kalkwasser dosing question

Mike Arnold · Apr 11, 2022

Just curious about the amount of kalkwasser that I'm dosing

This is a new tank (2 months cycled after 4 month fish cycle)

Waterbox 135.4 (maybe 120gallons of total water volume)

I'm dosing 157.7 ml/hour of saturated brs pharma kalk with a Kamor X1 Pro (about 1 gallon/day of saturated kalk, 2 tsp/gallon)

I want to increase the dose to try and raise my PH, but seems like I'm already dosing a lot of kalk for a tank that just has a few fish and no corals. I'm just now starting to see some coralline algae.

current parameters:

Ca: 453
dKH: 9.7
PO4: 0.0
NO3: 22.9 (over feeding via AFS) its turned off now
PH: 7.8 to 8.15

Here's what my tank looks like now.

HuduVudu · Apr 11, 2022

Mike Arnold said:
Just curious about the amount of kalkwasser that I'm dosing

This is a new tank (2 months cycled after 4 month fish cycle)

Waterbox 135.4 (maybe 120gallons of total water volume)

I'm dosing 157.7 ml/hour of saturated brs pharma kalk with a Kamor X1 Pro (about 1 gallon/day of saturated kalk, 2 tsp/gallon)

I want to increase the dose to try and raise my PH, but seems like I'm already dosing a lot of kalk for a tank that just has a few fish and no corals. I'm just now starting to see some coralline algae.

current parameters:

Ca: 453
dKH: 9.7
PO4: 0.0
NO3: 22.9 (over feeding via AFS) its turned off now
PH: 7.8 to 8.15
View attachment 2630835

Here's what my tank looks like now. View attachment 2630836

You need to know what your room CO2 is. If you don't you will forever be fighting windmills.

Mike Arnold · Apr 11, 2022

HuduVudu said:
You need to know what your room CO2 is. If you don't you will forever be fighting windmills.

I forgot to mention that I'm running a canister of CO2 scrubbing material with a hose into the attic, and the weather is relatively nice here so the doors are open most of the day. I was planning on developing a better solution for Co2 scrubbing, but figured that I have a little time before it gets too hot this summer.

PH doesn't really change either way, wether I'm if I'm scrubbing the Co2 or not

How would I measure Co2?

HuduVudu · Apr 11, 2022

Mike Arnold said:
I forgot to mention that I'm running a canister of CO2 scrubbing material with a hose into the attic, and the weather is relatively nice here so the doors are open most of the day. I was planning on developing a better solution for Co2 scrubbing, but figured that I have a little time before it gets too hot this summer.

PH doesn't really change either way, wether I'm if I'm scrubbing the Co2 or not

How would I measure Co2?

I wouldn't make assumptions about CO2 levels. It's better to test and be sure so that you can make decisions on solid information.

The testers can be had easily on EBay.

co2 monitor for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for co2 monitor at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

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I have one sitting on my desk right now because it is that important. A quick note about my situation to maybe help you better understand why I am adamant about it. I leave both windows in my small apartment open all day. I see about 450ppm when this is happening. I close the windows for my sleep cycle and when I wake up in the morning the CO2 is 1600ppm. The apartment is small 1000ft2 with 2 people.

CO2 is real and IMO it is as important to know what it is as it is to know your alk and calcium.

My 2 cents.

Mike Arnold · Apr 11, 2022

HuduVudu said:
I wouldn't make assumptions about CO2 levels. It's better to test and be sure so that you can make decisions on solid information.

The testers can be had easily on EBay.

co2 monitor for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for co2 monitor at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

I have one sitting on my desk right now because it is that important. A quick note about my situation to maybe help you better understand why I am adamant about it. I leave both windows in my small apartment open all day. I see about 450ppm when this is happening. I close the windows for my sleep cycle and when I wake up in the morning the CO2 is 1600ppm. The apartment is small 1000ft2 with 2 people.

CO2 is real and IMO it is as important to know what it is as it is to know your alk and calcium.

My 2 cents.

awesome, thanks for the clarification

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 11, 2022

You can determine the alk or calcium dose with your daily delivery with this calculator:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

reef.diesyst.com

tapeworm123 · May 6, 2022

You need photo synthesis to raise PH not kalk. Your alk is at 9.7 your at the max your system can take of kalk. Also sounds like your chasing ph, that a trend in the hobby right now. I think you will be more happy having a thriving reef instead of wasting time and money chasing thing that come along the way like PH. More corals more photosynthesis more stability and the higher ph will come.