Doubling Down on Kalkwasser

In this video I discuss my plan to increase the amount of kalkwasser I can dose for my 225 gallon peninsula tank.
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[@mybeachshack]

I respect any man who uses Purple Primer on his pvc piping. Great informative video ! Thank you.

[@matthewsmoyer5119]

Keith, you need to label your values and your lines. You got an amazing system and your fortunate to have a separate sump area, but when you can’t easy follow lines you need labels. I appreciate your channel! Matt

[@ReefBum]

Probably a good idea.

[@richardjordan284]

Thanks for putting the time aside and video together with regards the kalk updates Keith , looking forward to seeing your results .

[@skyking9248]

Awesome fish room(s)!! Your own fish store.

[@mafai26]

Hi Keith, love your live stream and this sharing. Have checked Chris sharing also. Followed this method, I have dosed the Kalk water more than 1 month, the PH from 7.8 ~ 8.1 now is 8.01 ~ 8.35. I can't boost up to 8.4 not even 8.6 as you mentioned. The problem is the evarporation rate. The display tank has 375 L. Every day it just evaporated less than 1 L. In your video, you have 187 Gallon tank, while you can dose 8L, how can you evarporated so much. Don't understand why your evarporation rate is so high. For my tank, if the evarporation not fit, how to fix this? At the same time, I'm running the CaReactor, the Ph of reactor is 6.4, 1.5 drops per second for 24 hours. While the KH just 6.1, yes very low. But I have coralime in the tank, when try to increase the dripping rate of CaReactor, the coral feel not happy. So I stick it and wanna to use Kalk to boost the PH and KH. Any hints for my tank? Thanks.

[@deepreef210]

you are dosing saturated kalk? what is super saturated? And why is this attributed to chris? I thought delbeek and sprung covered exactly this 25 years back.

[@thehitmanisup]

Because everything old is new. just like everything else in the world. cant wait for the pee in tank to make a comeback.

[@ReefBum]

@@thehitmanisup Yes, kalk is fully saturated. I always thought that kalk had to be stirred for the solution to be saturated and that is why I have always used a kalk stirrer. But with Chris' method that is not the case since the kalk sits in a drum after it is added to RODI water. He also doses on a reverse light cycle whereas before I was using the kalk stirrer via my auto top-off, which is not something you should do since the amount of kalk dosed will be inconsistent since it will depend on evaporation rates. Chris has fine tuned a method that has been used for years.

[@darrencouvillion5501]

Any chance we could get a link to the 30 gal drum. It looks great

[@Ellery-USA]

I have a 520g - 7 tank system and I've been using the Largest IceCap Kalkreactor and dosing a via a Day schedule and a Night schedule. I don't need a large container just a 5 gallon bucket with a mechanical float switch and a peristaltic pump feeding the kalkreactor every 15 minutes. and limit the pump via the pH probe in the sump if it exceeds pH=8.4

[@flyinbryan7151]

Thanks Keith. So I run kalk from a large reservoir (which I got from you!!) through a kamoer peristaltic pump 5ml/min 24/7. Do you run yours at night just to maintain elevated ph? I also run my Ca rx 24/7 as well. Have you looked at a recirculating Co2 scrubber? I pull from all the holes in the cap of the PS and it’s been great. I change media once a month now. Just my $.02!!

[@ReefBum]

Yes, I only run kalk on a reverse light cycle. I have not consider a C02 scrubber since my pH is pretty much where I want it to be now. I also have an air exchange unit that brings in fresh air from the outside during the winter.

[@davidhackett6298]

How often do u have to fill with kalk or does it last till the barrel is empty

[@born2beashooterjosh397]

Im doing the same method with jus a ph controller and a kamoer dosing pump and everything and everything is thriving even more now more polyp extension jts awesome xant wakt to get my new tank ready for dosing in a few konths

[@donot2639]

What would you say about longevity of tubes and heads in doser while using kalk. Do they calcify? Thanks

[@scotttang6229]

Where did you get those 30g drums from? I wish I have a “man cave” like yours. So cool!

[@ReefBum]

www.newpig.com/

[@reefkeeper2]

Keith, can I ask where you picked up that 30 gal container?

[@ReefBum]

www.newpig.com/

[@Rotknee]

Hey Keith…I appreciate the content and plan to officially utilize your consultation services when I get an ETA on the new tank’s arrival. I saw you are dosing 8L (due to evaporation) on a reverse light cycle. How does being a total of 8L “low” during the daylight hours effect your salinity levels?

[@ReefBum]

To be honest I don't really pay too much attention to any salinity swings when dosing kalk at night.

[@jimcoughlin9401]

HI Keith, When you are controlling dosing only by PH opposite photo period -- how much do you notice your DKH to change when doing this consistently ? Also what are you seeing needing to be changed with the calcium reactor settings? Did you change PH target within, or modify your drip rate?

[@ReefBum]

Jim, I am not controlling the dosing via pH. Many do but I have not gotten to that point yet....not sure I will since it may be too automated for me. My ca reactor is controlled by ph and it does stay off when the ph hits a certain set point. So with the kalk the reactor is not on as much due to the higher ph of the kalk.

[@ahrondinar8782]

What do you mean by testing connectivity for that matter ? Please explain

[@clintyiu]

where did you get the water tank with graduated markings?

[@eddyrdz7543]

I looked for the link on your dosing container and didn’t see it. Where did you get it?

