Using kalk water only for topoff?

[Son Of Skyline]

Hi everyone. I just started using kalk yesterday, and I'm wondering how people can get away with only using kalk water for topoff. With my system dripping once every 2-3 seconds, it's not even close to keeping up with my evaporation. I know I should drip any faster for pH reasons, but how do people do it? Am I being conservative with my drip? My pH stands at 8.4 right now (10:00pm). Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!


120gal
27gal sump

[BC_Grl]

hello we to just started using a top off and we go through 2 and half gallons a day we have not put kalk in it yet, but soon . and we are using a calcium buffer too and alkline buffer solution to go with that the more the merryier .
Thanks, Andy (BC_Grl's husband)

[ron101]

Personally, my sumpless 90 gal system evaporates less than 3/4 of a gallon per day. I drip half of that at night after lights out and the other half in the morning. With a full container I get a thin stream that tapers off to drops about half-way through. I mix up 4 day supplies of saturated solution at a time and have never had any pH probs this way.

If your calcium consumption rate does not require using saturated kalk solution you could always drop the kalk concentration and up the delivery rate.

HTH

[stephane]

Originally Posted by Son Of Skyline

Hi everyone. I just started using kalk yesterday, and I'm wondering how people can get away with only using kalk water for topoff. With my system dripping once every 2-3 seconds, it's not even close to keeping up with my evaporation. I know I should drip any faster for pH reasons, but how do people do it? Am I being conservative with my drip? My pH stands at 8.4 right now (10:00pm). Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!


120gal
27gal sump

you will be able if you stop any other buffer and calcium addition. then add the more kalk you can without never get you ph more then 8,5 if you are not able to replace all the top off cause the PH climb to hight you have not enought calcium consumtion for your evaporation rate if the PH go to low then you will have to add buffer and calcium two part to help

A good way is to add a kalkwasser reactor all your water top off pass trought it and you adjust you stiring pump start to go match you consumption with the help of you PH the more you need the more you stir that way you could find tune you sistem to use only kalk realy easy witout any test of calcium and alkalinity but you need a PH meter and keep PH between 8.1 -8.5

[Son Of Skyline]

Thanks everyone. I don't think my tank has a very high calcium consumption, since the tank is pretty new and most of my corals are smal/med sized frags. I guess I'll just slow down on the kalk and use regular topoff water as well. Or more likely I'll take Ron's advice and mix a weaker kalk solution so I can drip faster.

[BCOrchidGuy]

I'm assuming you aren't testing for Ca, you should, the calcium test kit isn't expensive and it can give you an idea of where your calcium levels are at. Remember too that live rock will use some calcium, actually the coraline algae will use it, and if you use strong actinic light you may be surprised by how much coraline algae growth you get.

[stephane]

BC I found that with kalk use you dont realy need to test calcium and mostly only PH tell me how well my calcium

as long as you start with a balance calcium and alkalinity level and dont add any buffer or calcium additive the kalk will keep in target you could even just look at the alkalinity if the alkalinty is on the right level
you are ok cause kalk add 100% the popper depletion rate it is good to test it 4 time a years for calcium but not realy more and other time PH will tell and once a month alkalinity will confirm

when you well know kalk use you just dont need to do any calcium and alkinity test and only read PH but at first you could do some to understand how it work

be shure to never cross over 8.6 PH as you will have precipitation and break the balance if you do, balance back you tank adding buffer or calcium supplement to get the balance and then start over with the


here is realy good tread anyone new should read and realy read it until you 100% understand how calcium alkalinity work with each other in balance

good read!

keep use update

[Aquattro]

Stephane, I have to disagree with that. Calcium can be depleted at different rates that alk. If someone regularly adds anything, they need to regularly test for that substance.

Mason, test your alk and Ca and then we can determine what, if anything, you need to add. If your levels are way off, kalk will only keep them way off; remember, kalk maintains levels, it doesn't change them. There is a formula to match alkalinity consumption to strength of kalk, I'll see if I can dig it up.
Do not blindly add things to your tank without knowing you need it and knowing how much you need. If your tank is new (how old is new?) and you only have small frags (of what?) you may not need anything more than a water change schedule and the small size bottles of your favorite 2 part mix.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by stephane

BC I found that with kalk use you dont realy need to test calcium and mostly only PH tell me how well my calcium

as long as you start with a balance calcium and alkalinity level and dont add any buffer or calcium additive the kalk will keep in target you could even just look at the alkalinity if the alkalinty is on the right level
you are ok cause kalk add 100% the popper depletion rate it is good to test it 4 time a years for calcium but not realy more and other time PH will tell and once a month alkalinity will confirm

Stephane, this may be working for you but it is how I got in trouble.. I had everything ballanced then I started dosing Kalk, I ended up with a serious Mg and Ca deficiencys. In my opinion if you are dosing anything with out testing you are playing with fire..

Like some one once said on this board.. you spend over 5000.00 on the stuff in your tank.. why cheep out on a 20.00 part?

well not exactly what he said but along the same context.

also another problem/reason in which you shoudl be testing when ysing kalk is "dosing limewater causes the loss of significant amounts of magnesium ions from reef aquaria."
this was the cause of my Mg/Ca crash and hence the reason for me switching to a Ca reactor. I am still going to put a Kalk reactor on line soon but I will not run Kalk with out a Ca reactor anymore on a regular basis.

Steve

[Aquattro]

There goes Steve with his magnesium again!! :P