il repost again....welcoming suggestions everyone.
Hope its not too confusing lol...:hammer:

Auto top up "“ Kalk Dosing Set up"¦

Planning to start up the Kalkwasser Reactor to dose Kalk water to replace evaporated water.

Equipments to be used in the automated dosing set up:
1) Kalkwasser Reactor (SI-AM Ocean)
2) Auto top up system with two float valves (GInkosea)
3) Niveaumat Dosing pump with single float valve (Aquamedic)
4) pH Controller
5) Plastic balloon float valve with an independent direct RO/DI water line

The auto top system has two float valves, one of the float valve is placed slightly higher on the float valve holder as a fail safe mechanism.
The Dosing pump is connected to auto top up system and the float valve of the dosing pump is attached marginally higher to the 2nd float valve of the auto top box. The input of the dosing pump to the RO/DI water reservoir and the output of the dosing pump to the Kalkwasser Reactor (follow the green arrow)
The auto top up system is in turn connected to the pH controller, which is set to switch off power if the pH reaches 8.5

Please refer to diagram"¦

How this works?

The idea of having 3 float valves (2 of the Auto top up system and 1 of the Dosing pump) is to have a fail safe mechanism in case any of the float valve fails.
The pH controller is set to switch off the auto top up system if the pH reaches 8.5, this is to prevent over dosing of Kalk water and prevent a pH spike.
A plastic balloon float valve with an independent direct RO/DI line is attached to the sump and the float will be at the same level as the 1st float valve of the auto top up system - this will take over topping up with RO/DI water direct to sump and maintain water level in case the pH had reached 8.5and the controller cuts the power supply to the auto top up box.

What do ya guys think about this idea?

Suggestions welcome"¦

 

[chrishayes]

Dude, with that system, why are you even putting on a leotard(wifes a gymnast! hehe)!? That is one of the nicest kalk maintenece setups Ive seen! Go for it man, nothing to stop you now. Geez I gotta pay better attention...its hard to keep everyones threads straight in my mind! Getting old I guess.

Only thing to deal with now is implementing the system, testing and tweaking. Should keep ya busy for a few days!

Oh and I always forget about smart phones...mines only got a 4th grade education. Wifey and I are going phone shopping today, may end up with one of those fancy phones I guess as its probably all thats available anymore. I swear Im one of the only genx'ers that doesnt have techy toys like that. Hell it took me 3 years to give up my no texting stance! Good luck bud, that system looks idiot proof which sure comes in handy to folks like me!

 

[Bello]

Wow Noob, that's a really thorough ATO/Kalk plan!!

Nice build, with tons of interesting stuff! Should look awesome when mature.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did the ATO cost locally?

 

[Sittichai]

Love to see another tank from Thailand here, perhaps i post mine too. But that will be after the great flooding in Thailand is over.