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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Kalkwasser ATO vs Manual dosing


Pjanssen

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Can anybody simplify the advantages of using Kalkwasser compared to 2 part and whether it is better to add the Kalkwasser to the ATO or manually dose. System is a 14 gallon gorgonia dominate tank. Current Alk is 9.8 and Calcium 370.Temp is 80. I know I need to bring my Calcium up and Alkalinity down at this point, but I'm looking for best option to keeping it balanced moving forward. Thanks

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On 9/22/2019 at 8:16 AM, Pjanssen said:

Can anybody simplify the advantages of using Kalkwasser compared to 2 part and whether it is better to add the Kalkwasser to the ATO or manually dose. System is a 14 gallon gorgonia dominate tank. Current Alk is 9.8 and Calcium 370.Temp is 80. I know I need to bring my Calcium up and Alkalinity down at this point, but I'm looking for best option to keeping it balanced moving forward. Thanks

Not sure I'd do kalk on such a small tank due to the potential of nuking your pH. 

 

If I did it would be kalk+vinegar to neutralize the kalk first.

 

Here's an excellent guide -- doing it right is important (like everything!):

http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html

 

(This is the only circumstance where I'd introduce organic carbon to the tank, FWIW.)

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On 10/23/2019 at 2:59 AM, mcarroll said:

Not sure I'd do kalk on such a small tank due to the potential of nuking your pH. 

 

If I did it would be kalk+vinegar to neutralize the kalk first.

 

Here's an excellent guide -- doing it right is important (like everything!):

http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html

 

(This is the only circumstance where I'd introduce organic carbon to the tank, FWIW.)

 

I've pretty much been talked out of doing Kalk on the 14 tank by a few trust worthy people.

What is fwiw?

My question now is What's the advantage to using Kalkwasser and dosing 2 part on a mixed reef system.

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3 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

 

I've pretty much been talked out of doing Kalk on the 14 tank by a few trust worthy people.

What is fwiw?

My question now is What's the advantage to using Kalkwasser and dosing 2 part on a mixed reef system.

fwiw = For What its worth

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4 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

 

I've pretty much been talked out of doing Kalk on the 14 tank by a few trust worthy people.

What is fwiw?

My question now is What's the advantage to using Kalkwasser and dosing 2 part on a mixed reef system.

Well, the only reason to do either one is for alk and callcium replacement due to coral growth, or similar demands in the tank. 

 

Kalk has the "added feature" of using up CO2 from your water, which will raise pH.

 

2-part has the "added feature" of leaving behind extra sodium and chloride ions as corals use up the calcium and (bi)carbonates to make skeleton, raising salinity.

 

Kalk is usually added slowly to minimize pH changes, but that's usually on bigger tanks where the effect is more dilute anyway. Unless you can monitor pH in real time, I dunno if I'd even try this.  If you CAN monitor pH in real time, give it a shot....you'll know when to stop before anything is hurt, but it just might be too small of a dose to make a difference to calcium or alkalinity.

 

2 Part is typically much more pH neutral no matter which type you pick to use.

 

There are other dosing options that are completely neutral on pH and salinity, but are usually more costly.

 

Pick your poison so to speak....your tank kinda determines how big a deal any of this is -- all those options might be just fine.  After that it's just your preference.

 

What I've done...

 

I've done two-part AND kalkwasser before to cut down on the amount of 2-part I was using.

 

So-called Recipe #2 (DIY 2-part) uses plain baking soda, which is probably the best all-around option. 

 

Recipe #2 adds a little CO2 when the bicarbonate mixes in the saltwater, but not much....enough to offset the pH rise from careful kalkwasser additions though.

 

(Recipe #1 uses carbonate, so actually has a similar effect of kalkwasser in raising pH, but to a lesser extent.)

 

I've also used some more neutral options, like Tropic Marine Bio Calcium, Brightwell's Liquid Reef (and the dry version Elemental) as well as the kalk+vinegar option I mentioned in the last post.  (If you have a cheap source of kalk powder, this is a pretty economical option.)

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Thanks for all the info  @mcarroll. Chemistry and I don't mix well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I got from the above is that the main reason to use Kalk is economics. Since my 29 bio cube does not use a lot of the ESV 2part that I am currently using, and everything looks really good, I should just stick with that.

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