Dosing Kalk + CaRx
- Thread starter bakbay
- Start date
Yes. Oxygen affects ph. So does co2. During the day algae produces oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis so ph is higher. Yes even the ocean fluctuates. There is so much macro algae and micro algae in the ocean that it produces more oxygen than the biggest forests on earth.
Our tanks are no different but we are on a smaller scale and we have way more variables. Look at the dips on your graph. The valleys are during lights out and the peaks are during your light schedule. Yes, dosing kalk, people and animals breathing in the house, and other factors affect our ph but for the most part it does the same.
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Our tanks are no different but we are on a smaller scale and we have way more variables. Look at the dips on your graph. The valleys are during lights out and the peaks are during your light schedule. Yes, dosing kalk, people and animals breathing in the house, and other factors affect our ph but for the most part it does the same.
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Yes, using Kalk for makeup water is unpredictable and does less in in the evenings. But if you dose kalkwasser based on pH, your salinity is going to drop during the night and the sump will fill which will alter skimmer function and if you have a low pH event, could over flow.
Wait, are you thinking of running tank water through the Kalk reactor? Say bye bye to all your trace elements. I’d have to test but it may even precipitate the salt LOL The main industrial use of calcium hydroxide is water purification. most all compounds precipitate out of the water. I think all soda companies use it. The carbonation process brings the pH back down to acidic levels. In the old days, we didn’t even use RO/DI water for evap. Just mix calcium hydroxide with tap water, let the guns settle to the bottom and keep your pickup tube about an inch off the bottom of your ATO container.
Did somebody on FB tell you running tank water through a kalkwasser reactor was a good idea? Do they even have a tank?
Wait, are you thinking of running tank water through the Kalk reactor? Say bye bye to all your trace elements. I’d have to test but it may even precipitate the salt LOL The main industrial use of calcium hydroxide is water purification. most all compounds precipitate out of the water. I think all soda companies use it. The carbonation process brings the pH back down to acidic levels. In the old days, we didn’t even use RO/DI water for evap. Just mix calcium hydroxide with tap water, let the guns settle to the bottom and keep your pickup tube about an inch off the bottom of your ATO container.
Did somebody on FB tell you running tank water through a kalkwasser reactor was a good idea? Do they even have a tank?
Over the last week, according to APEX my my pH averaged at 7.72 and there is a fairly good chance that I grow acropora faster than anyone else on socalireefs. Not bragging, it’s just what it is. Every 6-9 months I have hours of cutting and hacking and killing with sodium hydroxide what most people would consider full colonies just to maintain peace between colonies, flow and lighting.
@laverda @REPOWER @LesPaulPlayer73 @wishntoboutside and others can confirm.
@laverda @REPOWER @LesPaulPlayer73 @wishntoboutside and others can confirm.
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Looks like my last calibration was 12/31/23. As for what coral I grow? I grow big ones LOL. There’s probably some photos in this thread. I’m a really crappy photographer
When I do my trimming, it normally takes me 2 orange Home Depot buckets to transport the clippings to my LFS (I trade them to Jimmy for store credit) and other than the white bone where i cut or killed with sodium hydroxide, you’d never know I pulled a crap-ton of coral out of my tank.
All I’m saying is that you don’t need flat line pH to successfully grow coral. Look at my pH curve and I’m telling you, the crap grows great with my pH fluctuations.
When I do my trimming, it normally takes me 2 orange Home Depot buckets to transport the clippings to my LFS (I trade them to Jimmy for store credit) and other than the white bone where i cut or killed with sodium hydroxide, you’d never know I pulled a crap-ton of coral out of my tank.
All I’m saying is that you don’t need flat line pH to successfully grow coral. Look at my pH curve and I’m telling you, the crap grows great with my pH fluctuations.
I think that your avg is skewed and hard to see which probe is which. All I can say is that even the pH probe can be bad, it has happened to me multiple times, across Apex, Pinpoint, and Milwaukee.
Depending on acros you’re growing, right? Stags seem to grow the fastest in my tank. I’ve grown a Cali Tort from a single frag to an 8”+ colony in a year. WWC Yellow Tips — ditto. Super easy & fast grower. However, I have a few “high-end” acros that have been stagnant for 18 mos! Each tank is different, each species is different.
Depending on acros you’re growing, right? Stags seem to grow the fastest in my tank. I’ve grown a Cali Tort from a single frag to an 8”+ colony in a year. WWC Yellow Tips — ditto. Super easy & fast grower. However, I have a few “high-end” acros that have been stagnant for 18 mos! Each tank is different, each species is different.
