JD'sReef":1t12a1kh said:
I know someone wants to given a simple explanation of this white powder? Lately I have been dripping with SeaChem dry CA buffer. I like doing this because it is easy for me to test the water on Sunday, then drip the proper amount that night.
I am also using B-Ionic, 3 days thought the week without testing (just adding). What would the added benefit be of dripping Kalk mix, rather then dosing with CA buffer after determining the PPM level.
J.
P.S. - I just found a little bit on the topic, but the questions still remain. If you have and insight, please.
Thanks
kalk (calcium hydoxide) should take care of both alk and ca by itself-the same should be true with b-ionic
i'd recommend using the b-ionic daily, per the directions, using a pH monitor to aid in determining your system's particular dosage
b-ionic is more cost effective on smaller volume tanks (<75gal)
kalk has some limitations-you can ONLY use it to replace topoff-otherwise you run a greater risk of screwing up the proportional balance between ca and alk-there's also the issue of how concentrated/strong a kalk mix to use-if your a beginner w/kalk, ALWAYS start out 'light'-mebbe 1/2-3/4 tsp/gallon of evap make up water
add too much kalk-you can crash your tank, and it's prob'ly easier to do that than w/a 2 parter
always add the alk component first, then the ca component-i'd recommend not waiting more than 1/2 hour to add part2-what's the sense of raising the alk without balancing it out w/the ca quickly? raising just one won't enable corals etc to use the other efficiently-they should stay in balance as often as possible
your alk could rise a tad, as can your ca
i'd recommend that until you read up abit more on kalk (TONS of great articles on both rdo's and rc's online mags-), that you try dosing w/the ionic daily -simply because of the inherent dangers of improper kalk dosing
fwiw, i've been dosing my tank in the early morning before lights on, and after lights out, w/about 15cc of each, on a system of about 40 gal in net volume, and i'll be upping it this week to one shot of about 25 cc's at nite along w/the present 15cc's in the am-the tank started out with about 5 cc's of each-as demand increased (more corals, more coralline) the dose increased
my pH hits 8.48-8.5 right after the dose, and drops to 8.42 after about an hour-a few hours later and it 'stabilizes' to about 8.3
the swings will lessen as the 'reserves' stabilize in the system, IF the dosing regimen is constant and frequent
nothing should ever be added without some type of monitoring of parameters, even if it's only pH
try 1/2 of the b-ionic dose you do 3x/week, done daily, with nothing else-see what your levels are after a week, if the ca and alk are still a tad low, increase the dose in 5cc increments for both parts, check again in a week, etc etc
if, aftera month, the levels andthe pH aren'tdrfting up to where you want them, try kalk-but i wouldn't mix both methods-too much poential for screwing up the balance
the parameters of the water you use for wc's should also be corrected/tested BEFORE being added to the system-there's no sense to keeping the system where it should be, only to skew it with a water change
slightly low levels of both alk and ca isn't nearly as bad as having the incorrect proprtions of each in the water column
keeping an appropriate Mg level will also help to keep the ca from dropping (as) quickly-coralline, for example, LOVES Mg, but will use Ca at a greater rate if the Mg level is low (as a 'substitute')
keep the changing demand factor in mind
having said all that-i don't test for alk, or ca, or mag-i use a salt that i've found to be fairly consistent with excellent alk/ca/mag levels over the years (mei's 'crystal sea'-we go through pallets of the stuff weekly at work), and i use just pH and the visual response of the tank as the indicators for the b-ionic dosing-after awhile you will be able to tell when (even) the coralline is 'happy' with what you're doing
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/sea...sort_order=normal&Subject=Randy+Holmes-Farley
