cham
New member
Hello, I have a quick idea/question for the chemistry folks.
My tank is a well matured SPS tank that's been set up for years now, I took it down and restarted is about 3 years ago and have been using the aquaforest three part balling method to supplement my reef since.
Lately I am finding my reef using almost 100ml daily of three part solution which is A LOT and fairly expensive. I also like the benefits of Kalk and thought I could dose some kalk daily, not as a main supply but maybe to cut down on the amount demand for the three part and keep up with tank demands better.
I've used Kalkwasser in the past and I've been a huge fan other than one problem. The reactors that I've had are closed loop power heads and they get caked with kalk regularly. I still have one that has an old school closed loop style that I'd like to use but wanted to see what you guys thought about my approach.
Sorry for the long intro, I just want you to understand my needs and what I'm expecting from the kalk.
I don't like using Kalk in the ATO as my ATO demands swing through the seasons and I don't prefer a method that has different dosing levels dependent on temp.
I want to plug up the closed loop in my reactor and just use it as a stand alone non motorized reactor. The reactor I have is an old school version that has two quick fit RO lines at the top, one goes down the side in a hard acrylic line to the bottom of the reactor and the second is the outlet at the top for kalk dosing.
If I were to make a deep bed of Kalk, say 4 or 5" and had the RO/DI feed line going to the bottom of the container, would the RO water pick up enough saturation making it through the bed of kalk to make it somewhat effective? Or would my kalk bed turn into a brick and the water just channel?
I know RO water is aggressive in picking up elements so I thought that would give me some level of kalk saturation. I don't need perfect FULLY saturated kalk as this again will just be a supplemental method to my two part.
Thoughts? Concerns?
My tank is a well matured SPS tank that's been set up for years now, I took it down and restarted is about 3 years ago and have been using the aquaforest three part balling method to supplement my reef since.
Lately I am finding my reef using almost 100ml daily of three part solution which is A LOT and fairly expensive. I also like the benefits of Kalk and thought I could dose some kalk daily, not as a main supply but maybe to cut down on the amount demand for the three part and keep up with tank demands better.
I've used Kalkwasser in the past and I've been a huge fan other than one problem. The reactors that I've had are closed loop power heads and they get caked with kalk regularly. I still have one that has an old school closed loop style that I'd like to use but wanted to see what you guys thought about my approach.
Sorry for the long intro, I just want you to understand my needs and what I'm expecting from the kalk.
I don't like using Kalk in the ATO as my ATO demands swing through the seasons and I don't prefer a method that has different dosing levels dependent on temp.
I want to plug up the closed loop in my reactor and just use it as a stand alone non motorized reactor. The reactor I have is an old school version that has two quick fit RO lines at the top, one goes down the side in a hard acrylic line to the bottom of the reactor and the second is the outlet at the top for kalk dosing.
If I were to make a deep bed of Kalk, say 4 or 5" and had the RO/DI feed line going to the bottom of the container, would the RO water pick up enough saturation making it through the bed of kalk to make it somewhat effective? Or would my kalk bed turn into a brick and the water just channel?
I know RO water is aggressive in picking up elements so I thought that would give me some level of kalk saturation. I don't need perfect FULLY saturated kalk as this again will just be a supplemental method to my two part.
Thoughts? Concerns?
