Dosing kalkwasser | Chris Meckley Method

[@WhiteNoiseCompany]

Great information, thank you 😊

[@madonesix]

Might it be better if you program your Versa in Mobius at a constant rate of 13.33 and then power your Versa pump through you EB832 as you do and add the following code: IF Time 10:00 to 22:00 Then OFF. This assuming you are running your lights from 10am to 10pm. It looks like with your code, the Versa could potentially run all day and overfill your system if the pH remained low or if the ph probe failed.

[@niagarafirecorals]

Technically it could work that way but you would have to double the 13.33. You will find that some days it does dose for longer or shorter periods

[@mbhanley]

I have had great results with this method PH is much more stable. I have a 6ft tank and an evaporation of 20L a week. I have a 25L container that I drilled a hole in the cap and put the dosing line into. I drip dose with the DD P1 STP stepper motor 2.3ml a minute in continuous mode. Has been way more cost effective compared to dosing the Red Sea Alkalinity. I also have a CO2 scrubber on the skimmer intake which helps a bit too.

[@niagarafirecorals]

@@mbhanley very nice

[@6jdhd]

I have been doing Chris method for 2 years and yes it works. I does my kalk at night when lights go out and stops when light come on. My ph at night is 8.3 morning is 8.5. I keep my alk at 6.5dkh. And my corals grow like weeds. In one year I have full grown Colonie and I have also notice RTN and STN has never happened with ph levels staying above 8.2 For everyone that whats more info look at reef bum videos and find the first videos with chris. It explains everything

[@niagarafirecorals]

@@6jdhd Awesome news 👍

[@jdavidp66]

Can you clarify . If your dKH is 6.5 don't it spike up some time in the middle of the night to early morning when your dosing kalk. If so, how high before it gets back down to your target 6.5 dKH?

[@aciaquaculture]

And watch the magic happen! Great explanation

[@niagarafirecorals]

Agree 👍

[@TheIneption]

I think this method will work perfectly fine if Currently you are dosing Kalk , but have maxed out your daily evap and having to dose additional 2 part just to keep up with the dkh consumption.

[@niagarafirecorals]

Correct, I totally expect that once I peg the PH up to 8.3, I will have to start slightly using my calcium reactor to fine tune the dkh.

[@isarduy]

Excellent video. 2 questions. 1. When you add the kalk into the vat are you leaving a power head inside to constantly or periodically mix the solution? 2. When you run out of solution are you cleaning out the vat of the sludge at the bottom? Thanks again. Great video

[@niagarafirecorals]

@isarduy I do not use any powerheads and I only clean the vat roughly once monthly. Thank you 👍

[@isarduy]

What about the initial mixing ? I saw in the update it’s 5 gallon buckets. How’s that mixing process? Clears up relatively quick? What’s your preferred kalk brand? Thanks a ton!

[@niagarafirecorals]

@isarduy I use a powerhead to mix the buckets for a couple minutes and that's all. Clears up good 👍 I use BRS Kalk

[@BlueMacer76]

I was advised by Chris to turn off ATO whilst dosing Kalkwasser this method? I like your videos 👍🏻👍🏻 I haven’t started yet but I’m too using the versa when I start

[@niagarafirecorals]

Yes, that is correct.You are essentially topping off your system with the kalk So no need for ATO

[@BlueMacer76]

I have a few question: Do I set to turn of @ > 8.28 Or my Daily average @ 8.1? How do I dose the full amount over the 12hr period at night , because my ph value is reached quicker than to does 10000ml ? And dosing around the 2Litres mark , I’m confused? My sump level never raises but I’m guessing to cover the shortfall I turn my ATO to cover the 3litres?

[@niagarafirecorals]

To answer your first question if. your daily average is 8.1 And you're trying to get up to 8.28 Then you need to do as follows Set your apex to shut off the dosing at. your current daily average. In doing this, you. will notice day by day your daily average should be going up. Your daily average goes up, you need to change your apex setting to follow the daily average. You continue to do this until your system reaches your desire. target. Here is an example. Day 1. daily average. 8.1 day two daily average. 8.11 So you would change your shut off value to 8.11. day 3, 8 .12 So you would change your daily shut off value to 8.12.

[@RWilkerson-o5j]

Question….does Kalk potency drop over time in vat?

