should I start dosing Kalk at night for PH??

[jennmac415]

Well, after dosing vodka for the last 6 weeks, my niotrates are finally 0!! yea!! BUT, subsequently, my chaeto has gone bye bye... I will be taking down my fuge when I get around to it... but for the first time my Ph has begun dropping a little. When running the fuge full blown it would drop to about 8.1 at night and go up to about 8.3 during the day...now, with ut the light on the chaeto at night it has gotten down to 7.8 and today it only got up to 8.1. I dose Randy's recipe 1 2-part everyday and it keeps my cal at about 520 and my alk at 8,( I want it at this level for the carbon dosing)... my question is....... should I now begin dripping KALK at night only to keep my PH up to a more desirable level?? From what I understand it will not RAISE my cal and alk, but only maintain them and keep my PH up at night...

I plan to simply gravity drip into my sump for now...I try to keep things as simple and easy as possible... the less techy the better for me..



Anyway, is this a good idea? Will it mess my daily cal and alk levels up or simply maintain them...please help me with this.


Thanks!

[bertoni]

Dripping kalk is a fine way to keep the pH up a bit. It'll likely replace some of the supplement you're adding now, but the effect is very hard to determine, since raising the pH (within reason) increases coral growth, so demand changes.

[jennmac415]

thanks....do you recommend 1 or 2 tsp. per gallon?

[bertoni]

The general recommendation is to try 1 tsp per gallon, and see how that works. Add more or less as the pH and alkalinity indicate.

[jennmac415]

thanks for your help!

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck!

[jennmac415]

well, I mixed up 4 gallons of mrs wages pickling lime and ro/di yesterday... let it sit and settle and began dosing around midnight last night...the good news is that it kept my PH at about 8.07 all night BUYT the bad news is that it jumped my ALK up to 10 dKh from the 8 I have been keeping it at due to vodka dosing.........I thought the kalk dripping was just supposed to MAINTAIN your alk and cal... not raise them????? NOW WHAT??? Yesterday before beginning the dripping my PH got down to the LOWEST it has EVER been....7.87....I don't know what to do, since it seems I can't keep chaeto growing due to low nutrients..... I have NEVER had PH problems in all the years I have done this hobby, so I am stumped.

[bertoni]

Kalk adds calcium and alkalinity to the tank, and there's no way to guarantee that it won't raise the levels. It tends not to do so, because it's very dilute. I'd watch the dKH carefully for a few days. What is the resolution of the test kit, and how much limewater was added?

[jennmac415]

I am sorry, but what does "the resolution of the test kit" mean....

I guess about 3 1/2 gallons was added....maybe this is too much??? I dripped from about midnight last night until about noon today....

[David Grigor]

3.5 gallons at 1/2 saturation ( 1 teaspoon of Kalk per gallon ) is equivilent to about 140 mil of 2 part. So reduce your daily 2 part additions accordingly.

[jennmac415]

crap.. really????? I only dose 20ml per day if both cal and al and my cal stays at about 520 and my alk at 8 dkh!!! No wonder it shot it up... guess I will let the alk fall back down on its own...BUT, in the meantime, what about my PH... which is why I thought to start the kalk dripping in the first place...I was keeping my fuge on an opposite light schedule from my tank and I NEVER had Ph problems. but now, with such low nutrients my chaeto is completely died off, so PH was dropping too far...hence the kalk dripping...

[jennmac415]

anyone??

[bertoni]

I'd just cut the kalk saturation in half, and stop the 2-part dosing, and see how that goes.

[jennmac415]

ok... thanks, should I drip the kalk everynight??

[bertoni]

7.8 isn't that bad, so I might stop the drip for a day or so, as well.

[jennmac415]

ok... I will let my alk drop back down to 8 and then drip at half saturation and see where that gets me...are you sure that 7.8 isn't too low though??

[bertoni]

7.8 is acceptable, and I wouldn't bother with a lime drip to fix it, personally. You could consider automating a lime drip as autotopoff, which is fairly easy.

[jennmac415]

thanks, I guess I am just so used to having my Ph above 8.0 all the time that 7.8 seems low to me...I already have a gravity fed auto top off and I don't think I could figure out another way to do it to incorporate the lime also...so I guess I will just drip for awhile...LOL

thanks again...

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck!