Kalkwasser or 2 part?

[fritz]

I'm trying to decide on a doser for 2 part or a kalk stirrer.
Thoughts?

 

[russianmd]

It all depends, according to this article:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

 

[Dace]

Both, 2 part during the day, Kalk at night. Kalk at night will be good since your ph drops after lights turn off you wont be raising ph too high. helps balance ph

 

[strendo]

I've been doing the kalk in my office tank and its working great. The only problem is that everytime I turn the controller to the "feed" setting (same on as yours thanks fritz!) some of the top off water goes into the tank and clouds it up for a while. Anyone else having this issue (I use a jbj auto top off)

 

[ShaunW]

Two part! forget Kalk additions.

 

[alrha]

y not both

 

[SlamaJama]

Both, 2 part during the day, Kalk at night. Kalk at night will be good since your ph drops after lights turn off you wont be raising ph too high. helps balance ph

thats my way....i use BOTH

 

[ShaunW]

y not both

I don't use kalk, too much of a pain for me personally to use.

Two part seems to satisfy my Ca/Alk needs. My pH is stable at 8.4.

 

[cali_reef]

I would go for the two part doser so you don't have to do that manually everyday. Kalk will not keep up with the Ca needs in a SPS tank, unless you are evaporating a lot of water consistently.

 

[fritz]

What if it's on a controller? What if the PH drops below 8 it adds <certain amount of kalk> then waits 10 minutes. If additional <certain amount of kalk> is needed it adds an additional dosage?

 

[alrha]

kalk can just be in the top-off which you have to do anyway. (Auto-Top-Off)

 

[fritz]

I loose 3/4 of a gallon a day that could be a lot of kalk

 

[Deanos]

I loose 3/4 of a gallon a day that could be a lot of kalk

Not if it's dripped/dosed over the course of a day.

 

[Henrye]

I think the real issue, especially for me with only 24g and a top , is that you are limited in the amount of Kalk you can use based on your evaporation. You may or may not deliver enough to maintain Ca/Alk levels where you want them. A 2 part frees you from the volume limitation, and can adjust Ca and Alk independently until you are balanced.

I think there is one spot that Kalk wins over a 2 part, and that is the common situation of a chronically low pH due to CO2 in closed environments. Kalk will take CO2 (really carbonic acid in solution) and converting it to Ca carbonate, raising your pH and controlling CO2 levels without opening windows in the winter. Unfortunately, I don't have enough evaporation to deliver enough Kalk to keep my Ca above 380, but with B-Ionic I'm balanced (after initial adjustment) with a Ca of 420. My problem still remains CO2 accumulation, so I'm living with open windows and the heat cranked up. At least it hasn't really been a problem given the mild weather, but days like today do make me aware of the draft.:irked:

Henry

 

[alrha]

I loose 3/4 of a gallon a day that could be a lot of kalk

my 200gal system can sometimes use up about 4 gal of kalk in a day (with fans on to promote evaporation)

 

[fritz]

my 200gal system can sometimes use up about 4 gal of kalk in a day (with fans on to promote evaporation)

!!!!!
Wow

and you use kalk for all your top off?

 

[DevIouS]

Kalk = 1 - 2 teaspoons per gallon of RO

 

[Irisservice]

both...

 

[alrha]

and you use kalk for all your top off?

indeed.
4 gallons of water saturated via a kalkreactor (to be clear), not 4 gallons of kalk powder...

 

[alrha]

water saturated via a kalkreactor (to be clear)

ha ha, i just got that - funny.