How much can I raise my alk in one day?

[Drauka99]

Actually it's 2tsp per gallon under normal circumstances.

 

[Jakepen]

My reservoir is five gallons, I'd say my tank evaporates a half gallon daily.

 

[Drauka99]

Sounds like you are going to need to go to the max saturation

 

[sawdonkey]

Unless you have a fully loaded SPS tank, kalk will work for you for a very long time. Maybe you just have very slow evaporation? Do you live in a humid environment?

 

[Jakepen]

Unless you have a fully loaded SPS tank, kalk will work for you for a very long time. Maybe you just have very slow evaporation? Do you live in a humid environment?

Michigan, so yeah ha. How much would my tank need to evaporate daily to implement enough kalk, roughly? Possibly a gallon and up?

 

[DMan]

How can this be. 1.5dkh per day in a 30g with only lps coral. That seems like a lot. Could we see a pic. I Guess with coraline algae and some really fast growing coral its possible. But I keep a similar set up, in the sense it is 30g with nothing but lps. Some of which are growing very nicely and I don't need to add anything. 10% wc weekly keeps it all stable.
Maybe Randy can chime in. I know I've seen some literature, I think it was Randy as well. Something about an unbalanced bicarbonate or carbonate and adding supplements and just making things worse.
Sorry for the poor description. I'm just confused. Your alk was dropping 1.5dkh and increased your kalk concentration. But the alk still drops 1.5dkh over the day. How's that possible.
Here is the article I think I was referring to.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

 

[FlyinBryan]

Id spend the money and get quality Kalk. I use BRS. I just tested my parameters tonight for the first time in like 4+ weeks. I have a 150 medium load.
Just using Kalk my Ca was 430 and alk dropped to 6.1 dkh.
I bumped that up to like 8 using BRS additives.
If it's cost, you might want to consider a different hobby like fresh water.
I don't think you're going to achieve what you want with cooking supplies. Looks the same, but not.

 

[1stNoel]

What exactly is your KH dropping to? I don't think I saw that mentioned anywhere.

I can't see why you'd be going through that much KH in one day. It could be the baking soda.

I have a 300g tank and a 55g tank (each with about 30 to 40 frags), and I only go through 30 mL of KH on a daily basis (keeping them around 9.0). Try buying a $20 bottle of Alkalinity and see if it makes a difference. I'm a fan of ESV B-Ionic.

 

[Cary Hover]

Is your Magnesium level 1250- 1300? If your not maintaining alk I would guess your calcium levels are low also. Magnesium is crucial in keeping the alk and calcium where it belongs.

 

[Jakepen]

Yeah I can take a FTS when I get home later. My calcium has not dropped below 400 since I've had the tank running, about once a week I'll add additive from BRS to bump it up to 450. My magnesium, I just tested a few days ago and I was at 1300. You think baking soda could be the issue? I just assumed that it didn't make a difference how I raised my alk, as long as I was raising it. As far as cost's Bryan, I've spent thousands on my current set up. So having to spend an extra $20 on additives, isn't enough to make me consider a new hobby. My kalk is from BRS, if that makes a difference.

 

[dnyceli]

I'm trying to get my alk up. Currently I'm dosing kalk in my ATO, but I haven't figured it how much I need yet. My alk is still dropping about 1.5 per day. Can I dose 2dkh? I'm just using baking soda, dissolved in RODI.

I use the BRS Calculator because it is fairly accurate. I think they say no more than 1.4dkh per day, but you could google BRS Calculator and enter your parameters and then scroll down and read the recommendation

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

how big is the reservoir, you can only dilute 1 TSP of kalk per gallon...on ro/di

One?

Folks usually quote two level teaspoons.

