Time to Dose Yet?

[ReeferNoob4ever]

My tank is a little over 100 days old. At first, CA and kh were 450ppm and 9.5dkh. After a month CA and kh changed to 420ppm and 9dkh. Now I'm finding CA and kh to be at 400 and 8dkh. My notion is that this is due to growth factors within the tank such as CA and bicarbonate absorbtion by the inhabitants.

My question is : How do I know when to start using kalkwasser in my top off and how much?

Thanks!

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

FYI I do 15% weekly water changes in a 20 gallon...

 

[Maggie321]

Following because I would like to know also

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[Johnnybgood74]

Following because I would like to know also

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I had the same problem 210g tank barely 1yr old did water changes religiously but my Calc and alk were low. I don't have but a few corals....to be honest tank really isn't all that great to look at just yet...but I added an apex and the atk from neptune and at the direction of my LFS use a 5 gallon bucket with kalk Wasser in it and my levels are now 440calc and Dkh of 8 and stable pH never drops below 8.2hasn't gotten higher than 8.4 and the coraline algae is growing like mad...


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[Kadee]

Kalk will maintain your alk but it will not raise it. You need to start kalk when you have your parameters where you want them (alk and Ca). BRS has a great write up on their website of how to use kalkwasser. I use mine through my ato. Kalk will raise your ph slightly. If your Ca is where you want it but your alk is low, you can use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water to raise your alk based on the calculator that BRS provides on their website. If you find that both your alk and Ca is low, then you can use 2 part to maintain your levels. BRS has a lot of good info here
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator/
If you look up kalkwasser on their page, they give a lot of good info on their bulk kalkwasser of how to mix, quantity, etc....

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

I do like BRS. I think 8dkh is fine but preferred 420ppm for ca. I have been thinking it's time to add kalkwasser. Im noticing a burst in coraline growth plus my birds nest and Monti are growing fast also. Even my snails are getting bigger. My pH seems to be stuck at 8.3 =)

Would you recommend kalkwasser over changing from IO to RC?

 

[Kadee]

I have been using RC and am happy with it. I am not dosing anything else besides the kalk once I got my alk stabilized with bicarbonate soda solution. My alk runs from 8.4 to 8.6 (tested daily), Ca = 440-460 and Mg is 1500+(tested weekly). I do a 10% wc every week.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

I'm going to try a larger water change next time, maybe 25% and see if that helps. My tank is so small I actually never really thought I'd have to do more than just water changes.

 

[SycoCell]

I started dosing when I added my first coral and fish. It's cheap. It's easy. It's stable. I have a 120dt.

I bought the Jebao doser and brewed up some Calc, Alk, and Mag from the BRS 2-part stuff. It's simple. My parameters haven't changed an ounce over the past 9 months.. I couldn't imagine any other way. Then again, I am a commercial pilot so I rely on my Apex and automation to handle my tank duties. DO IT!

 

[Kadee]

I was doing larger water changes (20-25%) and having a lot of trouble balancing my parameters. My water changes are only intended to replace the weekly consumed minerals. If you take out 25% of 7.5 dkh and replace with 13 dkh (fresh RC) you are spiking your alk pretty good.
Not sure if you are interested, but here is a list of salt mixes and their alk/Ca/Mg levels
http://www.thatpetplace.com/salt-mix-guide

 

[nereefpat]

So you have an auto-topoff system? It would be really easy to add some kalk to it (much easier than switching salts or doing large water changes). Up to 2 teaspoons per gallon can dissolve in RO water, but you won't need that much to start. Try adding 1/2 teaspoon per gallon or so. Then test and track alk weekly.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

My ATO is only hooked up for emergencies as I am paranoid it's going to mess up. I do manual top offs every morning. My salinity goes from 1.025 to 1.026 in 24 hour period. I just keep it right there.

My concern is that by adding anything, including Kalk, that my rock solid 8.3ph and current salinity parameters are going to go out of whack. My understanding is that 2 part can raise salinity and kalk can raise ph. Is this true?

At the moment my plan is to do a larger water change next week (which is needed anyway) and then add kalk to maintain (the hopefully re elevated levels of) 420ppm ca and 9dkh by adding the kalk to my one gallon jug that I use to manually top off the tank everyday, thus stabilizing my ca and alk.

 

[mcgyvr]

You dose when water changes alone are not sufficient to keep your levels in a stable range..and you do not want to increase your water change frequency or amount to help stay in that stable range ..
plain and simple... nothing more.. nothing less..

Notice I said "range"...
Lets say you decide you want to run a tank with an alk of
The "best" would be to have your alk stay at 9 always.. it would never be anything else.. Thats perfectly stable .. but some "swing" or "range" is usually not a problem at all.. If you alk is going to 8 between water changes and a water change brings it back to 9 and you decide that a swing of 1 is acceptable and your growth/coral heath is fine then you really dont need to dose..
But if your alk is dropping to 8 and your water change only brings it back to 8.5 then its time to start dosing (because next week its going to drop to 7.5 and the water change only brings it back to 8..thus is getting lower over time).. and again provided you do not want to do more water changes.. Its time to start dosing

So..
you decide the levels you want to maintain..
you decide the swing/range you can accept
you decide the frequency/amount of water you want to change..
When your water changes are not keeping your levels in that acceptable range/swing then you start dosing..

 

[nereefpat]

I would use your ATO since you have it. I wouldn't set it up and then walk away for several days, but try it out. It will make life much easier.

Any dissolved solid added to topoff water will (very, very) slowly increase salinity in the display, and so will dosing alk, Ca, or Mg. As long as you check your salinity every couple weeks, this shouldn't be a concern.

I would try the kalk, if you decide that it's time to dose. Track your pH, like it seems like you already do, and see if the kalk gives you pH problems. I bet that it doesn't.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

Thanks everybody. I did run the ato for about a month and it always made me nervous so I just went back to doing it manually. The ato is a tunze nano.

I'm assuming kalk doesn't stabilize magnesium but a 2 part would.

How can I increase mag if I need too going the kalkwasser route?

 

[mcgyvr]

I'm assuming kalk doesn't stabilize magnesium but a 2 part would.

How can I increase mag if I need too going the kalkwasser route?

Mag is usually dosed manually and is not really included in the 2 part..
Or someone just couldn't count when they came up with the 2 part as its really 3..

Or here.. from the "big" Randys DIY 2 part article.

A "third" part of this additive system contains magnesium, sulfate, and chloride. It needs to be added only once in a while at a fixed rate relative to the other two parts.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/