Simple method of dosing alk?

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

You use tap water rather than RO right? I imagine Ponoka has fairly hard water like the rest of the province so every time you do a top up with your tap water you are adding a fair amount of calcium but not very much alkalinity. If you use something like Kalkwasser in your top up it won't fix the problem as you are adding more or less balanced amounts of calcium and alkalinity to water that already has a lot of calcium. Boosting only alk in the top up by adding something like sodium carbonate (your baked baking soda) makes you top up into a balanced calcium / alk additive as well.

The easy way to go forward is to get yourself an auto top off of some kind and supplement the ATO water with Alk.

Any recommendations on a good ATO? I see Tunze carries one, but it appears to come with a tank to hold water, and I'm going to have to make a custom one, as I don't have a lot of space to put it.

[Myka]

If you want to automate your tank more, I would also suggest you get an ATO and add your Alk to the reservoir. You will need to have a reservoir for the ATO. The size depends on what you want, but I would suggest something at least 15% of your total system's volume or you will end up having to fill the reservoir too often.

I can't imagine what you have under your tank that is taking up all the space when you only have a 55g sump and no reactors?? Is it poor space management? Maybe you can try to do a renovation under there, and get some more space opened up?

Is it true that you are using tap water? If so, that may be your answer as to why you're needing to add alk, but not calcium as midgetwaiter suggested. If you are in fact using RO/DI water then you need to look into the alk usage futher.

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by Myka

If you want to automate your tank more, I would also suggest you get an ATO and add your Alk to the reservoir. You will need to have a reservoir for the ATO. The size depends on what you want, but I would suggest something at least 15% of your total system's volume or you will end up having to fill the reservoir too often.

I can't imagine what you have under your tank that is taking up all the space when you only have a 55g sump and no reactors?? Is it poor space management? Maybe you can try to do a renovation under there, and get some more space opened up?

Is it true that you are using tap water? If so, that may be your answer as to why you're needing to add alk, but not calcium as midgetwaiter suggested. If you are in fact using RO/DI water then you need to look into the alk usage futher.

I use RO water, not tap water, so I don't think that is the problem. When I was using tap water over 2 years ago, I was having issues with phosphates, so switched.
A main issue with space is I have to set up a fan underneath in the summer to keep the temperature down, so that chews up a lot of the space. I suppose I could put the fan on top of the reservoir, rather than a stand, opening that up, and also screwing in my MH ballast's to the wall.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

I use RO water, not tap water, so I don't think that is the problem. When I was using tap water over 2 years ago, I was having issues with phosphates, so switched.
A main issue with space is I have to set up a fan underneath in the summer to keep the temperature down, so that chews up a lot of the space. I suppose I could put the fan on top of the reservoir, rather than a stand, opening that up, and also screwing in my MH ballast's to the wall.

Ok, so you're using RO water. Do you test the TDS of your product water regularly? If so, what is it at? If not, it is $28 well spent. An RO unit is really not complete without a TDS meter. What salt are you using? What products are you using for magnesium and calcium? What are your magnesium and calcium sitting at? Take a quick glace through Myka's Guide to Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium... in my signature, maybe you can pick up a missing link or something. It's an easy read, don't worry!

Another option for fans is to cut out a hole in each end of your stand and install fans one in each direction that mount right into the holes. This way you get really good airflow through the stand, not just in the stand, plus they don't take up any room at all. PFO ($40 each I think) and IceCap ($90 I think, but variable speed) make good ones. I'm sure you could find them in a hardware store too for much less, just look for ones with as little metal on them as possible to lessen rusting.

[hillegom]

If I read correctly, that you have the ballasts under the tank, maybe if you moved them out, the temperature would not go up so high in the summer

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by Myka

Ok, so you're using RO water. Do you test the TDS of your product water regularly? If so, what is it at? If not, it is $28 well spent. An RO unit is really not complete without a TDS meter. What salt are you using? What products are you using for magnesium and calcium? What are your magnesium and calcium sitting at? Take a quick glace through Myka's Guide to Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium... in my signature, maybe you can pick up a missing link or something. It's an easy read, don't worry!

Another option for fans is to cut out a hole in each end of your stand and install fans one in each direction that mount right into the holes. This way you get really good airflow through the stand, not just in the stand, plus they don't take up any room at all. PFO ($40 each I think) and IceCap ($90 I think, but variable speed) make good ones. I'm sure you could find them in a hardware store too for much less, just look for ones with as little metal on them as possible to lessen rusting.

Presently, I am not testing my RO water regularly. I use Bio Sea Marinemix salt. My magnesium is at 1410, and my calcium is at 440. I am not real keen on cutting holes in my stand, but it may be an option that I have to consider. I'm curious is cutting holes in the canopy wouldn't be the better solution though, as this is where the heat is generated.

[High tide]

First of all, for anyone to help you properly we need to know the ph and alk levels of your tank. Adding a bunch of baking soda and nothing else is not going to solve your problem, it will just throw things more out of wack. Are your corals and clams growing? Is your RO unit working? If you live in a place with high mineral content it is possible that your RO membrane is clogged. Test the RO unit for calcium. If the RO is working fine and you want to keep it simple, which it sounds like you do, (no reactor,doser, or stirrer)here is what I would do. First of all I would switch salt, Instant Ocean is tried and tested with buffering capacity. Secondly, I would do a large water change(at least 50%) after a couple smaller ones(25%)to get your animals used to the change in salt/chemistry.Thirdly, take a five gallon pail, mix kalk accordingly, and drip kalk to match evaporation. Your aquarium probably has little demand for calcium so this should suffice.

[midgetwaiter]

This is awful.

Originally Posted by High tide

First of all, for anyone to help you properly we need to know the ph and alk levels of your tank. Adding a bunch of baking soda and nothing else is not going to solve your problem, it will just throw things more out of wack.

The baking soda he is adding will raise alkalinity. He has problems with low alkalinity. WTF is the disconnect there?

Originally Posted by High tide

Are your corals and clams growing? Is your RO unit working? If you live in a place with high mineral content it is possible that your RO membrane is clogged. Test the RO unit for calcium.

Probably a good idea.

Originally Posted by High tide

First of all I would switch salt, Instant Ocean is tried and tested with buffering capacity.

Yeah it's got higher alk than other salts but the calcium sucks when mixed with RO water. Regardless of your personal salt preference the fact is BioSea is an excellent salt mix, it is not the root of this problem.

Originally Posted by High tide

Secondly, I would do a large water change(at least 50%) after a couple smaller ones(25%)to get your animals used to the change in salt/chemistry.Thirdly, take a five gallon pail, mix kalk accordingly, and drip kalk to match evaporation. Your aquarium probably has little demand for calcium so this should suffice.

So your solution to somebody with normal calcium but depressed alkalinity is to add calcium and alkalinity to the tank in equal parts. Respectfully, WTF?

It's indeed a little unusual to see alkalinity demand much higher than calcium but it's not unheard of. Phosphate resins and liquids can eat it up, other things can contribute. It's an easy fix.

The ozmolator is nice, doesn't come with a tank though, you can just use a bucket. I also like the Tsunami AT-1 + Aqualifter combo, it's served me well for years and the Aqualifter stands up fairly well to moving sodium carbonate solutions or kalk.