Treefer32
Valuable Member
After 7-8 years of maintaining a 340 gallon mixed reef with 3 part and trace elements, Maybe it's the spring or I'm tired of maintaining the 3 part. But, it's time for a change. I realize there's no perfect solution, so looking for the best solution. I've researched 3- 4 options, I really don't like any of them.
Pain points:
1. Raise average PH from 7.8 - 8.05 to 8.1 - 8.3
2. Decrease maintenance. With dosing 200 mil per day on 1.5 liter containers + am dosing around 1.5 liters per day of kalkwasser to supplement the alk and calcium dosing, I'm refilling them every 5-6 days.
3. Dosing lines clog / fail resulting in alk and ph swings. (ph drops down to 7.5)
4. Salinity rises over time. If I forget to check it may have risen by .002 from 1.026 to 1.028 over a couple months.
Options:
1. KalkWasser in my 75 gallon top off container:
Pro: Should raise PH further than it is would be very low maintenance
Con: I use the same container to transfer water for water changes to my water change bin. I couldn't use the freshwater bin to transfer water to my salt mixing bin automatically. Would have to be filled independently. For larger water changes (say 50%) I need both bins 150 gallons on hand. I add 75 gallons of premixed saltwater to the display, then transfer the other 75 fresh water over to the mix and mix a second batch right away to complete the 150 gallon water change. If there's kalk in it, I can't do this. Unmeasured dosing, dependent on changing evaporation rates. May or may not be enough kalkwasser to maintain levels. Would probably still need to maintain 2 part to ensure enough is being dosed.
2. Use a standing 5 gallon pale to dose Kalkwasser from with a dosing pump:
Pro: Somewhat easy to maintain, wouldn't affect my storage bins. Con: Would probably need to be filled every 2 days if dosing 100% from kalkwasser. Would need another dosing pump if my 3 part still needs to be in operation.
3. Purchase a Kalk stirrer:
Pros - Takes up a lot less room, and much less maintenance (potentially).
Cons: Costly, requires additional plumbing, my understanding is that dosing is still based on evaporation, would most likely still need to keep 2 part operational, another reactor that takes up space and more plumbing lines to track. Reviews aren't great on these as dispensing lines can clog up.
4. Calcium reactor: Pros would be ultra low maintenance for alk and calcium as well as some trace elements.
Cons: Costly, and would have Ph lowering effects would be opposite of one of my pain points.
5. Running skimmer line outside: Pros: Should positively impact PH without reactors or stirrers.
Cons: Still need to maintain dosing regimen, requires me drilling a hole through the side of my house. My neighborhood does Aireal spraying for mosquitos in the summer, highly toxic to biological biomes. Could run carbon in-line, is a lot of work to setup and fear that air born insecticides could still make it through.
6. CO2 Scrubber, tried this, only raised PH by .1 at most from 7.8 to 7.9 as my low (with new media).
I'm leaning towards a Kalk stirrer for the PH effects, should be low maintenance. Should raise PH. I don't like it's cost and the reviews are mixed on them.
Maybe I try doing the bucket version. Put my top off pump in the 5 gallon pale and see how much kalkwater I go through a week and see how often I have to fill it. If it has the PH effects I hope it has, then I can look at a Kalk stirrer to save room and frequency of needing to fill the bucket.
The ice cap stirrer rated for 300+ gallons is around $440, plus I'd probably need a different top off pump than I have. The I currently have uses 1/2" flex hose. I have 10 ft plus 5 vertical feet that my top off bin (75 gallon drum) needs to push water to the sump. So, it needs to be a larger pump. Not sure the stirrer could handle that. Anything smaller wouldn't handle the vertical height.
Interested in what others do to have low maintenance stable dosing methods?
Pain points:
1. Raise average PH from 7.8 - 8.05 to 8.1 - 8.3
2. Decrease maintenance. With dosing 200 mil per day on 1.5 liter containers + am dosing around 1.5 liters per day of kalkwasser to supplement the alk and calcium dosing, I'm refilling them every 5-6 days.
3. Dosing lines clog / fail resulting in alk and ph swings. (ph drops down to 7.5)
4. Salinity rises over time. If I forget to check it may have risen by .002 from 1.026 to 1.028 over a couple months.
Options:
1. KalkWasser in my 75 gallon top off container:
Pro: Should raise PH further than it is would be very low maintenance
Con: I use the same container to transfer water for water changes to my water change bin. I couldn't use the freshwater bin to transfer water to my salt mixing bin automatically. Would have to be filled independently. For larger water changes (say 50%) I need both bins 150 gallons on hand. I add 75 gallons of premixed saltwater to the display, then transfer the other 75 fresh water over to the mix and mix a second batch right away to complete the 150 gallon water change. If there's kalk in it, I can't do this. Unmeasured dosing, dependent on changing evaporation rates. May or may not be enough kalkwasser to maintain levels. Would probably still need to maintain 2 part to ensure enough is being dosed.
2. Use a standing 5 gallon pale to dose Kalkwasser from with a dosing pump:
Pro: Somewhat easy to maintain, wouldn't affect my storage bins. Con: Would probably need to be filled every 2 days if dosing 100% from kalkwasser. Would need another dosing pump if my 3 part still needs to be in operation.
3. Purchase a Kalk stirrer:
Pros - Takes up a lot less room, and much less maintenance (potentially).
Cons: Costly, requires additional plumbing, my understanding is that dosing is still based on evaporation, would most likely still need to keep 2 part operational, another reactor that takes up space and more plumbing lines to track. Reviews aren't great on these as dispensing lines can clog up.
4. Calcium reactor: Pros would be ultra low maintenance for alk and calcium as well as some trace elements.
Cons: Costly, and would have Ph lowering effects would be opposite of one of my pain points.
5. Running skimmer line outside: Pros: Should positively impact PH without reactors or stirrers.
Cons: Still need to maintain dosing regimen, requires me drilling a hole through the side of my house. My neighborhood does Aireal spraying for mosquitos in the summer, highly toxic to biological biomes. Could run carbon in-line, is a lot of work to setup and fear that air born insecticides could still make it through.
6. CO2 Scrubber, tried this, only raised PH by .1 at most from 7.8 to 7.9 as my low (with new media).
I'm leaning towards a Kalk stirrer for the PH effects, should be low maintenance. Should raise PH. I don't like it's cost and the reviews are mixed on them.
Maybe I try doing the bucket version. Put my top off pump in the 5 gallon pale and see how much kalkwater I go through a week and see how often I have to fill it. If it has the PH effects I hope it has, then I can look at a Kalk stirrer to save room and frequency of needing to fill the bucket.
The ice cap stirrer rated for 300+ gallons is around $440, plus I'd probably need a different top off pump than I have. The I currently have uses 1/2" flex hose. I have 10 ft plus 5 vertical feet that my top off bin (75 gallon drum) needs to push water to the sump. So, it needs to be a larger pump. Not sure the stirrer could handle that. Anything smaller wouldn't handle the vertical height.
Interested in what others do to have low maintenance stable dosing methods?
