Took my calcium reactor offline...

[Maximus]

Due to my old friend, Mr. Kalkwasser!! I began adding kalk to my water top off reservoir and it has kept my alk and calcium steady over the past few weeks. I turned off the reactor a couple weeks ago and wondered if the kalk would be enough for my corals. Sure enough, the levels have remained rock steady! My alk sits at 10 dkh and calcium at 400+. Hopefully, the kalk will be sufficient enough for the corals over the long haul.

 

[m and m]

was your cal rex dialed in and working fine? I always say stay with whats working. Why change somthing when its not broken.

 

[m and m]

Also congrates on the rock solid ALK so many reefers have issue with that and it effects there tank negitivly.

 

[Maximus]

Yeah, the reactor was working fine but I had a feeling the reactor increased phosphates. I bet every time the media was broken down, phosphates were released into the tank. The stand also has much more room now which is a plus.

 

[m and m]

Yeah, the reactor was working fine but I had a feeling the reactor increased phosphates. I bet every time the media was broken down, phosphates were released into the tank. The stand also has much more room now which is a plus.

Yea i hate cluttered stands im going to venture out and empty my tank to remove my sump from under the stand and put it next to the tank in a cabnet so its more easy to get to and put all my wirering and other things under the tank... Its just so tight down there.

 

[Maximus]

Good idea. I love an open stand with lots of room.

 

[m and m]

Im just going to buld somthing small that i can lift it right up and have half the sump exsposed and then have a 24x24 frag tank on top. with all my crontroller parts, zeo rex and all my other rex inside the stand. And make a nice stand next to the FT for my Labtop and controller and such.

 

[subielover]

I love kalkwasser, I try to tell as many people as I can that it is the first thing you should look into once corals are added.

 

[Paul_N]

Nice to hear. How many coral do you have(number and size)? I always wondered what the limit was where you could get away with just dosing kalk. I will always dose kalk whether I have a calcium reactor or just dose 2 parts. It just always seems like kalk is the missing piece of the puzzle for stability in my tanks.

 

[raymond]

i like the kalk better then a reactor because i use it in my auto topp off so with no cal reactor its one less piece of equipment to take care of, the simpler the better

 

[roktsintst]

What a coincidence... About 3 months ago I took my massive calcium reactor offline as well and have been using a kalk reactor. it has done pretty well but doesn't quite keep up. I need to find a way to bump up my alk a little. I think some basic 2 part will do the trick. My calcium reactor was always clogging and my alk fluctuated too much. My kalk reactor has been great so far! Plus my corals look better and are growing faster. BTW, I have a 300 gallon sps tank with nice colonies. I do have to fill my kalk reactor about once a week but it is quick and easy.

 

[johnanddawn]

i have always used kalk in a dripper for all my top off, and only sup with 2 part if need be. most people i think would be suprized at what kalk can do in an average tank. full blown sps tanks with mature colonies well thats another story but the average mixed garden reef with a few sps frags kalk can be more then enough

 

[fsn77]

I'm curious about the tank size and amounts / types of coral, too.
Is your top-off reservoir constantly / intermittently mixed, or does is sit "idle" once you mix the kalk in?

 

[m and m]

I'm curious about the tank size and amounts / types of coral, too.
Is your top-off reservoir constantly / intermittently mixed, or does is sit "idle" once you mix the kalk in?

From my understanding i think its adgatated once in a while. Please dont take my answer and run but i beleiev its either mioxed in with top off or in a chamber being adgateted then added to the tank.

 

[btkrausen]

I'm curious about the tank size and amounts / types of coral, too.
Is your top-off reservoir constantly / intermittently mixed, or does is sit "idle" once you mix the kalk in?

For kalk, the powder is generally added it, and then thoroughly mixed. You then have to wait until it settles down to start using it for dosing. Additionally, you can to dose from the top, trying to avoid getting the actual kalk powder in the tank. You want the result of the reaction of the powder in the tank, not the powder itself.

 

[m and m]

For kalk, the powder is generally added it, and then thoroughly mixed. You then have to wait until it settles down to start using it for dosing. Additionally, you can to dose from the top, trying to avoid getting the actual kalk powder in the tank. You want the result of the reaction of the powder in the tank, not the powder itself.

Thanks for correcting me looks like i was wrong. I though people added it to there top off water and just put it in the sump?

 

[btkrausen]

Thanks for correcting me looks like i was wrong. I though people added it to there top off water and just put it in the sump?

No problem, kalk is just something I'm very familiar with, as I've been doing it a long time. This is the same concept as a reactor, where the powder stays at the bottom, and the water going to the tank goes out of the reactor from the top.

 

[Maximus]

I have a 100g tank with 25-30 frags of acros and montis. I admit, there isn't a whole lot of calcium uptake because the corals are all basically frags. As far as dosing the kalk, all I do is add 1 teaspoon/gallon to my 18g top off reservoir and mix it with a mj 1200 for a few hours. I use a Kent Marine float valve and gravity feed the water to my tank. I'm sure as the corals grow, and calcium uptake increases, I may have to either put the reactor online (minimally) or just dose a small amount of 2 part solution. I could also use more kalk as the saturation point of kalkwasser is 2 teaspoons/gallon and so far, I am only using 1 teaspoon/gallon.

 

[purplereef]

Hey Sang, can we get a picture of your tank? Pretty please.

 

[Maximus]

LOL, hey Dan (I hope it's Dan from RC?)! I really do not like my picture taking ability, especially considering I don't have a dslr camera. I promise, as soon as I buy one, I will post pics. My tank is also fairly new (8 months or so) so there wouldn't be a lot to look at anyways. One thing that I just remembered was that my sps have been growing slow. I'm really used to fast growing acros and for some reason, they haven't picked up steam, until very recently. Could it be a coincidence or could the kalk have been the necessary component that jump started the growth?