Quick Introduction and Dosing Question

[TonyC]

Hi all,

My name is Tony and I got in to reefing about 3 months ago. Well, I actually had a 75g DAS FOWLR tank with a built-in corner sump many years ago but I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't read up and did very little research. Tank didn't do well and so, I gave up. [smilie=worried.gif] I really missed this hobby and I am now back but starting small with a 29g Biocube.

The coral fever got the best of me, and now I probably have around 50 corals in my tank. (I am going to need to upgrade very soon or remove/rearrange the 35+ lbs. of live rock in the tank.) I started manually dosing about 1.5 months ago using Kent Marine Part A & B and also Magnesium. Alternating between the Part A/B and Magnesium 2-3 days apart, I'm slowly dosing by putting in about 16 drops of each (direction said 4 drops per gallon) but prefer something easier and more stable. I've been looking at the dosing pumps but also noticed the Kalkwasser that can be used in the ATO container. Kent Marine also makes Super Buffer DKH (sounds like I'm a super fan of Kent Marine but I'm not a fan of any brand) that goes with the Kalkwasser. My question is....do I need both the dosing pumps and the RO water mixed Kalkwasser? Do the elements also evaporate with water leaving just salt behind? Also, if I get a dosing pump, how mL of each should go in the tank (23g actual volume) per a 24-hour period?

[attachment=0]Tank.jpg[/attachment]

Thanks y'all!
Tony

 

[JDKaplan86]

Tank looks great

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[melev]

That is something you'll have to determine via testing, Tony. The DŌS pump by Apex can microdose mere drops, but at a cost. If you can't find a slow enough doser, you could dilute the additive in RO water perhaps. More math.

Kalkwasser can be used for top-off, but it's risky. If anything goes wrong and it doesn't stop topping off the tank, you'll lose all your livestock. Kalkwasser has a pH of 12. I wouldn't recommend it since you are using A & B already for alkalinity and calcium.

 

[TonyC]

@JDKaplan86 wrote:

Thank you!

@Marc wrote:

Thanks for the info Marc! I'll stay away from the Kalkwasser for now and also from SPS due to unstable alkalinity level. I already lost a small, but nice, colony. I can't also really afford the Apex at the moment. I'll continue to look for a dosing pump and doing the testings until I find those perfect numbers.

 

[DFW]

Here is a link to a dosing calculator. It may not be absolutely precise, but it gives an idea of how much to dose. And it has all the different products in the drop down menus to choose from. I use lime water for 7 years now, but never in the top off container. I use a siphon jug, and drip it over night each night. Lime water is great if you tend toward a low pH, and it has other side benefits. The people that use it in their top off systems have systems that use a lot of calcium, and alkalinity, and they are adding other sources in addition to that lime in the top off water. That is my understanding anyway.

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/

 

[TonyC]

@DFW wrote:

Sorry for the late reply...

Thank you so much for the info! I will check out these links out and research what is a lime water (is it RO/DI water mixed with Kalkwasser?). I have slightly increased my dosing as coraline algae isn't growing as much/fast. Still researching which dosing pump to get and trying to stay under budget.

My pH is at 8.0. Therefore, no need to lower that!

 

[Grant]

@TonyC wrote:

Kalkwasser and limewater are the same thing. [smilie=smile.gif]

From the Bulk Reef Supply web site: "Kalkwasser, also known as Kalk or Limewater, is arguably the easiest and cheapest Calcium and Alkalinity solution for low to medium demand tanks, and is our recommended method for those new to the hobby. Kalk also has the benefit of raising pH and is often used with an auto top off system or slowly dripped into the tank."

There are definite pro's and con's to using it in your top off so do your research on that. It can be more convenient than using dosing pumps and it can help raise pH if needed, but the pH of Kalkwasser is 12(!) so if something goes wrong with your automatic top off system and it were to keep running it could have disastrous results (depending on tank size and how much water was in the top off container). My pH usually stays between 8.10 and 8.40 already so I decided against it and went with dosing pumps. Every case is different though so you'll have to figure out what works best for you.

 

[TonyC]

@Grant wrote:

Kalkwasser and limewater are the same thing. [smilie=smile.gif]

From the Bulk Reef Supply web site: "Kalkwasser, also known as Kalk or Limewater, is arguably the easiest and cheapest Calcium and Alkalinity solution for low to medium demand tanks, and is our recommended method for those new to the hobby. Kalk also has the benefit of raising pH and is often used with an auto top off system or slowly dripped into the tank."

There are definite pro's and con's to using it in your top off so do your research on that. It can be more convenient than using dosing pumps and it can help raise pH if needed, but the pH of Kalkwasser is 12(!) so if something goes wrong with your automatic top off system and it were to keep running it could have disastrous results (depending on tank size and how much water was in the top off container). My pH usually stays between 8.10 and 8.40 already so I decided against it and went with dosing pumps. Every case is different though so you'll have to figure out what works best for you."]

Grant, thanks for the definition/clarification. I just purchased 3 dosing pumps from a member of this great site but I think I'm going to relist it and go a different route. I'm still sticking with the dosing pumps but a different kind and instead of using the Kalkwasser in the ATO, aka limewater. I'm too new to this hobby to take that kind of risk, especially in a Biocube where things can go sour real fast if I don't be careful. I've also just purchased a gallon size Calcium from Amazon but still need to buy the large bottle of Alkaline and Magnesium.

 

[Mike R]

Kalk is great if setup correctly. But as previously stated, it can go horribly wrong if used in conjunction with ATO. In addition to the potential for overdosing, I feel it is very inconsistent due to fluctuations in evaporation rate. The safest and most fool proof method for dosing Kalk is with the use of a Kalk Reactor. With a reactor, you control the dosing rate. And it always doses a fully saturated mixture due to it constantly being slowly stirred. I dose Kalk through a reactor and am very pleased with the results. I originally tried mixing Kalk in my ATO water, but hated always having to clean the container. It is also very hard on ATO pumps and cause them to fail prematurely.

 

[DFW]

I have used a siphon jug all of these years to dose lime water every night. No problems.