Can I Start Using Kalk?

[Barrier Grief]

My 90 gal. is about 3 months old, and I've had 5 small-med. LPS frags for about 2 months now. Testing Ca/Alk/Mag weekly, and lately have been getting Ca 400-410, Alk 7.0-7.3, Mag ~1400. About a month ago, I started to do weekly 2 part additions to boost levels up to Ca 425, Alk 9, which would generally then drop to about 400-410/7.0-7.3 by the next week, and so on.

I want to start adding kalk via my ATO (evap = 1-1.5 gal/day) in lieu of dosing 2 part, though am unsure if the tank is consuming enough Ca/Alk to do so. Does anyone have any experience/advice on whether this level of Ca/Alk consumption is adequate to begin using kalk, and if so, is .5 tsp/gal a reasonable start point given my situation? If not, is there a rule of thumb to know when I should start kalk?

 

[LISound]

try dosing the 2 part daily to see what your tank is using. I only made the switch to kalk when i was adding over 30ml of each 2 part daily. just makes life a bit easier. i have a new tank set up and am dosing 2 part until i have a good grasp of the tank is using. you will still have to adjust how much kalk goes into top off to get the balance right too. this hobby is never set and forget. some tanks are automated but you still have to test. you get to a point when you can look and notice something is not right. some corals are great indicators for this.
this is all supposed to be fun
i find recording how much my tank consumes in alk and ca, lets me know i'm doing a good job and the corals are growing.

 

[reefnut2012]

IMO you can and should start adding kalk from day one. Its so easy and beneficial there really is no reason not to

 

[bertoni]

As long as the dose rate is slow enough, Kalk should be fine. I'd start with a small dose, like 1 tsp per gallon, and see how that goes.