WTF IS WRONG WITH MY ALK

[Hinecken]

It's all about having a calcium reactor. Now that I have one I couldn't imagine running an sps dominated reef without one.

[dtfleming]

that may be my next route.

[Hinecken]

It's night and day. I don't dose anything. WC every two weeks and keep an eye on my drip rate. 1 drop/sec keeps my dKH at 10ish and my calcium at 460. The mag is taken care of through my WC's. Next to my chiller, it's the best money I've spent.

[dtfleming]

No need for dosing kalk also?

[Maeda]

yep

 

GTFO Noob.

 

Back to the matter at hand. No more calcium reactor talk.

 

I'm dosing equal parts ca to alk with a dosing pump, however i also adding a lot of alk by hand a few times a week. I want to know WHY.

 

WHY is my alk demand through the roof?

 

or possibly, the ph sky rockets up, then i precipitates to a LOW level, so I should be dosing recipe 2 instead to prevent this..

[dtfleming]

Sorry hmm, Im hoping adding Kalk to my topoff will help to maintain cal and alk. I know adding Kalk alone wont raise cal and alk. so hopefully dosing 2-part and kalk will achieve what I want. And since we both use the same recipe, it should work you u also.

[Maeda]

Sorry hmm, Im hoping adding Kalk to my topoff will help to maintain cal and alk. I know adding Kalk alone wont raise cal and alk. so hopefully dosing 2-part and kalk will achieve what I want. And since we both use the same recipe, it should work you u also.

 

 

The angry face wasn't for you dt, or hinecken (nice mahi again). I KNOW that a calcium reactor could easily do this, but for now i want to stick it out this way, since I already have a lot of money in suppliments and dosing equiptment and automation equipment.

[Hinecken]

Nope. Calcium reactors are mis-named. They should really be called dKH reactors. The calcium is a bi-product. For every point you raise your dKH, the calcium goes up about 20ppm. So long as you start with a decent base rate of calcium in your fresh salt, say around 380-400, by monitoring your dKH you can raise your calcium. My fresh salt water (oceanic salt) reads at 400 calcium and 7dKH when mixed. By raising the dKH to 10 I hold my calcium level steady at 460-480. No dosing, no mess, no fuss. I test once a week or before I add anything. I have no worries about dropping my Ph because the effluent drip goes directly into my sump intake, which is where my skimmer also dumps. It's the most turbulent area in the entire system and allows for almost instant gas exchange. One thing though, I run my reactor with Ph controller and wouldn't think of using a reactor without one. Thanks to the controller, since January I've only used 200lbs of CO2, by my calculation, I'll only have to touch the reactor or CO2 once a year! Check out my tank thread, I explain the reactor set-up in it. Also look at the last page of the thread and you'll see what two months of growth looks like.

 

EDIT: My sincere apology for the temporary derail, back to the topic at hand.

 

EDIT#2

The angry face wasn't for you dt, or hinecken (nice mahi again). I KNOW that a calcium reactor could easily do this, but for now i want to stick it out this way, since I already have a lot of money in suppliments and dosing equiptment and automation equipment.

 

The best advice I can give you, you probably don't want to hear. There comes a point in time where you need to just cut your losses. If it were me, I would sell off the equipment and put the money made towards a reactor. Truth be told, after you sell everything it'll probably cost you next to nothing to set up. Water testing and fluctuating parameters drive me friggin nuts, I can only imagine the frustration you are going through.

[bdare]

I really think you might be precipitating out the extra alk if you're adding recipie 1 to play catchup. Try adding recipie #2 for a week or two for the "catch up" doses and I'll be willing to bet you see a difference. It worked wonders for me!

 

If you are adding Kalk stop that for the time being as well.

[Maeda]

I really think you might be precipitating out the extra alk if you're adding recipie 1 to play catchup. Try adding recipie #2 for a week or two for the "catch up" doses and I'll be willing to bet you see a difference. It worked wonders for me!

 

If you are adding Kalk stop that for the time being as well.

 

I havn't touched the kalk stuff just yet. The nature of the beast bugs the crap out of me.

 

I'll give recipe 2 a shot for this week, and see what happens... and if all else fails I'll get a calcium reactor.

 

I'm upgrading to a 100g in like a month anyway.

[rhunter513]

Hey Maeda,

 

Thanks for the kind words. I am confused though (as a noob would be right Maeda) why are you asking the question and crying about your alk. From what I can tell you know everything and are the nano reef guru....huh weird.

 

My prayers are with you.

 

Sincerly,

 

You're hero!

[bdare]

I've got a litermeter III for my 2 part dosing. For a 100 gallon tank a Ca reactor would prolly be a much better investment. For smaller tanks however I got to go with the LM.

[rhunter513]

Excuse me again Maeda sir. Perhaps when you have time, if its not bother, maybe you can read this article.

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.php

 

Again my prayers are with you!

