pH effects of Kalk vs Randy’s #1 Alk

stancfii · 05/21/2018, 06:50 PM

I’ve been successfully using Randy’s #1 recipe for Alk via dosing pump for a while, but am considering supplementing it with dosing saturated Kalk. My tank eats about 1 dKh/day. I’ve been considering a metered doseage of 1gal of saturated limewater/day over 6 time points in an effort to help maintain calcium instead of my manual weekly doseage.

Will the gallon of Kalkwasser have a greater effect on keeping pH high than the 37ish mL of Randy’s solution in a 24hr time span?

bertoni · 05/21/2018, 11:45 PM

Kalk will raise the pH more. It contains no carbon carbon, so it reacts with more dissolved carbon dioxide per unit of alkalinity added. The effect might be a bit strong, but that's rare. I might watch the pH for the first day of dosing.

05/21/2018, 11:45 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Kalk will raise the pH more. It contains no carbon carbon, so it reacts with more dissolved carbon dioxide per unit of alkalinity added. The effect might be a bit strong, but that's rare. I might watch the pH for the first day of dosing. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/21/2018, 06:50 PM	#1
stancfii Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 583	pH effects of Kalk vs Randy’s #1 Alk I’ve been successfully using Randy’s #1 recipe for Alk via dosing pump for a while, but am considering supplementing it with dosing saturated Kalk. My tank eats about 1 dKh/day. I’ve been considering a metered doseage of 1gal of saturated limewater/day over 6 time points in an effort to help maintain calcium instead of my manual weekly doseage. Will the gallon of Kalkwasser have a greater effect on keeping pH high than the 37ish mL of Randy’s solution in a 24hr time span? __________________ 180g SPS -3 x 250w Radiums, 2 x VHO actinic, DIY RB LED strip, and a EuroReef skimmer modded with a DC pump.