LPS and Dosing

[kratosxxl]

Hi All
Im wondering if dosing kalk(or Kalk+vinegar) will work LPS/Sof only tank.Is it needed ? or just water changes will work.
Any ideas ?

[cloak]

Water changes might work, but you'll have to test your levels to find out though. Do a water change and test your calcium & magnesium, and then test these things again before your next water change. If your still in the ballpark from week to week then you should be ok.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

[kratosxxl]

thnx for the link.
Also i cant find specific answer on how much SOFT/LPS can be added at the same time ?
so basically if water change doesn't work well kalk will work ?

[jayball]

Just keep an eye on your alk levels, and like mentioned above make sure it is steady now before adding more stonies
. Coral does not add to the bio load unless you feed directly.

[m0nkie]

thnx for the link.
Also i cant find specific answer on how much SOFT/LPS can be added at the same time ?
so basically if water change doesn't work well kalk will work ?

add as many as you want.. do a weekly parameter check for a month if you are getting huge colonies. tiny frags, not so much issue

[3dees]

I have mostly softies with a few lps. pictinia, hammer, frogspawn, and pipe organ. I do not dose anything. 15% wc every two weeks. everything is fine. can't seem to keep the "easy" corals. I have zero nitrates.

[Wazzel]

Test and let your tank guide you. If you track your Alk and ca it should be obvious if water changes alone are cutting it.

[Webmanny]

I use KALK in addition to my water changes because ALK and Calcium were dropping below the desired levels. Having saying that, I started also dosing Seachem Trace and Plus elements about three weeks ago and my LPS corals have been better than ever. For some reason, they love it.

Good luck!

[kratosxxl]

great answers thanks guys
So basically kalk will be helpful for LSP no softies right ?
Also im still confused about ruining GFO/CARBON reactor may do something to corals ?
does anyone knows what this about ?

[kratosxxl]

#jayball
when you say check alk level, lets say its dropped what should i use to bring it back up ? kalk or 2 part dosing ? if its not much i can do it manually instead of buying dosing pump,i don't like too much technology in a tank cuz simply more devices can fail . making more mess,also i read about geting right size skimmer instead of going bigger ? is that true ? does anyone experienced anything bad with bigger skimmer ?

[m0nkie]

great answers thanks guys
So basically kalk will be helpful for LSP no softies right ?
Also im still confused about ruining GFO/CARBON reactor may do something to corals ?
does anyone knows what this about ?

Kalk is an alkalinity and calcium supplement. So it will help everything in the tank, not just LPS.

Carbon cleans your water chemistry. it also absorbs all the chemicals your corals produces when they are not happy. Carbon will absorb all it can absorb and then start releasing. So you need to change carbon every 2-3 weeks. GFO is used to absorb nutrients in your tank. It will prevent algae growth. It helps lower nitrate. Using too much GFO may lower nitrate too fast, thus hurting the corals (parameter change too fast). GFO particles that accidentally released into the tank may kill inverts. So be careful with them and flush 2 gallons out every time you change them.

#jayball
when you say check alk level, lets say its dropped what should i use to bring it back up ? kalk or 2 part dosing ? if its not much i can do it manually instead of buying dosing pump,i don't like too much technology in a tank cuz simply more devices can fail . making more mess,also i read about geting right size skimmer instead of going bigger ? is that true ? does anyone experienced anything bad with bigger skimmer ?

Kalk or 2 Part depends on you.. smaller systems people prefer kalk. When tanks get too large and certain element get drained too fast, people use 2 part to supplement. I just use 2 part. I dose Mag/Calc/Alk to the exact level I want.

I would HIGHLY recommend an automatic dosing system if you can afford it. 3 reason:
1) It is much more reliable than your hands. Depending on your tank size, a screw up in dosage can really mess with chemistry. Corals are hardy but inverts don't like it. Buy a good brand like APEX, or Bubble Magnus if you are afraid of failures. And even IF they fail, your water changes should help balance your chemistry.
2) Auto dosing allows you to go on vacation. Just saw you want to take a trip for 2 weeks a year down the road... would you trust your parents or siblings.. or friends to come dose your tank?
3) Do you really want to hand dose for years to come? daily job if not weekly.. depending on amount of corals

Bigger skimmer is good, but not too big. I recommend up to x2 your tank size. This way, when you upgrade tank size, you can reuse skimmer. But if it's too big, it will clean your water too fast, leaving no nutrients for your corals, so bad for corals.

[kratosxxl]

#m0nkie
Great reply thank you

[kratosxxl]

also will you suggest 2 part dosing over kalk with ATO ?

[m0nkie]

I think it's a preference. Once you figure out how to do it, it's very very easy.

some people prefers the simplicity of Kalk. Just mix it in your ATO.. Get an ATO container that last you a week. But you still need to dose Magnesium separately.

