opinions appreciated on kh dkh adjustment

[SinisterLou]

As title states, what do you guys use to adjust these parameters. My #'s were low and am thinking of using some kalk. What do you guys use???

[Big_Pun]

I use kalk now but it's dosed with ATO through a reactor. in past I used two part dosing ESV or BRS. what ever you do make slow changes alk is a motha and can do a lot of harm, also for any tank fast changes are bad for inhabitants.

[SinisterLou]

what causes it to drop low? I currently do 10 gallon 8-10 days water change with kent reef salt. In between this I use fiji gold for calcium replenishment. Im ticked off right now my oregon tort recessed at tips not at base

[FireWater]

Depends in what is in your tank. How many corals are eating up what. I get by with water changes on my 120. I don't test religiously, I don't dose, I don't run reactors.
Are you positive your test results are accurate? Have you tested the make up water using kent to get a base line?

Like he said. If you decide to change do it slowly. If your params have been this way for a while then your coral are used to that. Any drastic changes will be catastrophic.

[SinisterLou]

1 5in clam and a bunch of lps and sps coral. Very few softies are in there.10 small fish and medium yellow tang. Ive got 10 gallons brewing now for a water change which I will test in the morning. My lps are fine but 1/3 of sps look stressed. I thought I could get by on my water changes but triple tested it and it was in between 5 and 6

[Zen Reef]

Have you tested your mg? And what's the calcium at? I know I had a hard time raising/sustaining my alk until I raised my mg.

[SinisterLou]

No test on mag yet but calcium was in the 500 to 520 range 24 hours after I did a fiji gold dose. I just dont understand how that can be high and dkh was lo

[Europhyllia]

I use the soda ash from BRS to adjust my kh right now. I used to use kalk and have it set on the RKL unit to start dripping when pH fell under a certain level (usually in the early morning hours)
Alkalinity dropping is just part of reefkeeping even if you didn't have corals (organics, etc.)

[SinisterLou]

I am greatful for the input guys and gals. This hobby sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out:at_wits_end:

[Big_Pun]

I am greatful for the input guys. This hobby sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out:at_wits_end:

then your on the right track!! lol I have one or two episodes a week. good luck and remember make sure test are good and test what you dose.

[SinisterLou]

So for now I will test my water change water, then I will test my tank before and after the water change tomorrow. The bad thing about this is Im color blind and have difficulty reading test. I have to ask my cousin or girl to help me out and theyre not always readily available

[Big_Pun]

hey hit me up tomorrow I have a Hanna checker I will test for you

[Europhyllia]

BRS also has a nice calculator:
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator#CalciumCalculator

[Paul28]

I use calcuim hydroxide in a reactor on a Ato mix only 1 time a day on a cal reactor on little over 10 drips min becuse of my load in tank , if you do not bal cal/mag your ph/dkh will never stable rember if you have your tank in a small room and you have to many people in your house co2 can rape your ph/dkh, most people get away with just waterchanges with little sps frags alot of them when stuff gets bigger people with just water changes better do them allllllll the time or start dose 2 part or cal reactor/kalk reactor alot off people forget when you breath in your house and dont open windows you will fight to get your dkh/ph lvl stable even if your mag/cal is perfect Sorry for run on and miss spells im labor for life :)

[Paul28]

o yeh TEST every thing you add :)

[SinisterLou]

hey hit me up tomorrow I have a Hanna checker I will test for you
What time will work for you?

[SinisterLou]

I use calcuim hydroxide in a reactor on a Ato mix only 1 time a day on a cal reactor on little over 10 drips min becuse of my load in tank , if you do not bal cal/mag your ph/dkh will never stable rember if you have your tank in a small room and you have to many people in your house co2 can rape your ph/dkh, most people get away with just waterchanges with little sps frags alot of them when stuff gets bigger people with just water changes better do them allllllll the time or start dose 2 part or cal reactor/kalk reactor alot off people forget when you breath in your house and dont open windows you will fight to get your dkh/ph lvl stable even if your mag/cal is perfect Sorry for run on and miss spells im labor for life :)Good advice given here and no worries on miss spells or run ons. I understood you.

[Big_Pun]

What time will work for you?

I work till 4. I'll shoot you a pm see what we can do

[allan]

Lou, I'm suffering the same issues at the moment. Tuan and Chris were a big help.

I'm not on top of it just yet, but that's because it's a gradual change.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FireWater]

Gradual is the key.

I read up on the Fiji gold. I would check the use of it. Might want to go with something more complete. Also, check the mag levels like Tuan said. If mag is low it will cause everything to be out of whack.

[Sherita]

I use Kali in my ago to keep things stable. It works great forme. BUT my tanks are not sps heavy, so it might not work for someone with lots of sticks.

[rrasco]

They are right about the mag. It depletes much slower than alk or cal, but having mag at the correct level locks the others in.

What kind of lighting do you use? I ask because if you plan to use kalk in an ATO, directly or with a reactor, your evap rate will be important to sustaining those levels. If you use MH, your evap rate may be higher than if you use LEDs, so this will affect the amount of kalk introduced to the tank through ATO. Seasonal changes in weather also play a part, summer and winter will have different evap rates, because of this, many people still end up having to dose 2-part to keep levels up. YMMV.

I tried to switch to kalk and crashed my alk. I had to wait it out to see if it could keep up with consumption, it couldn't. You're going to want to get that alk back in line quick if you are getting RTN/STN. If that's the case, it will take a day or two for the coral to stop receding. And they recede fast.