First time Dosing Kalkwasser looking for Advice.

[Slything]

Goal: Maintain Alkalinity/Calc and help PH using Kalkwasser as my primary dosing method.

Question: How do I determine the starting amount of Kalkwasser to my tank. What concentration of mix and how much throughout a 24 hour period?
Follow on Question: Should I stop using my Co2 Scrubber if beginning to dose Kalkwasser? Unsure if this will limit me right now even if my consumption levels are pretty low.

I have read many articles, threads and videos on Kalkwasser including Randy's article on reef edition. These questions aren't coming from a lack of effort to find information. I am just very cautious when starting something new and in my 3 years reefing I had never had to dose chemicals as my Water changes were sufficient.

Planned method of dosing: 20 gallon storage container & dosing pump.

Tank Information:
Size: 200gallon DT, 75g sump. Using online calculators I determined the total volume to be approx. 200gallons.
Age: 3 months running. This is a tank upgrade from my previous 90 gallon which was running for 3 years, everything was moved over.

Daily Evaporation - Estimated close to gallon per day. Now that I am ready to start I'll get a more accurate measurement.

PH Daily Average = 8.1
PH Minimum = 8.03
PH Maximum = 8.19
I am achieving these PH levels with Co2 scrubber connected to skimmer which is pulling fresh air from outside. Before this my average PH was 7.86 Peaking only at 8.

Alkalinity Estimated Daily Consumption: 0.1 DKH.
I believe this to be very close to accurate but I previously was using Red Sea salt for my daily AWC which has elevated levels of Alk, However when stored that number drops quickly so I couldn't be sure what DKH the AWC amount would be adding daily. I am now using IO for my AWC at 1.5% or 3 gallons per day which tests around 10DKH regardless of time in storage.

 

[KStatefan]

It will not take much kalkwasser to supply 0.1 dKH per day

You can use this calculator to figure it out.

 

[Slything]

It will not take much kalkwasser to supply 0.1 dKH per day

You can use this calculator to figure it out.

Thanks, with this it is calculated based off the saturated amount so 2tsp per gallon RODI.

Is it recommended to start off using it at a saturated amount?
Would it be beneficial for me to double the amount dosed at 1tsp per gallon RODI and space it out over a longer period of time?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Not unless you're using a kalk reactor, if you add more kalk passed saturation it won't dissolve.

The rule of thumb is just mixing to saturation.

There's nothing wrong with adding less than saturated, granted your container is sealed.

 

[Slything]

One more question for you guys, I think my dosage amount for the day will be about 0.35 US gallons; 1.32 Liters; 44.9 fl oz. I didn't realize but the dosing pumps I planned to use that I was given can pump at most 1per hour. Is dosing 55ml every hour going to be problematic? I know the recommend is to dose continuously

I understand as consumption goes up this will definitely be more of a concern.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Adding 0.1% of the tank volume at once is OK if you mix it in quickly.

 

[Slything]

Adding 0.1% of the tank volume at once is OK if you mix it in quickly.

I plan to dose directly over my return pump within sump.

 

[Dom]

mixing to saturation.

What exactly does this mean?

 

[Slything]

What exactly does this mean?

Max saturation or 2 tsp per gallon of RODI.