You can dissolve exactly 1.5 grams per liter at 25 deg C (slightly more in colder water, slightly less in warmer water), but exactly what volume that takes up depends on the bulk density (the fluffiness) of the powder.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yeah I can take a FTS when I get home later. My calcium has not dropped below 400 since I've had the tank running, about once a week I'll add additive from BRS to bump it up to 450. My magnesium, I just tested a few days ago and I was at 1300. You think baking soda could be the issue? I just assumed that it didn't make a difference how I raised my alk, as long as I was raising it. As far as cost's Bryan, I've spent thousands on my current set up. So having to spend an extra $20 on additives, isn't enough to make me consider a new hobby. My kalk is from BRS, if that makes a difference.

What issue?

Different alk supplements generally vary only in their impact on pH, and the pH may go on to have other effects.

 

[Drauka99]

Using the reef calculator you can maintain 40 gallons(assumption since you said a 30 gallon tank, I assume a sump and subtracted some volume for rock) of water volume using 1/2 gallon of make up water of fully saturated kalk water if your ALK consumption is 1.5dkh per day. To maintain more than that you would need to increase evaporation or use 2 part as well.

If you are using 2 part then the 2 parts should be equal. Dosing is based on Alkalinity since it is a lower number and drops are easier to see in testing. Calcium may look the same on hobby tests but it only drops a small amount compared to what would amount to a large drop in alkalinity.

When just getting everything brought back up from low numbers there will be a bit of a roller coaster ride at first, at least that was my experience. I can almost tell you what the number will be now when I test each week.

 

[RoyalGrammaJohn]

According to the instructions on the back of bionic two part it says 1ml per gallon will raise dkh by 2.07 and its specifically says to not raise it by no more than that within a 24 hour period. For calc it's the same , no more than 1ml per gallon within a 24 hour period which will bring it up by 16ppm. So I assume that's where the cut off should be if your worried about putting to much. With Kalk it might be different I'm not sure.

 

[Bunkinator]

Check you calcium and Mag make sure they are in the bumpers , everything SLOW your alk is fine don't over correct , check your test kit , using a Hanna ? I prefer DKH over PPM if you are going to buy one , if you have

One?

Folks usually quote two level teaspoons. (agreed, )

Some products recommend 1 tsp Brightwell Kalk +2, some say 2 max. I use 1 tsp and dose 1000ml per day, with is the average evaporation in my tank, and seem to get the same efficacy as using 2 tsp without wasting 1/2 the product.

I have never considered baking soda as an additive, so cannot speak on that one.

good watch here http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/Kalkwasser-The-Easiest-Way-to-Maintain-Ca-Alk-&-pH/



You can dissolve exactly 1.5 grams per liter at 25 deg C (slightly more in colder water, slightly less in warmer water), but exactly what volume that takes up depends on the bulk density (the fluffiness) of the powder.

 

[sawdonkey]

Id spend the money and get quality Kalk. I use BRS. I just tested my parameters tonight for the first time in like 4+ weeks. I have a 150 medium load.
Just using Kalk my Ca was 430 and alk dropped to 6.1 dkh.
I bumped that up to like 8 using BRS additives.
If it's cost, you might want to consider a different hobby like fresh water.
I don't think you're going to achieve what you want with cooking supplies. Looks the same, but not.

I think he knows the difference between baking soda and kalk. He was just trying to correct the imbalance of alk with baking soda before relying on the balanced additive (kalk).

As for the turkey gravy he dumps in his tank, I'm not sure why he did that? Leftovers gotta go somewhere. [emoji6]

 

[Jakepen]

What issue?

Different alk supplements generally vary only in their impact on pH, and the pH may go on to have other effects.

When I said issue, I thought it was possible some alk additives will help keep it higher for longer. All my other numbers are in line, like I said calcium will go down to about 400, but I'll raise it when needed.

 

[Jakepen]

How do you dissolve kalk in RODI? All I've been doing is adding teaspoons to my cold reservoir, and stir.

 

[Jakepen]

When people say it's okay to raise my alk 1.5 in a day, does that mean it's okay to dose 1.5 dkh worth of alk in 24 hours, or it's okay to dose 3 dkh which will raise my alk roughly 1.5 over 24 hours?