Dripping Kalk

[luvmylo]

My tank is perfectly happy with the "soda" and "cal chlor"

[OIIIIIO]

I guess what I need is some sort of balance. I evaporate about a gallon or so a day and try to top off with RO during the day and drip kalk at night to try to maintain PH. Has anyone used a timer to top off from two different sources depending on whether it's night or day?

[Jnicho]

I personally drip my Kalk 24/7. For me it works great. Ph is great, Ca runs at 400, Alk around 9-10. It's on a float valve so it's not dosed exactly, but is Dependant on evaporation.

[Hop]

Originally Posted by Jnicho

I personally drip my Kalk 24/7. For me it works great. Ph is great, Ca runs at 400, Alk around 9-10. It's on a float valve so it's not dosed exactly, but is Dependant on evaporation.

Just be careful, there have been more than a few tanks wiped out by the kalk building up and the floatvalve being unable to close. Whiskey is one on this site that comes to mind. I did it that way for a while, but had to clean the float valve every month. With my current set up, that would not be very fun at all

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by Hop

Just be careful, there have been more than a few tanks wiped out by the kalk building up and the floatvalve being unable to close. Whiskey is one on this site that comes to mind. I did it that way for a while, but had to clean the float valve every month. With my current set up, that would not be very fun at all

Ya, I clean it pretty regularly. The container is not huge so it wouldn't dump too much in even when full. My sump is set up in my basement, so it's super easy to get to everything. The container is setup in a way that I can just take it to the sink and rinse it out. Every few weeks I pull the pin on the float and give it a good clean.

Thanks for the warning though, I will help to keep me from getting complacent.

[luvmylo]

ok how come kalkwasser raises ph and 2 part doesn't??? I'm new 2 the sps world, took flyguy's advice and started 2 part, my tank has amazing growth and it's well balanced. Isn't there something else a guy can use to adjust ph that isn't so potent or that has the potential to wipe his tank out???

[Hop]

If it doesn't need raising and things are good, don't mess with it lo Baked baking soda will also raise pH. I have a specific reason for raising it, but my last tank ran at 7.9 and everything was fine. I just need to keep mine elevated right now.

[luvmylo]

yeah but that still makes me wonder

Originally Posted by luvmylo

ok how come kalkwasser raises ph and 2 part doesn't??? I'm new 2 the sps world, took flyguy's advice and started 2 part, my tank has amazing growth and it's well balanced. Isn't there something else a guy can use to adjust ph that isn't so potent or that has the potential to wipe his tank out???

[OIIIIIO]

I used cooked baking soda to raise the ph to where I wanted it and use kalk to maintain the ph.