[@niagarafirecorals]

Yes, absolutely the kalkwasser will lose its potency, the longer it sits in a vat. Try only mixing what you will go through in 3 - 4 days.

[@daliuskesarauskas7464]

Hi, do you connect Versa pump into Apex power bar?

[@niagarafirecorals]

Yes

[@xisotopex]

really interested in this. what are the minimum elements for a simple automated system such as this? what components would I have to get? from what I understand, I would have to get an apex and a trident.... whatever that means. dont know enough specifically which one of each to get.... would like to start out simple, just monitoring and dosing for Ph...

[@niagarafirecorals]

Start ode, simple and work your way up to a controller and more complex ways of doing things. Sounds like you may be fairly new to the hobby. Take it slow and easy 👍

[@xisotopex]

@@niagarafirecorals I have had freshwater planted aquariums for about 15 years, and back in the late 90's took care of saltwater systems as part of my Marine Biology degree program. I have one tank going now, that has been going about a year, some chalice corals, duncan, assorted zoas, blastos, torch and hammer corals, clove polyps, nothing difficult. just realizing lately that the hobby has no room for procrastination or laziness, and that automation of as much as possible would lead to a much more stable system...I always though I could avoid it, and do it by hand LOL...

[@niagarafirecorals]

​@@xisotopexgo check out my Neptune Apex set up video where I set up a Neptune rate from scratch a very basic setup. It should get you.I heads up into the world of automation

[@xisotopex]

@@niagarafirecorals when we had dozens and dozens of salwater tanks set up in the lab, this was back in the early 90's, we didnt have any corals.... well, we had lots of live rock that we would harvest offshore so it would have some gorgonians and soft corals but our focus was on fish.... fish are "easy" corals... thats a whole new ballgame to me... I just feel like no matter how OCD someone is, a system is going to be far more stable with automation that works correctly... I will watch your video.

[@niagarafirecorals]

@@xisotopex agree 👍

[@peterhowells8509]

Great video! Does it matter what the flow rate of your doser is? 10ml 40ml 70ml/min

[@niagarafirecorals]

The flow rate will be determined automatically by the total amount being dosed.

[@paulhumphrey9474]

Everything makes sense to me except for dosing double. Wouldn't your ato alarm go off by levels raising too high?

[@niagarafirecorals]

It could, yes. I just had to slightly raise mine roughly, 1"

[@daliuskesarauskas7464]

Im a bit worried, lets say all is ok and suddenly i have a party in my house with 20 people, obviously pH will go down due to extra co2, so Apex will have to dose a lot more of Kalk to keep Ph stable? And probably will spike Alk even more?

[@davidhackett6298]

Where did u get ur styrofoam block from

[@davidhackett6298]

Also is it better to put tubing on the side of the container instead of the top of the lid

[@niagarafirecorals]

I just cut it out of a lid on a box I got fish and coral in.

[@davidhackett6298]

@@niagarafirecorals ok thank u

[@geo1706]

He said only make enough for 3 days. Is 20g for you just 3 days worth?

[@niagarafirecorals]

Yes

[@RichardGraff-o3f]

Once you come up with your initial average pH for the system, how often do you need to check your average pH and updated in the dose pump programming?

[@niagarafirecorals]

I updated it daily until I got to 8.28 - 8.30

[@DGGuaglianone]

Thanks for sharing!

[@niagarafirecorals]

Your very welcome 👍

[@danieltrent2425]

Couldn't you use the Kalk stirrer set up with a dosing pump?

[@niagarafirecorals]

No, the consistency is not the same. I still own and have used a stirrer and it would not work with this method.

[@RichardGraff-o3f]

As the OP said, it’s too difficult to keep the concentration in Kalk stirrer stable. The saturation stays relatively stable in a storage vat.

[@DarrinFlaim]

Should you turn your ATO off when doing this?

[@niagarafirecorals]

If done properly yes you really shouldn't require it. I have not used mine since starting thus. 👍

[@queencityreefs]

Great episode. 👌 💯✌️

[@niagarafirecorals]

Thank you 👍

[@michaelallen5229]

Great video and explanation, thank you. One part I'm unclear about is if I'm dosing my full 24 hr. evaporation amount in a 12 hr. window, won't that throw off salinity? Guessing I'll need to increase my evapoation rate to match the dose amount?

