Kalkwasser and other questions.

[muzz]

Hello all, I have a question regarding the usage of kalkwasser for all top off water. I have used kalkwasser for all my top off for the last year or so. I recently set up a calcium reactor, since the kalk could not keep up with demand.

My system is a 125g display tank, a 75g sump, and a 60g frag tank. Actual water volume is about 240g. I evaporate about 4 to 5 gallons a day using fans on display tank to keep temperatures stable. My main display tank is on first floor of my house, and the sump and frag tank are in the basement. So I have no need for a chiller. I run 3 400w 12k reeflux bulbs(MH) with no actinic supplementation. My frag tank uses the same bulb and wattage.

I have the 3 liter ultralith reactor, and run about 2l of zeolith in it. I think this is less than recommended, but if I add more media, I can not "pump" the stones then to clean them. I also can not afford to get a new reactor. Do you think that this is not utilizing the full potential of the ultralith system? Should I add another liter or so of media in a bag in the sump? Or just keep it the way I have it?

Here is my current dosing schedule. I feed my fish a lot, so I tend to have a problem keeping phosphates down. I think that is what fuels hair algae, but I do not have a photometer for testing phosphates. Hobbyist test kits read zero though.
Ultrabio- 12 drops daily
Ultrabak-3.5ml daily
Ultra min s - 3.5ml daily
Ultra organic- 7.5 ml daily
Ultra amin- 7.5ml daily

Is this dosing schedule sound good to you? I have been doing this for months, and things do look well. My corals are getting a deeper color, which is what I am after right now. But like I said, phosphates are hard to keep under control, or something is. I did add some Ultra power phos media to a reactor and it has helped to get rid of the hair algea,. I know it is not recommended to use GFO with Ultralith, but I wanted to give it a try, and did so slowly.

My main question for this post was about the kalkwasser. Now that I am running a calcium reactor, should I discontinue using kalk for top off water, and use straight RO/DI water? If so, can you tell me why exactly? I was told that kalk somehow binds phosphates or something, and am a little confused. If running kalk is defeating what the ultraliith is trying to do, then there is no need to run it. But if I do stop using it, how should I maintain my pH levels? I assumed that the kalk is what helps to keep my pH stable, which runs between 7.88 and 8.03.

I know that I have asked many questions, but I am just trying to understand more of what I am using, so I can make sure my livestock is as healthy as could be. Thank you very much,

Jay

[Stoneyscoral]

Jay, I run a calcium reactor as well for my prop tanks and display. If possible the effluent from your calcium reactor can be dripped into your skimmer which will help eliminate any free CO2. I personally would continue in your efforts to eliminate phosphates from your tank. Reefrocker has had great success with Fauna's Ultra Phos in getting his phospates down and then ultrabak to keep them there. A few Mexican Turbo's wouldn't hurt either so long as the algea you are fighting isn't Bryopsis.

To help with keeping your PH constant consider running your frag tank or a fuge on a reverse light cycle.

I have never used Kalk as long as I had the opportunity to run another body of water on a reverse cycle and my ph has always been at or around 8.2.

Adding additional Ultralith media in a bag might not be a bad idea, I am sure Claude or Reefrockerlive will chime in on this one.

[muzz]

Thanks for the info. I hope they do chime in too.

I run my frag tank, one 400w halide, on a reverse cycle as my main tank. But I just hooked up the calcium reactor about 2 weeks ago, so maybe I will pull the kalk offline and see how things go.

I have had very good luck with the ultra phos as well, but I use Rod's food daily, along with pellets and frozen mysis. So I am sure that contributes to my algal issues.

I have fought the "hair" algae for a long time, and am slowly winning the battle. But over the last two weeks or so, I see it starting to pop up a little here and there. I want to get rid of it as soon as possible. To get rid of most of it, I cut way back on feeding, and got new DI filter, and that worked well. But I like to feed my fish and corals, I like to see them nice and healthy. When I slow down on feeding, my blue tang does not look as well.

But the main thing is, I see other people's tanks in photos that use either zeovit or fauna marin ultralith, and I see no algae. There rocks are clean, covered with coraline only. My rocks are covered with lobophora. It is a leathery brown algae that is a nightmare. I can not pick it or scrape it from the rocks, becasue I can not remove my rock without taking down everyhting. And unless I get a new tank, that is not going to happen. Maybe the wife will let me get the 300g I want?

I may try adding media(ultralith stones) in a bag along with using the reactor. It may help, not sure though. I think my water tests at zero phosphates because the algaes are using up the phosphates as fast as they are put into the water or produced. Lowering phosphates has been an 8 month battle, or at least battling the algae has taken that long. I am learning patience though, and learning to just live with some of it.

[Stoneyscoral]

Looks like you have your bases covered. I haven't had lobophora in my tank before, sounds like a tough one. What types of hebivores do you have currently(besides your blue tang)?

Maybe AlgeaX will be your magic bullet???

[muzz]

I have yellow tang, lawnmower blenny, dragon goby, 6 line wrasse, pair of saddleback clowns(black variant), one false percula, 2 evansi anthias(pair). I have 4 different types of snails, blue leg, red leg, zebra, and scarlet hermit crabs. All my turbo snails dies though when I raised my mag thinking the fern type of hair algae was bryopsis. It did nothing but kill off half, if not more, of my snail population.

According to research that I did on lobophora, the only thing out there that eats it is possibly a Naso tang. Urchins will not really touch it either. I had no algaes present really until I put a piece of branch rock in my tank from a lfs. I never should have done that, because it introduced to 2 types of algae that I have been battling. I do not even have a positive ID on the hair algae. It may be derbesia, bryopsis, "fern", or something.

I just hate to add things(chemicals) to the tank without knowing exactly what it is. From what Claude says though, after it dies you have to maually remove it. That way it will not be able to sit and release toxins into the tank. The prroblem with the lobophora is, I can not manually remove it. When it grows on the glass, it grows in a perfect circle, and can be pulled off rather easily. It looks like a circular piece of leather, or a tobacco leaf. Pretty thick too, about same thickness as an oak leaf. I have had circles of it 6" in diameter. You just can not pull it off of rock because of all the nooks and crannies it grows into. The smallest piece of it will regrow, and it seems to reproduce like mad. Very strange stuff. I only found information on it at wet web media. And notmuch info either.

[ReefRockerLive]

Hi Muzz, to further deal with the algae your seeing I would recommend slightly increasing UltraBak to 4.5ml daily. This will increase the chances of removing algae and decreasing phosphate.

For your system I would run a total of 2.6 liters of UltraLith. With the remaining .5 liters you may place it in a bag that is will allow water to easily pass through it. By increasing the amount of UltraLith to the recommended amount, you further improve the efficiency of the whole system.

If Algae X is available in your area, I would buy it to get rid of your lobophora issues.

[muzz]

Thank you for the information. Do you think I should do away with kalkwasser, or does it not matter either way?

[ReefRockerLive]

I would discontinue the usage of the kalkwasser as it is not recommended by Fauna Marin. pH swings will vary, but should not be in a large range.