Adding a DIY KalK Reactor and Tank Updates

In this update I build and install a super budget Kalk Reactor and talk about using kalkwasser. I also try to kill some Aiptasia the wrong way. Also, I'll do some cleaning and tank updates and start the 40g frag tank build.
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[@joestajkowski6364]

Great video, Scott! The fact that you are on a budget makes it so much more relatable to viewers. 99% of us are in the same boat!

[@MileHighReefers]

It’s nice seeing these high end builds but most of us don’t have that budget

[@NanoJoe]

Nice vid, Scott. Not a thing wrong with doing it DIY with stuff laying around the house. We are aquarists and we always pack-rat gear for situations like this! I started kalkwasser maybe a month ago. Already noticing darker coraline algae in the tank.

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks man I’m excited to see how the Kalk goes. I’ve been running low PH for years because of the ca reactor. It’ll be nice to get that up

[@jasonblevins8280]

👍🏻👍🏻 Love how you keep it real and don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to accomplish tasks.

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks! It would be a lot of fun to throw money at a problem

[@brettbarrett2533]

Great to see you back at it. One project at a time. An unlimited budget would be great, right! Until then, keep on, "Keepin it real". We all appreciate that. I look forward to the Weekend with the wholesaler coming back!

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks man! I just shot a video for weekend at the Wholesaler! I can’t wait

[@space.cowboy69]

“it needs some maintenance” *still the most beautiful damn thing ive ever seen*

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks man! It’s on its way back and will be better than ever

[@brettmondy5879]

Nice video. I love watching the resurrection of a tank like you've done in your past few videos.

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks man 😊

[@dmphins8349]

It's looking great very happy to see you back

[@davidchavez9189]

Love the consistency 👏 you’re strong Scott

[@RobBoryckiGolf]

So glad your happy and making videos again

[@MileHighReefers]

It’s so good to be getting back to normal life

[@aniafish]

It’s still so beautiful, thanks for the update!

[@atfinthehouse8631]

Glad to see you back. Good luck going forward.

[@tonycloseukreef3799]

Great video you are a survivor tanks are a credit to you looking forward to the next video

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks! I can’t wait to see where this all goes

[@bedamo91]

slowly but surely will get there 💪.. exited for all the new content... hopefully theres a clam video in the future i see u have a massive one looking for some growth tips !

[@MileHighReefers]

I’ve had him for 10 years and it’s done so good. It’s lived thru so much I love this clam. It’s grown well no matter what I’ve done to it

[@ross2398]

I’ve dosed kalk slurry from a 5gal bucket with a Jebao in it running for 6-8 months now. Dosed through a Kamoer doser. Clean it every couple of months.

[@saltyfarms]

Looking better ❤️ I got rid of the 180 and now have a redsea reefer you should come by sometime again I would love to do another video. Cheers 🍻

[@MileHighReefers]

That sounds awesome! Let’s find a time and let’s do it

[@Vidishish]

Using Kalk in top off not a problem unless top off gets stuck in on position but then its a flood. The little bit of top off randomly during the day dose not cause spikes especially in a large tank like yours so I really love it.

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks for your feedback that’s what I’m planing on. I’ll be doing a lot of experimentation. It would be nice to get rid of the CA reactor

[@hewnrique]

great to see that the tiny scopas tang survived this long in the nano tank!

[@MileHighReefers]

I plan to move him to the 40 to give him a little bigger home

[@mikebisgrove962]

Scott you have to see Chris set up in Florida, pic and video do not give it justice ! Great video

[@MileHighReefers]

I would love to get down there, hopefully I can make it to Florida soon

[@cezar050681]

I’m sure your best friend Jack Adam’s from #reefbuilder will give you a hand with some equipment 😉to get you back on the track! Best of luck 🤞

[@retropuffer2986]

Nice update.

[@LordBonesaw]

Looking good dude

[@christineschultz3176]

You rock scott just do a little at a time you’ll get there.

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks 😊

[@mnelson10000]

I appreciate the ingenuity! I've been dosing kalk for 5 or 6 years now and love it, but it's total pain because it clogs up everything. I think that 1/4" line is going to be high maintenance. I love the idea of a kalk stirrer, but my Avast Marine stirrer plugged up so often I gave up on it after about a month. I think any kalk system that's gravity fed is going to be prone to it. The best way I've found is to pump it with an old AC pump so it can overcome whatever clogs end up along the way. Good luck brother and thanks for sharing!

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks for sharing! This is definitely an experiment right now. I expect I’ll be upgrading it as time goes on

[@lanegaskins]

Glad to see you back brother. Keep them coming and we will keep you supported. 💯

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks man 😊

[@lanegaskins]

@@MileHighReefers Check out the few videos that I have on my channel and if you see something that you like in my tank I'll ship it to you just let me know what it is and it's yours. Be glad to help you rebuild !!!!!

[@lanegaskins]

I'll pay the shipping cost no charge!!!! I'm sure there's more of use out there willing to help just to keep you making videos. Your video have helped me make my tank what it is today....

[@DogFacePuffa]

I liked the update.

[@amermeer3989]

Keep it up brother!

