Hello all,
So i have a 120 gallon tank for a little over two years.
It is a mixed reef, but mostly focusing on Gorgonians, mushrooms, Anthalia. I do have some LPS such as a big chalice, a couple of acans and a torch. The SPS i have just include monti, and 1-2" in frags.
Anyhow, until recently, i was relying exclusively on using Kalk for my calcium and alkalinity needs. Now, when i first tried adding kalk to my top off, i would get frustrated by the white "storm" that would develop until the kalk would settle, so i would first add kalk to some water, and then wait for it to settle and then add that water to my top off, thinking that it just higher concentration.
That worked for quite some time. I didn't test my alkalinity or calcium very often, but something like 6 months in, i tested, things seemed fine, i had great growth and so i didn't really worry about it.
My corals still tend to be very helpfu, but as i learned and read more, i decided i should be more careful about my alk, and realized that trying to add only saturated water to my top-off may not work the way i was hoping for.
So i tested my alkalinity about 2 months ago, and voila, i had extremely low dKH, i mean 5.6 dkH or so.
I began to try and raise it. At first i would slowly add BRS sodium bicarbonate (in the recommended dosage) and then try and redo my kalkwasser. But even after directly adding kalk to my top off, and supposedly getting saturated top off water, my alk would slowly drop. Apparently kalk wasn't enough for my system as i was already heading into pH of 8.5 or so. This surprised me greatly, as i said my corals didn't seem to be much of a load.
So then trying to figure out out how much i was short on, i started to supplement my kalk with using 2 part.
At first i was just using the sodium bi carbonate and then after i tested my calcium which showed CA at 380 or so, i started to also dose with sodium chloride.
Here is the problem, with kalk in my top off, i am having to dose 50 ml a day in order to maintain my alkalinity of about 7.5.
THis seems a bit much right? BRS recommends for a 130 gallon system (my 120 gallon plus sump volume) to be .2 ml x 130= 26 ml a day. i am adding 2x that AND adding kalk to my system.
I must be doing something wrong right? And yet i am double checking my dK values with both red sea and hannah.
Should i just stop dosing kalk and go to 2 part?
So i have a 120 gallon tank for a little over two years.
It is a mixed reef, but mostly focusing on Gorgonians, mushrooms, Anthalia. I do have some LPS such as a big chalice, a couple of acans and a torch. The SPS i have just include monti, and 1-2" in frags.
Anyhow, until recently, i was relying exclusively on using Kalk for my calcium and alkalinity needs. Now, when i first tried adding kalk to my top off, i would get frustrated by the white "storm" that would develop until the kalk would settle, so i would first add kalk to some water, and then wait for it to settle and then add that water to my top off, thinking that it just higher concentration.
That worked for quite some time. I didn't test my alkalinity or calcium very often, but something like 6 months in, i tested, things seemed fine, i had great growth and so i didn't really worry about it.
My corals still tend to be very helpfu, but as i learned and read more, i decided i should be more careful about my alk, and realized that trying to add only saturated water to my top-off may not work the way i was hoping for.
So i tested my alkalinity about 2 months ago, and voila, i had extremely low dKH, i mean 5.6 dkH or so.
I began to try and raise it. At first i would slowly add BRS sodium bicarbonate (in the recommended dosage) and then try and redo my kalkwasser. But even after directly adding kalk to my top off, and supposedly getting saturated top off water, my alk would slowly drop. Apparently kalk wasn't enough for my system as i was already heading into pH of 8.5 or so. This surprised me greatly, as i said my corals didn't seem to be much of a load.
So then trying to figure out out how much i was short on, i started to supplement my kalk with using 2 part.
At first i was just using the sodium bi carbonate and then after i tested my calcium which showed CA at 380 or so, i started to also dose with sodium chloride.
Here is the problem, with kalk in my top off, i am having to dose 50 ml a day in order to maintain my alkalinity of about 7.5.
THis seems a bit much right? BRS recommends for a 130 gallon system (my 120 gallon plus sump volume) to be .2 ml x 130= 26 ml a day. i am adding 2x that AND adding kalk to my system.
I must be doing something wrong right? And yet i am double checking my dK values with both red sea and hannah.
Should i just stop dosing kalk and go to 2 part?
