To KALK or not to KALK?

[MetroKat]

Good morning. 15 hours after a 10% waterchange

Calcium 360 (up 60 points)
DKh 7.0 (down 1.3 points)

 

[jdegrasse]

Keep up with the wc's!

 

[MetroKat]

TDS meter arrived (don't you love Amazon Prime)

RODI tested between 000 and 001
Tap water 173
Brita water 126
Aquafina 005

 

[bertoni]

That TDS level likely is fine. I would dose baking soda to keep the dKH up, for the moment. You could increase the calcium level a bit, if you want, but I think it's okay as is. Has someone posted the calculator link:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

If you give it a good guess as to the water volume, it should be able to help with picking a dose. 1 dKH at a shot should be fine for baking soda.

 

[MetroKat]

Water test results

Calcium 350
dKh 6.1
Added 5ml of part B Alkalinity supplement

Water change planned for today

 

[MetroKat]

Changed 10% water. Params of new water
Calcium 490
dKh 9.8

3 hours later, tank parameters
Calcium 350 (no change)
dKh 6.4 (up 0.3 points)

 

[MetroKat]

Hello, parameters all laid out, in all cases of water change, the new salt mix was percolating overnight.

Date Calcium dKH MAG Notes
8/6/2012 470 8.0
8/13/2012 490 8.2
8/19/2012 250 6.1 Water sampled aug 19 tested on Aug 22
8/22/2012 KALK+2 3tsp in 2G started
8/26/2012 300 8.3 KALK+2, Part A
9/2/2012 320 8.2 KALK+2, Part A
9/3/2012 300 8.3 Stopped KALK Corals ****ed off
9/5/2012 360 7.0 15 hours after WC
9/6/2012 350 6.1 Before WC
9/6/2012 350 6.4 3 hours after WC
9/7/2012 350 6.4 14 Hours after WC

10% water changed every time

 

[MetroKat]

Date Calcium dKH Notes 1 Notes 2
8/6/2012 470 8.0
8/13/2012 490 8.2
8/19/2012 250 6.1 KALK+2, Part A no WC 10+ days
8/26/2012 300 8.3 KALK+2, Part A
9/2/2012 320 8.2 KALK+2, Part A
9/3/2012 300 8.3 Stopped KALK Corals ****ed off
9/5/2012 360 7.0 15 hours after WC
9/6/2012 350 6.1 Before WC
9/6/2012 350 6.4 3 hours after WC
9/7/2012 350 6.4 14 Hours after WC
9/8/2012 350 6.1 1.5 days after WC

 

[MetroKat]

Ever since I stopped KALK the tank looks much happier.

The KALK+2 product I was using contains strontium and magnesium.
Before adding it, my strontium was 22.9 which is high (NSW is 8.1)
And my Magnesium tests between 1350-1500 (NSW is 1280)

So I would imagine, adding more might have been the problem. This is what Aquarium Water Testing service said:

Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/L
Tested: 22.9 mg/L
(HIGH) Your strontium level is too high. We recommend you suspend any chemical
additives containing strontium. You may also wish to perform a partial water change to help
alleviate this problem. Strontium is important for coral and coralline algae growth, especially
among the “SPS” corals. Too much strontium can be detrimental to coral calcification
processes, and may cause coral mortality.

I think (I hope) I found the problem.

Now. The new tank normal levels seems to be Calcium 350, dKh 6.1.
Having established this baseline, the next step is how to safely bring these two levels up using 2 part.
The next step after that is making sure I can maintain levels when they rise to desired levels.
The final step is continued stability.

In between all the above steps, you have to factor in water changes and how they will change the levels. So there is a lot of testing still to do.

I'm planning a larger water change for tonight than the usual 10% I've done the last few times. Let's see what that does.

Bottom line: KALK+2 : Epic fail.

 

[bertoni]

You can dose calcium chloride and baking soda to raise the levels. They should be safe. As you raise the calcium and alkalinity levels, the consumption rate likely will increase, so I'd expect to have to dose more.

 

[tmz]

The magnesium in the kalk plus 2 product never gets to the tank anyway. It precipitates out of the kalk water into the slurry atthe bottom.. The strontium isn't needed. It's a poorly desinged product .It can't do what it claims.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I like to keep my cal around 440-460 and alk around 10-11 dkh
Pretty close to IO salt with a little Reef Crystlals mixed in.lol
I've been phasing out the reef crystals slowly.

 

[MetroKat]

So the brain coral is back to being fluffy.

Date Calcium dKH Notes 1 Notes 2
8/6/2012 470 8.0
8/13/2012 490 8.2
8/19/2012 250 6.1 KALK+2, Part A no WC 10+ days
8/26/2012 300 8.3 KALK+2, Part A
9/2/2012 320 8.2 KALK+2, Part A
9/3/2012 300 8.3 Stopped KALK Corals ****ed off
9/5/2012 360 7.0 15 hours after WC
9/6/2012 350 6.1 Before WC
9/6/2012 350 6.4 3 hours after WC
9/7/2012 350 6.4 14 Hours after WC
9/8/2012 350 6.1 1.5 days after WC
9/9/2012 345 5.1 before WC 20% WC percolating
9/9/2012 360 6.4 6 hours after 20% WC

 

[MetroKat]

New FTS

 

[MetroKat]

And this is my display fuge

 

[MetroKat]

Parameters are holding steady, albeit at the low end of the range, I am manually dosing 2 part.
The B-Ionic doser isn't very practical so I'm looking for BRS dosers, I'm purchasing today.
Still looking for Calcium Chloride, I think I might make a trip to Home Depot for some Ice melter. RHF mentioned Dowflake I think.

Oh. I found a cute Frilly Limpet, Lucapina Suffusa, in my tank a couple of days ago.

 

[MetroKat]

Omg julian sprung just called me!!!!!!
Swooon thud!!!!

 

[bertoni]

I like the limpet! What do they eat?

 

[MetroKat]

Limpets in general graze on algae on the rocks. Very little is known about the Frilly limpet, also known as fleshy limpet. WetWebMedia suggests some species prey on corals but Babette (my limpet) has never done this. I've had her for about 5-6 months. She used to live in my pico and I thought she was just a yellow limpet. I messaged John Maloney of ReefCleaners who said as much.

I discovered the skirt just a few days ago!

 

[-TS-Vash]

I got a bad batch of reef crystals last week and they are sending me new salt now i would test the salt it seems your dkh changes a lot.

I got a 30 cube and i add 1/2 gallon of kalk a day. my old 120 got 5 gallons every 2 days. Good luck though on every thing.