[@bjmarchives]

Nice update and maintenance. So, I tried a lower dose of kalk in my ATO but I think I just need more corals. My dkH went up too high and it wasn’t stable enough (it’s only a 20g cube). I didn’t go back and re-adjust, I’ll revisit kalkwasser maybe in a slurry dosing form. 2-part works for me. The good news is that I’ve been able to get my pH to 8.0-8.3 with other methods. I’ve still avoided aiptasia, bristle worms and asterina stars in my tanks. 🙌

[@MileHighReefers]

Jake has been unbelievably helpful. I hope to be doing some stuff with him soon. I’m expecting in my tank that the Kalk won’t be able to keep up. It’s an experiment

[@DeeFromBrooklyn]

I still dose kalkwasser at least once a month in addition to 2 part. Old school mineral balance. Magnesium resolved my nuisance algae issue

[@carterminich5610]

Hey bud...I laughed..I built the exact same stand..omg..it looks identical lol

[@MileHighReefers]

Love it! I think it will work out great

[@brinks128]

Thanks!

[@adambahe9309]

Bought some nudibranches, it took a few months but they absolutely destroyed every trace of aiptasia I had in my tank. It never came back. Also kalkwasser binds with phosphate, so be aware that the giant refugium of chaeto you have there might get starved out? As you will be removing co2 and phosphate which chaeto thrives on.

[@MileHighReefers]

Thanks for the tip! Where did you get your nudis they seem pretty hard to find?

[@adambahe9309]

@@MileHighReefers reeftown, I had to wait a few weeks before they had enough to ship. I ordered all small ones for $12.99. I think I bought 10-12 for my water box 100.3. It took awhile, they seemingly disappeared for a month and then they started showing up more. It was expensive, but again they got every trace of aiptasia. Sump, plumbing, and all.

[@MileHighReefers]

@@adambahe9309 Thanks for the info this looks like a great way to go! I think if I do it I want to do it in conjunction with a propagation tank

[@parlund4869]

Great😃

[@kawakami5724]

So sorry I had to go through a divorce 😔… ur tank looks so much better I’m glad most corals made it !

[@MileHighReefers]

Thank you so much 😊 things are going in the right direction

[@kawakami5724]

@@MileHighReefers I’m so glad ☺️

[@Scott-cy6zv]

Scott love these videos man!! I purchased a 20lb bag of CaribSea Agra-live special grade sand from Amazon. It just showed up today and has a expiration date of 4/22. So it expires in a few days. My other 2 bags don’t expire till 2023. Is this soon to be expired bag going to be ok to use bud? I don’t wanna kill my tank right off the hop.

[@MileHighReefers]

I think you should be Ok to use the old sand. Those expressions dates are usually pretty conservative. I spoke to a bacteria company that recently got back some very expired and it ended up being viable bacteria. If you’re worried I bet Amazon would do an exchange

[@Scott-cy6zv]

@@MileHighReefers lol Amazon won’t exchange it bud. They said the stuff I had was already a international shipment. But if you think it’s good then that’s good enough for me as you know your stuff. I really appreciate your time and I only hope I can get to the point of you and some of these pros on these channels. My hat goes off to you and your knowledge.

[@hokemspitter]

The fact that the Kalk pH is 12 does not mean the solution is saturated. Also, I tried dumping a dozen peppermint shrimp into my tank and since I feed my fish (too much), they're not into the aptasia... Third little point, Iust bought Maxspect Aiptasia Control from Premium Aquatics for 16 bucks. It's a toothpaste thick paste and does the trick.

[@MileHighReefers]

I’ve had great luck with peppermint shrimp over the years. They have always done the job for me. I do realize that they don’t always work. I’ll look into that paste your recommending

[@aquaticnstuff7666]

Do you have any recipe for kalk paste mine is always inconsistent and tends to jam up the syringe or it's too watery

[@MileHighReefers]

I try and mix it thin. I’m looking at some other options that might be better

[@sunnygoold9449]

Great stuff - though GFO is NOT the same as rust - GFO is pure - the rust will have lots of potentially poisonous impurities in it

[@ldballoon4]

Hey now!

[@Dadschannel415]

What are you plans for the dino in the 24g?

[@MileHighReefers]

I beat it back pretty good last summer dosing PNS pro bio. Im back to that and then far so good

[@Younotus455]

If you could sell that vlamingi tang you could probably get a few hundred bucks. Then use that money for what you need. He/she is getting huge! Barley Fits the tank. You could see on a side shot of the tank that she dosent have very much room to move around. May be an option for ya that will benefit both of you.

[@MileHighReefers]

He seems really happy. My goal is to get him a bigger tank. Hopefully I can make it happen

[@yusef54321]

I don’t think the amount of kalk your dosing into your tank is going to keep up with the demands unless your corals are maybe growing at a slower pace perhaps 🤔 Im dosing kalk slurry into my 300 gallon system it’s a very saturated solution I basically dumped a whole 4lb bucket into a 5 gallon bucket (there’s a pump running in the bucket keeping it mixed) and im dosing 0.5 ml a min constantly 24/7 the issue im running into currently is my ph is 8.8-9.0 and I don’t wanna go over 9.0 cause it upset my corals Checking my alkalinity my alk is dropping from 9dkh to 5.6dkh in a matter of 3 Ish days with what im dosing so idk thinking of going calcium reactor and potassium hydroxide or possibly keep using the kalk at max sat and supplement the rest with a calc reactor idk The only thing keeping me from dosing more kalk is ph getting to high and during the peak of the light cycle my corals typically will bump up the ph .2 as well so hope this kinda maybe helps you a little bit lol happy reefing 😜

[@MileHighReefers]

I think you are right but I’m going to see how it goes

[@roccomurgio4708]

U should find that vlamingi a new home

[@MileHighReefers]

All in time. Right now he seems very happy in that tank. I don’t think his size is a major issue yet

[@blissbliss1640]

Wow how sad.