Sure - I can make frags of the following:
RC Poison Envy
PC Rainbow
PC Superman
WWC Yellow Tips (giant colony)
ORA Blue Voodoo
ORA Blue Iris
ORA Hawkins Echinata
ORA Cali Tort
JF Green Goblin
JF Tubbs Stellata Monti
JF Pink Cadillac
Purple Stylo
TSA Fruity Pebbles
TSA Bill Murray
TSA Pearlberry
Red Dragon
Goldenrod
RC Poison Envy
PC Rainbow
PC Superman
WWC Yellow Tips (giant colony)
ORA Blue Voodoo
ORA Blue Iris
ORA Hawkins Echinata
ORA Cali Tort
JF Green Goblin
JF Tubbs Stellata Monti
JF Pink Cadillac
Purple Stylo
TSA Fruity Pebbles
TSA Bill Murray
TSA Pearlberry
Red Dragon
Goldenrod
Interesting! I don't doubt it, I've seen you around
You offered me a BUNCH of freebies early on(too far of a drive at the time) and the only way people are doing that is if shit is growing too fast lmao.
I didn't see what the other parameters were for those experimental tanks, just that the higher pH had a better growth rate over all. They also lacked a few possible variable groups such as a high range fluctuating group and a low range fluctuating group. But I'm willing to bet that with a good feeding regimen, all other parameters stable, ideal lighting, etc. can counteract any "setback" from a non-perfect pH.
But all in all, I'm out here still using Sealabs no. 28 in 2024, so I have no horse in this race lmao
You offered me a BUNCH of freebies early on(too far of a drive at the time) and the only way people are doing that is if shit is growing too fast lmao.I didn't see what the other parameters were for those experimental tanks, just that the higher pH had a better growth rate over all. They also lacked a few possible variable groups such as a high range fluctuating group and a low range fluctuating group. But I'm willing to bet that with a good feeding regimen, all other parameters stable, ideal lighting, etc. can counteract any "setback" from a non-perfect pH.
But all in all, I'm out here still using Sealabs no. 28 in 2024, so I have no horse in this race lmao
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I didn't read everything.
I have left CA reactors and 2 part dosing and just dose kalk now. I dose based on pH. If my pH hits 8.25 my doser doses, if it hits 8.3 the doser turns off. It is all run by the Apex and the pH probe.
I have the max of dosing set to my the winter daytime evaporation. In my 50g tank, that is 2500mL in my water box that is 10,000 mL. I don't ever hit those numbers.
I mix up a barrel of kalk solution about once a month. I keep the barrel sealed, and the solution has a floating piece of Styrofoam to limit air exposure. If you decide to dose kalk, keeping your kalk solution sealed and at the 12.5 pH is very important. Having it drop to a pH of 12 makes it much much less effective.
The only change I had to make was my ATO now goes on at 10am and again at 6pm. If I leave the ATO on my sump level gets to high at night. The kalk doser almost never runs from 10am to 6pm because the tank lights are on.
Chris Meckley has hours and hours of videos and posts about this if you want to dive in deeper. It is working for me. I would not try to tie in Kalk dosing with any other dosing regiment. I don't think you can really combine them with say two part or a reactor unless you are really paying attention. With the way I am doing it now I watched it like a hawk the first 4-5 months, but now I don't even check it. The 50g has been doing great with this. My Waterbox is doing terrible, but I don't think that has anything to do with the dosing (I tried an all CB tank and my microfauna population is just to low).
JME
I have left CA reactors and 2 part dosing and just dose kalk now. I dose based on pH. If my pH hits 8.25 my doser doses, if it hits 8.3 the doser turns off. It is all run by the Apex and the pH probe.
I have the max of dosing set to my the winter daytime evaporation. In my 50g tank, that is 2500mL in my water box that is 10,000 mL. I don't ever hit those numbers.
I mix up a barrel of kalk solution about once a month. I keep the barrel sealed, and the solution has a floating piece of Styrofoam to limit air exposure. If you decide to dose kalk, keeping your kalk solution sealed and at the 12.5 pH is very important. Having it drop to a pH of 12 makes it much much less effective.
The only change I had to make was my ATO now goes on at 10am and again at 6pm. If I leave the ATO on my sump level gets to high at night. The kalk doser almost never runs from 10am to 6pm because the tank lights are on.
Chris Meckley has hours and hours of videos and posts about this if you want to dive in deeper. It is working for me. I would not try to tie in Kalk dosing with any other dosing regiment. I don't think you can really combine them with say two part or a reactor unless you are really paying attention. With the way I am doing it now I watched it like a hawk the first 4-5 months, but now I don't even check it. The 50g has been doing great with this. My Waterbox is doing terrible, but I don't think that has anything to do with the dosing (I tried an all CB tank and my microfauna population is just to low).
JME
My CaRx is super stable - to maintain Alk/CA and I use CO2 scrubber to peg pH between 8.2 to 8.5. Acros grow fast (except some stupid stubborn ones) and I have zero problem with the tank. I started this thread attempting to experiment and flatten out pH. I “dose” via Alk, not pH.
Glad to see you guys are making it work with Kalk. It’s super simple and economical. I’ve done this before actually but thought it was too messy and have to replenish every month/so. With the CaRx — I only touch it once every 11-12mos.
Glad to see you guys are making it work with Kalk. It’s super simple and economical. I’ve done this before actually but thought it was too messy and have to replenish every month/so. With the CaRx — I only touch it once every 11-12mos.
