Got me an Alkalinity question!

[toxic111]

its the same issue I have.. I can't keep ALK levels stable, and it is driving me crazy, I even have KALK set-up in the top-up water, but still can't keep ALK where I want it. CA & MG stay stable.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by toxic111

its the same issue I have.. I can't keep ALK levels stable, and it is driving me crazy, I even have KALK set-up in the top-up water, but still can't keep ALK where I want it. CA & MG stay stable.

Hey, let's keep in touch. Let's see if we can't figure this one out together.

[Reefer Rob]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php

From this article:

"One of the interesting features of seawater is that there is a lot more calcium than there is alkalinity. By this I mean that if all of the calcium in seawater (410 ppm; 10.25 meq/L) were to be precipitated as calcium carbonate, it would use up a total alkalinity of 20.5 meq/L. In a less drastic scenario, let's say that calcium carbonate is formed from tank water starting with an alkalinity of 3 meq/L and that it is allowed to drop to 2 meq/L. How much has the calcium declined? It is surprising for many people to learn that the calcium would only drop by 20 ppm. Consequently, many aquarists observe that their calcium levels are relatively stable, but alkalinity can vary substantially. This is exactly what one would expect based on the fact that the tank already has an abundance of calcium."

[ScubaSteve]

Ahhhhhhhhh... gotcha! Makes sense. You know, being a chemical engineer, I should have sat done and done that math myself rather than... you know... being retarded. I shall keep up the baking soda dosing.

With kalk would you imagine that I'd still need to top up alk?

Thanks Rob!

[Reefer Rob]

Kalkwasser is soooo messy! I If your going to be dosing anyway, and I don't think the balance will be perfect with kalk (or a calcium reactor), you may as well get a doser and just do 3 part (2 part)... simple

[NanoHuman]

2 part doing is all the rage, mostly because you can fine tune it exactly to your system with little hassle and there are also no undesireable side effects to deal with.

It is also has very low start up costs, and low cost maintaince if you buy bulk chemicals.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

Kalkwasser is soooo messy! I If your going to be dosing anyway, and I don't think the balance will be perfect with kalk (or a calcium reactor), you may as well get a doser and just do 3 part (2 part)... simple

I know, I know! I really have been wanting to start up a doser but i should probably mention that I am a poor grad student who also is starting a tech company... $$$ is in short supply to say the least .

I might just start doing manual two-part. Know of a good place to buy calcium chloride locally?