jSully Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Originally posted in the "Corals Section" since the description is "discuss the requirements and care of all types or corals".. I assumed dosing was a requirement/care of corals, however, Greenstar informed me that I posted in the wrong forum. So here goes in the general forum:: So I now have 9 SPS, 3 LPS and a couple softies. Since adding 6 SPS recently, I've got to dose calk/alk every other day. I got kalkwasser a while back so I've just been using that. I've been adding 3tsp every other day. According to the directions, its says to put it in freshwater and shake it up, then let the residue go to the bottom and filter the clean water out to add this to the tank. Well, in my opinion, that's a waste of kalk. How much of the solution is REALLY getting used? If 50% of the kalk doesn't dissolve and the other 50% gets "filtered" out since I can only add calcium enriched water, that's 50% of wasted kalk? I only have about 1/3 gallon/day evap so I can't be adding 1 gallon a day of dosed calcium. Should I throw a powerhead in a bucket with some kalk and allow it to mix for 12 hours like I do with my saltwater changes or can I shake it up and start the drip so I actually get to use all the kalk I'm dosing? Very confusing, sorry for all the ups and downs. Last night I shook up 3 tbsp of kalk in 1/3 gal freshwater about 4 times over the course of 2 hours and then let it sit overnight. The water was a chalky white when I added started dripping it this morning, but there was still a good amount of kalk that I had to 'filter' out because the directions say I can't add it. I've read of people dosing a "pinch" of kalk daily to freshwater and dumping it in the tank slowly, so what's the point of allowing the kalk to settle and then only dosing the water? Can I just mix it up and start the drip? Again, I'm sorry for all the ups and downs and confusion in this thread, I'm just not sure how all this is working and I don't want to waste kalk because the bottle tells me to. For all I know, it could be just some scheme to make you waste more kalk and buy more. Thanks for any help. -Jake EDIT:: Tank specs:: 20H - skimmerless, 4x24 HL, AC50 HOB w/ carbon/filter floss, 30lbs LR, 30lbs LS amm - 0 nitrite - 0 nitrate - ~15 temp - 79F cal - 380 (as of last night before starting the drip this am) dkh - 9 phos - 0 ph - 8.2 mg - unk, I do 20% WC weekly, however, I'm sure mg is getting eaten up somewhere. Im purchasing a mg test/mg this saturday Fantastic polyp extension on all SPS and LPS. I've been feeding flake every day since having issues with my midas blenny looking starved and I feed frozen mysis every other day. also, kind of weird and off topic, but my cheato won't grow.. any ideas why? I sitll have the rubber band on it that it had when I purchased it, but I don't want to take it off because I don't want cheato all over my display. Right now I have it hidden behind my rockwork so it still gets plenty of light, but it's hidden as well. Link to comment
jeremai Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 No no, still the wrong section - but I'll move it for you. Link to comment
frozensurfer Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Honestly, I just throw a couple spoonfulls of kalk powder into my mixing jar, shake it a bit, and start the drip. I've been doing it that way for years with no problems Link to comment
jSully Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Thanks frozen.. my only issue is for some reason I get kalk powder all over the place, and no I'm not leaking anywhere. It's gotta be getting evaporated and then the powder goes everywhere in the process. Weird.. I was looking around for articles regarding the same thing.. it says to add 15ml acetic acid (vinegar) per 1/2 tsp of kalk then add RO water to a 1qt container to bind the ions so they don't get wasted and thus will prevent heavy ph swings since the kalk won't need to use up the free CO2 in your tank. I'm thinking about giving it a try tonight when I dose.. comments/suggestions? Link to comment
qball Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Ok this is what work for me so it doesn't mean it is right. I have a 24G NanoCube with modded lighting and a few pieces of sps. I built a diy kalk dripper out of a 5liter container, an airline connected to an airpump into the container and a another airline with a flow valve to deliver the kalk into the system. The airpump ensures another pressure for the kalk to get lifted the 2ft from where the container is into the back of the tank. I drip it at a rate of 1 drop /10 sec which keeps my waterlevel stable in terms of evap. I use 3 tablespoons of Tropic Marin Kalk, which i mix with about half a cup of vinegar, it seems to dissolve beter this way, add the R/O and stir it up well and leave for about 2 hours. I then start dripping. I always have some undissolved which settles to the bottom of the container. When the container is almost empty I just add R/O again without add more kalk. It seems now that (been doing it a few months) the 5 liter container lasts about one week, and I only make a fresh mix every 4 weeks. So a long winded answer to your question - I just add more R/O until I have almost no more kalk settling and only then mix a fresh batch. To note though - the kalk mixture has a very Ph, around 12, so just dumping some in your tank might cause a shock to the system or cause your Ph to rise too quickly. Concerning the chaeto - lots of factors there... might be that your system is high on nitrates but not phosphates... Have you tried getting more flow on it? I would also try turning it over every second day so that more of it is getting light... Hope this helps, and I would also like some inputs so correct me if I'm doing something wrong... Link to comment
jSully Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 qball.. I have a spare 5 gallon jug with a lid and could do what you're suggesting, however, you said you have an air pump in the container? I'm assuming that's a typo or no? How does having an airpump pumping air into the kalk solution create a strong enough "head" to get the separate airline to travel up 2 feet to the tank? Could you explain exactly how you have it setup please? Thanks!! Link to comment
qball Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 LOL!! Noooo - not in the container.... Ok basically work like this... make sure the container has a airtight lid, very important. Drill two holes in the lid, and glue a flow valve in each hole, making sure that it is airtight. On the inside, connect a tube that runs inside the bottle/container to about 1inch from the bottom. This is to make sure that the you don't suck up the slurry at the bottom. Then connect the other valve to an airline that goes to your airpump, NEXT TO THE CONTAINER (sorry couldn't help it... ). Attach another airline tube to the other valve (the one with the tube inside the container) and take it up to the back of the tank and secure in place. Make sure it is not in the water at any time otherwise it might siphon back and cause a flood. Now open the airline valve to about 80% and the kalk valve to about 50% and switch on the airpump. After a few seconds it should start syphoning water to the tank, then start closing the kalk and air valves until you get the drip rate required. My valves are about 20% open each for 1 drop per 10 seconds.Easy! BTW test first with RO! Link to comment
qball Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 How does having an airpump pumping air into the kalk solution create a strong enough "head" to get the separate airline to travel up 2 feet to the tank? Sorry missed that - pump needs to be on always.... or just during the time you are dripping... EDIT - The air pumping in must not pump into the solution, only fill the container with air. If you pump the air into the solution the CO2 in the air will cause the solution to form undissolvable "flakes" Link to comment
frozensurfer Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I've always done this... Take an old orange juice container... the big plastic ones. Wash it out really well (corals don't like pulp) and drill a small hole in the bottom side wall. Like this insert some airline tubing and a "flow regulator" (some people I know just tie a knot in the tubing) Now you can silicone or superglue around the hole in the jug for a water tight seal. My method of dripping.... Add a few tablespoons of kalk. I don't really count how many, there is no science to it, I just put some in the jar. Fill the rest of the jar with RODI.... shake well Drip slowly over a 2 hour period or so. Some people do use vineger. Be careful, it causes algae spikes if not used properly. I don't use it, never have, probably never will. I just do this routine daily and it seems to work great for me. Cheap, easy, and makes me drink my OJ... or in this case.. cranberry juice Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php read this, it will answer all of your questions. When you decant the solution, you aren't wasting any. Link to comment
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