[@TheHelicapt]

So you just dump kalk into drum and let it sit and not stir it at all. Not even when first added to mix it ?

[@Sammy31Dee]

So what was the reason you went "super saturated" vs regular saturation? And if it's not being regularly stirred doesn't it lose its "super saturation" ?

[@brymac1227]

The term is being used incorrectly. What he means is “fully saturated”.

[@TheHelicapt]

Are you not using the pax bellum anymore ?

[@johnnyliu6271]

which bulkheads are you using for the 30 gal kalk container?

[@ReefBum]

3/4" sched 40 bulkhead.

[@garrycole9187]

Where did you buy those 30 gallons vats from? I would like to get some.

[@aquamind9996]

Yeah, what he said ☝️

[@ReefBum]

@@aquamind9996 www.newpig.com/

[@fellowreefer]

What type of Kalk do you use?? Great video and always helpful content.

[@ReefBum]

I use the Captiv8 Aquaculture kalk. It is available at these places: www.captiv8aquaculture.com/purchasing

[@davidhackett6298]

@@ReefBum how much teaspoons or tablespoons are u loading per gallon

[@ReefBum]

@@davidhackett6298 I follow the directions on the bag but I am using 2-1/4 cups per 28 gallons of RODI water.

[@woodentoadfish7898]

Where do you get those drums?

[@MS-lv1pw]

Do you stir the Kalkwasser when you first mix it and then just let it sit within the vat?

[@ReefBum]

First thing I do is add kalk when the water level in the drum is low and then I add the RODI water, which mixes it up. I do not stir it after that point and the kalk does stay supersaturated. I know this since the pH of the solution after a couple of weeks is 12.5 (the level of super saturation)

[@MS-lv1pw]

Thanks for the answer and great videos/content!

[@nixvapper]

I dose kalkwasser via kamoer at night time only based on 1 day evaporation rate, but I don't see significant improvement on Ph. With this method + skimmer(co2 scrubber) , I got around 7.8-7.9 at night time. I try increase evaporation using fan too. Do you increase your evaporation over there ?

[@6jdhd]

Your kalk solution isn't strong enough. What the ph of the kalk. My kalk is at 12.5 ph and I do 2 table Spoons per gallon.

[@nixvapper]

@@6jdhd I follow 6 gram per gallon, my container is 10 liters. 1 gallon = 3.8 liters.

[@6jdhd]

@@nixvapper I don't know what's going on. At night my ph is at 8.3 ph to 8.4 when dosing. Is the container sealed. No air getting in.

[@nixvapper]

@@6jdhd yes, the container sealed. How much do you dose per day ? Whats tank size ? I'm about 75gal, and I dose 3.5ml/minute via kamoer at night time

[@MurrayMotocross1]

Where did u get.the container? I'm guessing Amazon because I know you live in rural Vermont haha

[@ReefBum]

www.newpig.com/

[@davidhackett6298]

When mixing kalk in barrel how long do you wait to dose it

[@ReefBum]

A couple of hours or until it has all settled on the bottom.

[@LukeGreen_]

Hey Keith, are you worrying about KH at all now then, or just chasing the PH values?

[@ReefBum]

pH is the priority but I do target dkh in the 8.5 to 9 range.

[@LukeGreen_]

@@ReefBum so let’s say I’m hovering about 8.2 dkh in new tank, got quite a lot of corals in it, but the ph swing is 8.4 to 8.18. Would you still dose kalk to try and keep the ph at the 8.3 or above mark? Disregarding the dkh reading ?

[@ReefBum]

@@LukeGreen_ Those levels are pretty good.

[@markweston216]

Slurry all the way

[@bluerider0988]

How can you just decide to dose more Kalk? Isn't the maximum amount you can dose determined by you're evaporation? I am interested in kalk, but I don't think I have enough evaporation to meet my calcium and alk needs. Can you go over more how your "super" saturating your kalk?

[@Manniejr310]

You can start off with kalk then if you need more alk/cal do two part. That’s what I’m doing in my nano.

[@ReefBum]

You basically want to replace what you evaporate with kalk. However, you should not run kalk through an ATO since it will vary too much...it will go up and down with the evaporation rate. So figure out what you are evaporating on average and dose a consistent amount of kalk.

[@emmanuelrosario3315]

@@ReefBum so you don’t use an ato? Just calculate the water evaporation during the day and dose that at night with kalk?

[@ReefBum]

@@emmanuelrosario3315 My ATO is not tied in with my kalk dosing. Yes, you want to try to dose the super saturated solution of kalk at night that is equivalent to what you evaporate over a 24 hour period. But start with a lower amount of the kalk solution and work you way up until you achieve the desired results. Go slow....

[@davidhackett6298]

What brand of kalkawasser are you using

[@ReefBum]

Captiv8 Aquaculture

[@davidhackett6298]

@@ReefBum thank you again

[@steevareno2002]

Do you run a CO2 scrubber?

[@ReefBum]

No scrubber.

[@davidhackett6298]

I'm dosing 2 teaspoons per gallon of brs kalk and it won't go over 8.24

[@ReefBum]

You should be dosing it via a kalk reactor or in a drum with RODI water. One way to check if it is not losing potency is to measure the pH coming out of your kalk delivery system. It should have a pH of 12.5. Anything lower and it will not be working in an optimal manner.

[@davidhackett6298]

@@ReefBum thank u