I think 2 part is real easy. I mix 1 gallon of each chemical. (calc, mag, alk) It last me about 6 months (100 gallon tank). my Bubble Magnus doser handles the rest.

eventually I started dosing Acro Power (supplement dosing) and Vinegar (carbon dosing).. so now I have 5 things going into the tank, with 2 dosers daisy chained together

[m0nkie]

another thing I forgot. dosing temporarily effects your PH. so when you dose in large amounts, you want to separate them into multiple doses. another reason for an auto doser.

[Bpb]

Another thing to consider is if you run kalkeasser through your ato, you have to be aware of two things.
1. You are limited to evaporation. At full strength you can only add a fixed amount. While most LPS dominant tanks will never reach the max point, it can be done easily once you dabble in sps.
2. Kalkwasser is extremely hard on pumps. Expect to burn through peristaltic tubing or aqualifter pumps like crazy. I would get about 6 months life out of an ato pump before needing a new one. With 2-part, my peristaltic pumps are 1.5 years old now and work like the day I got them.

My recommendation is to actually start with kalkeasser in your ato, but buy your self 5-6 aqualifter pumps expecting them to be destroyed frequently. If you ever max out your doseage, you can then explore other options (2-part dosing exclusively, kalk reactor to save your pumps + 2 part to make up the difference, or a calcium reactor)

[sushistevek4]

kalk imo is very inconsistent i would go 2 part

[kratosxxl]

great information
I think i will go with 2 part dosing , its better and safer
also them MAG and ALK needs to be dosed separately and different times right ?

[noj3333]

Kratosxxl, it looks like you made your mind up and you're going with 2 part.
I would just like to bring some light on Kalk, I think kalk is the best option for light/ medium stocked tanks.
Kalkwasser is very cheap, and you can dose you CA and ALK in one process, while also increasing you ph (don't chase ph unless it's an issue... it's an issue with me, I have very low ph so I need a ph boost, and kalk helps with that).

I will say kalk can be an annoying process to tune in if you use it in your ato water. If you dose via ATO you have to adjust the amount of kalk powder you put in the water, and if you put too much or have to add kalk powder you can easily loose track of how much you need to add in the future to maintain your proper saturation.

A simple change I made was to dose saturated kalk. IMO it's easier to adjust the amount of saturated kalk going into the tank (via adjusting time), then adjusting the saturation of of the ato water.

What I have set up is pure, ro/di water that I use for my ATO. To maintain proper CA/Alk and boost my ph I change the amount of kalk I dose. Right now I dose 40 seconds an hour of saturated Kalk. With my level of evaporation I have a lot of room still before I max out my kalk levels and am forced to add 2 part on top of my kalk dosing.

These bulk reef supply videos are great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVI69xOb_JM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwyH5LQ1tsk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCnqAnn0yxo

[noj3333]

great information
I think i will go with 2 part dosing , its better and safer
also them MAG and ALK needs to be dosed separately and different times right ?

With 2 part each chemical needs to be dosed separate. Many people only dose ca/ alk via pumps, and add mg on a monthly schedule.

With saying that, the chemicals must be kept seperate before use, and should not be added in the tank at the same time/ same location. They will percipitate out if you mix them.

[m0nkie]

great information
I think i will go with 2 part dosing , its better and safer
also them MAG and ALK needs to be dosed separately and different times right ?

Different containers, different timing. My doser dose them 5min apart. for me, water change replenish calcium and alkalinity, but lower magnesium. So i dose alk and cal on a daily basis. hand dose magnesium after each water change to bring it back

[Reef Bass]

A couple clarifications.

Carbon will absorb all it can absorb and then start releasing

Yes carbon will absorb until it can hold no more but then it's functionally inert and won't release back into the tank.

GFO is used to absorb nutrients in your tank. It will prevent algae growth. It helps lower nitrate. Using too much GFO may lower nitrate too fast, thus hurting the corals (parameter change too fast).

GFO is a phosphate binder and does not directly impact nitrate. See Randy Holmes-Farley's article:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/

[Rybren]

. Kalkwasser is extremely hard on pumps. Expect to burn through peristaltic tubing or aqualifter pumps like crazy. I would get about 6 months life out of an ato pump before needing a new one. With 2-part, my peristaltic pumps are 1.5 years old now and work like the day I got them.

Strange. I'm on my 6th year with an aqualifter on my kalk laden ATO. I don't use a pre-filter and I don't suck the crud from the bottom of my ATO container. I do, however, run warm RO/DI and sometimes vinegar through it every 3-6 months (or whenever I get around to it)

I wonder why you've had so much trouble with them?

[Bpb]

Who knows! That's been my experience though. I even mixed it always in a separate container and only used the clear fluid in the ato bucket as well.