[@niagarafirecorals]

As long as you are not far exceeding your evaporated amount it shouldn't be much of a impact on salinity. This is what my personal observations have been so far.

[@michaelallen5229]

@@niagarafirecorals makes sense, thanks

[@bugnator]

I have my versa on only from 9pm to 9am, should I just let the dosing schedule be on 24 hours a day?

[@niagarafirecorals]

You can leave it the way it is. However you will need to keep increasing your dosing volume until you nearly match your evaporation

[@jamescovington7670]

So my evap is at 6050 I put in 12000 and at night I check it It’s about 1inch above the line I stay at so it’s dosing more then 6050 what would you do Your videos are my go to videos good job

[@niagarafirecorals]

Mine does the same thing and then drops below during the 12 hrs it's not dosing. Make sure your ATO is never coming on at all.

[@gonefishin-dy3kl]

@@niagarafirecorals same thing was going on with mine until i got rid of the first 2 lines of code

[@VoiDFeedz]

with kalkstirrer do you have the time it is spinning and time when it is not programmed in the apex? I'm wanting to switch off total two part to kalkwasser I have an icecap 200 stirrer

[@niagarafirecorals]

A stirrer is a totally different setup and will not work for doing this method.

[@nicolewilson8891]

why won't this method work with kalk stirrer or reactor?@@niagarafirecorals

[@niagarafirecorals]

@nicolewilson8891 The reason it doesn't work is because the stirrers/reactors fluctuate PH levels constantly, whereas mixing and running from a holding vessel with a lid is much more stable.

[@6jdhd]

​​@nicolewilson8891 Because you're using saturated kalk, you don't need a stirrer. In order to use saturated kalk, you need a big bin to hold water.

[@seanboyer1494]

I’m highly interested in this method has the alkalinity spike negatively affected anything?

[@niagarafirecorals]

Nothing at all.

[@Koalavo]

you cant do this without apex?

[@niagarafirecorals]

You will need some type of controller it does not have to necessarily be a Apex.

[@danb5774]

how high can the alk spike before it is concerning? i'm in the process of converting a fish only to a reef tank. ie no corals yet. i'm trying the ACL method, and pH is set at 8.3 but the alk is so high it is beyond the high range of the hanna checker ie >17 dkh

[@niagarafirecorals]

I would stop doing this until you have a need for dosing in the first place. With no demand for CAL, ALK ie corals you have no reason to be dosing which is the reason for your DKH being so high. Most run a DHK of 7.5 to 9 and 17DKH is very concerning.

[@danb5774]

pH can't be controlled to 8.2 to 8.3 without the dkh. should i allow the tank to go back to normal alk levels and add corals before adding corals ? @@niagarafirecorals

[@niagarafirecorals]

@danb5774 That is correct. Once you have demand for the dkh then using the method will work and your dkh will not rise so high

[@jamescovington7670]

So you only stirr your new kalk ones and when that run out added new kalk and mix up or clean the container then mix up a new batch

[@niagarafirecorals]

That's correct mix it up once and that is it. I clean the brute out as needed with buildup on the bottom 👍

[@6jdhd]

No you can leave the old kalk in there and just clean out your container once a month. That's what Chris does. He does not mix a fresh batch every time he adds new kalk as needed. Your kalk ph need to be at 12.5 evey batch.

[@deadstead1123]

Yup am lost 🤔

[@xisotopex]

damn! 9-10 L evap a day?!?!? wow

[@niagarafirecorals]

Yep 👍

[@niagarafirecorals]

Yep 👍

[@andrewgutt276]

I tried this, alk went to 16

[@niagarafirecorals]

Wow

[@andrewgutt276]

@@niagarafirecorals I was on 3rd floor apartment and ph was so suppressed this method was not working. I have a 75g display with 30g sump. Co2 scrubbing work very well for me. We are in a house now and kinda re established the whole tank so when I actually see a need for alk dosing I might try it again. I also bought a calcium reactor to dose when needed, hoping to use that and co2 scrubbing maintain ph. My skimmer shuts off at 8.3 and my swing is 8.1 to 8.3ph. I tend to get 30days of use on half a $25 bag of media. Btw you have stunning corals. Too bad you can’t ship to USA?

[@niagarafirecorals]

​@@andrewgutt276Thank you 👍