Ca/Alk Maintenance- Kalkwasser Drip or CA Reactor

K

kyle

I've been manually adding Kent Turbo Calcium and baking soda to maintain calcium and alkalinity levels in my tank. I'm having pretty good luck keeping Ca at the proper level but can't seem to get the alkalinity up into the desired range.

I had always thought a Ca reactor (though expensive) was the best solution. Lately I've been reading about adding Kalkwasser via the auto topoff system and it seem like that might also do the trick.

Initial cost, though important, is not my primary criteria. My primary goal is a sytem that reliably maintains the proper Ca and alkalinity level with a minimum amount of manual interaction on my part. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
A calcium reactor will maintain the levels with no effort once it is properly calibrated. Sounds like your magnesium level may be low. When magnesium is low it becomes very difficult to maintain calcium/dKH balance. Your magnesium level needs to be around 3X calcium. Once this level is obtained you can start a calcium reactor to maintain the levels.
 
I have not found that my Kalkwasser helps my alkalinity at all. It just keeps my Calcium good. I always heard that it would though.

come to think of it, where in the compound Calcium Hydroxide [Ca (OH)2] is carbonate [CO3] anyway? i.e. I have been doubting lately that kalkwasser even has the ability to maintain alkalinity.

hopefully this is relevant to assisting Kyle...
 
Cliff, the carbonate reaction occurs in the aquarium with carbon dioxide..

Lime - Ca(OH)2 dissolves in water to form Calcium and Hydroxide ions (Ca++ and OH-). The hydroxide ions combine with CO2 in the tank and air to form bicarbonate (HCO3-).. the bicarbonate combines with more hydroxide to form carbonate (CO3-) which is also considered alkalinity.
 
@Ashlar wrote:
Cliff said:
Thanks for the clarification.

In another post someone mentioned that my reef must just be absorbing more KH than Ca. Probably due to not much coral in there. Makes sense.
Click to expand...
 
Well let me put it this way. I personally will never be without a calcium reactor ever again, ever. In my opinion it's one of the best investments you can make. It provides super stability and saves lots of time. Once dialed in they are rock solid and you won't even have to think twice about your calcium and alk!
 
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