I checked my 90 gal mixed sps and soft dt which is five mths old w deep sand bed I have a decent cuc and only six fish. When I checked alk two mths ago it was 7 dkh and I dosef nrs two part to get my cal to 450 and alk to7.5. My mag was about 1400 at that time. Dk wwhat mag is cuurently. Startef dosing kalk aftr getting alk and cal whete I wanted. Last nigjt my alk was 5.6 dkh. I am not dosing full strength kalk. Should I start increasing concentration of kalk after I get my alk back to 7.5 dkh? I havent been dosing full strength kalk becauzse I dump it in all at once due to not having an auto top off.
Cause of low alk?
- Thread starter antjtc
- Start date
ReachTheSky
Active member
Kalkwasser is not a good way of buffering calcium or alkalinity on it's own. It's very dilute so you need tons of it. For 90g, you'll need roughly 1.5 gallons of fully saturated limewater to raise alk by 1.4 dKH. A dose like that going in all at once will raise pH to deadly levels.
It's great at helping you maintain those numbers if you top off evaporated water with Kalk water but if you have corals and coralline algae, it will not be enough on it's own. You need to dose 2-part separately or get a calcium reactor.
It's great at helping you maintain those numbers if you top off evaporated water with Kalk water but if you have corals and coralline algae, it will not be enough on it's own. You need to dose 2-part separately or get a calcium reactor.
Thanks for your reply. Just to make sure I understand are you saying if I have coralline algae and corals I cannot rely on kalk to maintain my alk and cal once I gst my alk back up? I was hoping I could rely on kalk for maintenance since I only have a few small sps frags.
Lostinthedark
New member
Look up Randys 2 part and use recipe no 1 for alk. That will help.
ReachTheSky
Active member
You're in the same boat I was in a few months back. I have a 90g tank with only a few small frags and coralline algae. The only thing I used was Kalkwasser and it did not keep up with my tanks demands.
Now I'm using Kalkwasser and two dosing pumps to slowly drip 2-part into my tank. This setup works wonders for me and I would recommend it for you too.
Now I'm using Kalkwasser and two dosing pumps to slowly drip 2-part into my tank. This setup works wonders for me and I would recommend it for you too.
insomniac2k2
Active member
No offense, but I disagree with this advice. Kalkwasser probably has a lot of skin left in the game for the OP. Granted, people need 2 part eventually, but they probably still have made full use out of kalk as an addition as well.
There is still quite a bit more for the OP to do. You can run a kalk stirrer, which is few by your ATO. This will give you full saturation of your kalkwasser entering your tank. Im assuming that since i did not read that you are running your KALK in your topoff water, that you are running it seperatly? If this is the case, you will run a TON more kalkwasser by not running it seperately and solely with your ATO. If that garble needed further explanation, let me know; but I think its self explanatory.
Even if you are not using kalk through a stirrer, you can run vinegar and kalk in your ATO, which will allow you to run 3 TSP per gallon.
All that said, I do agree with the advice about not adding in 1.5g of kalk saturated water all at once. That may cause an unnacceptable PH spike. I wont even go into how you can counter that with vinegar right now
There is still quite a bit more for the OP to do. You can run a kalk stirrer, which is few by your ATO. This will give you full saturation of your kalkwasser entering your tank. Im assuming that since i did not read that you are running your KALK in your topoff water, that you are running it seperatly? If this is the case, you will run a TON more kalkwasser by not running it seperately and solely with your ATO. If that garble needed further explanation, let me know; but I think its self explanatory.
Even if you are not using kalk through a stirrer, you can run vinegar and kalk in your ATO, which will allow you to run 3 TSP per gallon.
All that said, I do agree with the advice about not adding in 1.5g of kalk saturated water all at once. That may cause an unnacceptable PH spike. I wont even go into how you can counter that with vinegar right now
If I had ATO, I would try using fully saturated Kalkwasser. Many tanks consumed 2-3 dKH per day, though, so Kalkwasser often isn't enough even so. A 2-part or a calcium reactor are common options to supplement Kalk, and those are probably what I'd consider for this system.
insomniac2k2
Active member
The good news is that the OP only lost 1.4 dkh in 2 months, and is not using anywhere near full doses of kalk (assumption based on OP's post). Something tells me that some kalk adjustments will do the trick for quite some time.
ReachTheSky
Active member
If I'm not mistaken, I believe once Calcium or Alkalinity reach a certain low point, growth rates of corals and coralline get severely stunted and consumption fall exponentially as a result. Maybe a more experienced aquarist can clarify on this.
From my experience, my reef consumes roughly 1.5-2.0 dKH per day providing the levels are normal (8-11 dKH). Once alkalinity hits 7.0 dKH, it takes a few weeks for it to fall even further down to 6.4 dKH.
From my experience, my reef consumes roughly 1.5-2.0 dKH per day providing the levels are normal (8-11 dKH). Once alkalinity hits 7.0 dKH, it takes a few weeks for it to fall even further down to 6.4 dKH.
