effect of kalkwasser

C

Carabelli

Membership Expired
i was trying to explain reef tanks to a friend, and he asked what all kalkwasser does for a tank (we were debating calcium reactor, kalk reactors, 2 part, balling etc )

i drew a blank - does it raise the pH? have any effect on kH or calcium? thanks
 
thanks - how much do you typically want to add if you are going to add it via your top-off water??

for example - i have a 5 gallon bucket i store my ro water in ... can you just add a cup for example every time you top the water off and mix it really good and that will work?? typically, i go through 5 gallons in 2-3 days -thanks.
 
Are you saying you want to add the kalk to the water in your bucket? If so, I don't think that is a good idea, depending on how you get the water to the tank. I know for my Tunze setup, Tunze says not to add kalk to the makeup water because it will drastically shorten the life of the pump. If you are using a setup that doesn't use a pump then I would think you could add it to the makeup water. For my setup, Tunze makes an add-on chamber that hangs off the water bucket and holds the kalk water. The make-up water goes thru the chamber and mixes with the kalk and then goes to the tank.
 
Well, if it's your only source of alk / ca, that's a different amount than if you're just looking to boost your ph during the night.

The only problem that I see with dosing kalk in your top off water is that how much ca / alk you dose is dependent on how much you evaporate, which can change throughout the year and weather.
 
on my system, i dose 2 part to maintain calcium, alkalinity and pH ... i have read of others (weatherson for example on reefcentral) that added a kalk reactor that his top off water runs through to add additional calcium and maintain other parameters.

so, if i wonder is it a good idea to add a small amount of kalk to your top off reservoir to supplement during the day?? Thanks.
 
When I dripped Kalk, I did it separate from my ATO, so that I knew exactly how much I was dosing each day. Stability of levels being important, I worried about changing dosing depending on evaporation.
 
I did both at one time, kalk reactor and dosing 2-part. I found it much easier to do one or other instead of them combined because the numbers were more consistent. Unless the same amount of kalk is used each and every time with the same saturation, your alk or ca numbers from it will vary. It may not be enough to damage anything, but I just prefer the level numbers with as little variation as possible.

The other difference is that kalk and a ca reactor will raise the ca/alk at the same rate. Dosing offers you a opportunity to do them individually so you have much more flexibility to 'tune' your tank.

If your alk is stable and running around 8.5 or so... then pH should not be a problem for you at all. Adding a refuge on a reverse or 24/7 cycle would help that a lot as well.
 
thanks - that makes much more sense now ... i can also give my tub of kalkwasser away to my buddy as i dose 2 part and he doesn't - it will work out great.
 
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