 

You're hero

[Hinecken]

Hey Maeda,

 

Thanks for the kind words. I am confused though (as a noob would be right Maeda) why are you asking the question and crying about your alk. From what I can tell you know everything and are the nano reef guru....huh weird.

 

My prayers are with you.

 

Sincerly,

 

You're hero!

 

n00b,

You have no business posting in the advanced topics forum. Your post was bad advice, period. Equal parts dosing when you don't need both parts equally is retarded. He's asking the question because he obviously doesn't have the answer. Now go back to the beginner forum and learn something before you hurt yourself.

[filefish949]

perhaps we should move this thread to the lounge

[Izzue]

[Maeda]

perhaps we should move this thread to the lounge

 

Whats the advanced topics area for if I can't call people noobs.

I posed it here so I could avoid advice like "test your magnesium" or advice like yours rhunter.

 

I'm sure i'll see that by dosing equal parts buffer and calcium i'll have... the same problem i'm having now thanks.

 

Ok here's a better question for you non-noobs in here.

 

Why is it that when I dose Seachems reef builder and reef complete I don't run into this problem? Is this a problem specific to using solely sodium carbonate?

[Hinecken]

What are the readings of your newly mixed SW before you add anything?

[Maeda]

What are the readings of your newly mixed SW before you add anything?

 

Varies. I've gotten 7 dkh at the top of the bucket, and now i'm at the bottom its testing 9 dkh.

 

It's been pretty steady as of late. Last 3 wc's i tested it at 9.

[filefish949]

I'm sure i'll see that by dosing equal parts buffer and calcium i'll have... the same problem i'm having now thanks.

 

 

this is how randy explained itto me

 

quote name="Randy Holmes-Farley" ]

I'd use about 405 grams (about 3.5 moles) of that product in one gallon, and 368 grams (about 3.5 moles) of anhydrous sodium carbonate in the other.

[Hinecken]

Wow, varying baselines are going to require varying dosage rates. That'll get old quick. I can't really offer any great advice to your problem. If it were me, reactor talk aside, I'd do a few water changes without dosing to get my tank to a steady baseline, then start dosing again and see what happens. Could be a build up of idk in your water that is keeping you from getting to the right level. Again, I'm really not sure, but water changes to achieve a baseline won't hurt the situation.

[filefish949]

Wow, varying baselines are going to require varying dosage rates. That'll get old quick. I can't really offer any great advice to your problem. If it were me, reactor talk aside, I'd do a few water changes without dosing to get my tank to a steady baseline, then start dosing again and see what happens. Could be a build up of idk in your water that is keeping you from getting to the right level. Again, I'm really not sure, but water changes to achieve a baseline won't hurt the situation.

 

 

corrals use up alk and ca at a constant ratio, many have used 2-part dosing for years very sucsessfully, the only problem with 2-part for the non n00b is the potential for a long term chloride ion imbalance if the WCs are not kept up with

 

reactors have they're drawbacks as well like the potential for Po4 and other nastys being released when the substrate disolves... both methods are equly valid methods of calcium and alkilinity suplimentation, I have used both for years with great sucsess both ways

[Maeda]

this is how randy explained itto me

 

moler mass vs dry weight then? That discrepancy in terms alone explains a lot.

...so by mr. farley's statement to you, i'm probably overdosing my alk supplement because i'm using dry weight in grams and should convert over to mol.

 

I would think varying baselines won't matter so much (to a certain extent), because every batch of salt is different. I KNOW that not everyone changes their dosage according to their salt batch. I don't mind if my dkh is anywhere from 9-12, but for some reason just recently it's been a problem.

 

another thing to add about reactors, is that on such a small system volume (the tank in question is about 30+ gallons), the potential for a malfunction crashing the tank is much higher. I know that when I stock up my next tank i'll probably be moving onto the bottle. I already have the C02 bottle filled and waiting.

[Hinecken]

corrals use up alk and ca at a constant ratio, many have used 2-part dosing for years very sucsessfully, the only problem with 2-part for the non n00b is the potential for a long term chloride ion imbalance if the WCs are not kept up with

 

reactors have they're drawbacks as well like the potential for Po4 and other nastys being released when the substrate disolves... both methods are equly valid methods of calcium and alkilinity suplimentation, I have used both for years with great sucsess both ways

 

That was a really strange reply to my post. I never said both ways don't work. They absolutely do and I too have used two part solutions with fantastic success. I said to do a few water changes to get a nice baseline, then start the dosing over again to achieve the correct balance.

 

Maeda - I wouldn't expect you to change your dosage rate for every batch of salt, but now that your SPS are really taking off, that varying baseline can cause you headache. Your inhabitants are obviously using up more of the elements in water and therefor your dosage needs to reflect that. The weight measurement is definitely a step in the right direction though. I think by the end of this thread we'll all have learned something new.

[Maeda]

I think by the end of this thread we'll all have learned something new.

 

If I don't setup my new display first. filefish is giving me a case of big tank envy.