Will Kalk be as troublefree as ESV P1&P2

[linklemming]

Randy,

A couple of questions.

I have a 55Gallon softie tank with a TBS package. Been running about 18 months.

Using the original ESV P1&P2 , I was able to dose P1 and P2 and reach incredible stability in CA and KH. I was doing 15ml a day of each and pretty much could go through a whole container (2 months) without seeing any CA or KH changes. In fact I went 6 months with the exact same CA and KH. I actually stopped testing it.

I decided to go to Kalk additions with a Kalk reactor and seem to not be able to reach the same end result. In theory will this ever be possible? (i.e. to keep CA and alk in the correct proportions)

I seem to be running into too high of a PH when I dose enough to keep levels stable. I am currently running glass covers, would going open top help the PH by allowing in more CO2?..not that I want to start a closed top vs open top debate.

And finally is there a better way to dose? What I am getting at is that at first, I dosed as small of an amount as my pump would allow and slowly increased the dosing by increasing the time until I was dosing from 11pm to 4pm (at this amount the PH got too high). More recently I have been just doing 11pm to 11am additions and slowly increasing the dosing amount. This seems to allow me to add more Kalk with a lower overall PH.

I am planning to add a TDS meter to the output of my Kalk reactor, what kind of reading should I bee seeing?

Thanx in advance.

Gary

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not a fan of limewater reactors as opposed to delivery from a reservoir, but you should be able to get them to work. High pH is a potential limitation of limewater, and more aeration will bring it down. Some people also put vinegar into the limewater to limit the pH rise.

How high is the pH getting?

I dose mine 24/7.

Make sure the TDS meter has a high enough range, many do not. For example, the Pinpoint salinity meter does, but not the Pinpoint conductivity meter does not (IIRC). It should be able to read about 10 mS/cm, which is on the order of 5,000-10,000 ppm TDS, depending on the scale used.

This article may help:

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

 

[linklemming]

The PH gets as high as I let it go, My kalk addition is not thru the auto-topoff so I can add as little or as much as I like. I have been trying to achieve the same result as my ESV P1&P2 and have yet to achieve that while keeping the PH below 8.5. I have also been struggling to get Alk consistently above 7 using kalk while maintaining my PH below 8.5

Very familiar with your articles, I have read them all while at work many, many times.

Questions:

1.) Assuming dosing P1&P2 worked great for me, could I reach the same thing with just Kalk (with no other additions whatsoever and assuming PH isnt a problem).

2.) Would going to open tops be considered more aeration.

Gary

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The demand for calcium and alkalinity depends on pH, so if the pH rises, the demand will rise, and it is hard to say exactly how much limewater to dose to meet what was previously met with a two part additive. In theory it will work if you have adequate aeration to keep the pH down, and adequate additions to meet the demand.

Open tops is not much aeration, but may help. A skimmer or airstone in a sump is better.
This article may help:

High pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.htm

 

[linklemming]

Yup, read that article many times at work .

Funny, I always thought of using vinegar as a temporary solution but it just dawned on me that I could dose it with another dosing pump (I have several on hand).

I also have CO2 system from my FW plant days, I could use that as well.

I am just tring to keep this as simple and failsafe as possible and throwing more equipment at the problem seems to just complicate things and adds more potential failure scenarios. Using P1&P2 was just so simple and effective and pretty failsafe due to the low amounts being dosed (i.e. didnt have to worry abou things like float switches).

I do use a skimmer in the sump.

Gary

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd pick the CO2 over the vinegar if you have both.

I find limewater to be very simple and easy. I can leave the tank for weeks at a time.