Kalkwasser dosing; The ACI Method Update

[@Val_Halla777]

Thanks for the inspiration and experience share. I watched this a while back and finally going to try this method. (Dosing Kalk based on PH) My Versa just arrived and plan to use my Avast Kalk stirrer as well. Just rewatched your two vids on the subject as refresher. Appreciated! Hope all’s going well.

[@casualreefkeeping]

Did you end up doing it? If so how'd it go?!

[@kaylavicctoriaa6613]

Lol salem making his appearance. Great video! Lots of awesome info❤

[@barelyreefer]

Good update! Kalkwasser is pretty darn simple and coral love it. My infant sps frags are starting to grow fast. I had a wall hammer that looked terrible, but after starting kalk, it's looking fat and happy!

[@queencityreefs]

Great episode 👏🏻 👌🏻

[@casualreefkeeping]

Thank you for watching!

[@jmg7188]

Thanks for posting this update!

[@casualreefkeeping]

Definitely long overdue!

[@ReefUnderTheRoof]

those monti caps are nice! great vid as always!

[@casualreefkeeping]

Thank you!

[@amnhacdungnghia]

Your reef tank is so beautiful and your black baby is so sweet 🥰🥰

[@casualreefkeeping]

He's a good boy even if he's needy

[@ghost61]

wow I would be trimming some of those monti's back awesome tank

[@casualreefkeeping]

Long overdue, I definitely need to. Lot of overgrowth I'd like to give away

[@CO.Reefing]

Nice update on your Kalkwasser setup. I have an 80gal I am dosing via a Kamoer Pro dosing pump now. Still need to setup my Apex JR to monitor my PH but I think it is helping. Those montis are crazy, get rid of some and add sticks to consume more alk and cal :)

[@casualreefkeeping]

That's absolutely what I'd like to do. I'm working on setting up a frag system so I can pull some stuff while I try to find them new homes

[@CO.Reefing]

@@casualreefkeeping Nice!

[@bobbybenedict1027]

It's definitely not you having problems with Mobius. My Versa's have the same problem sometimes when the app screws up the time! Great video!👍

[@casualreefkeeping]

Thanks for watching! I do generally hear a lot of gripes about mobius, was just such an odd hiccup to have but once I corrected that it's been solid since.

[@bobbybenedict1027]

@@casualreefkeeping I've been using Mobius for about 3 years now and it's happened like 4 or 5 times so far. I did let Ecotech know about it but haven't heard anything yet. The time goes crazy on the app everytime the clock changes for daylight savings.

[@sharonromano811]

A same thing happened to me, took calcium reactor down, started dosing kalk by way of a call reactor

[@GwonkReefkeeping]

Good video.

[@TrevorHiller]

My question is still is this better than just dosing straight Kalkwasser at night regardless of pH variance. It’d be nice to see some before and after pictures of the growth. I dose straight saturated Kalkwasser to the evaporation during lights out, but don’t have the on and off based on pH-just a steady flow. 24 hour pH is usually around +/- 0.10-0.15

[@casualreefkeeping]

I had done a very bad job documenting the before lol I wasn't sure if I was going to be making videos and was just running with the kalk idea. I'll have to search and post whatever I have though. As far as your dosing, it probably nets the same amount of kalk but may fluctuate the ph more. The effects of kalk are limited by co2 though so this will vary system to system.

[@recoveryreefing413]

Did you notice any alkalinity burn on your acro's? When the alkalinity spiked

[@casualreefkeeping]

No I actually didn't, the highest spike I saw was around 11dkh, which was a little nerve wracking but it came back down, pH has stayed up and I actually had to put the calcium reactor back on to keep my alk up after a few months

[@davidhackett6298]

Hello are u running ur versa continuously or 24hours milsperminute

[@kamarnic]

How high did your calcium go up during this process?

[@davidhackett6298]

Beautiful tank how much kalk are u loading in reactor and how long before u change it

[@casualreefkeeping]

Hey sorry for the delay! I usually load about 2 cups every 3 weeks. I'm not particularly consistent, but the reactor seems to be very forgiving. Following the avast refill recommendations, I have not noticed a pH drop in the reactor.

[@davidhackett6298]

​@casualreefkeeping how much are u dosing with versa at night and how much do you evaporate

[@casualreefkeeping]

@davidhackett6298 I'm dosing at a rate of 9.5mL/min, varies a little but around 6L a day.

[@davidhackett6298]

Are u still using ur kalk stirer I tried the mechley way thru the brute can works great but I want to use my stirer

[@davidhackett6298]

R u still using kalk stirer

[@casualreefkeeping]

Hey David sorry, looks like my notifications were off. Yes still running the stirrer to this day!

[@winstonclyde]

Is your alk staying stable? Let's say you maintaining 8.3-8.5 ph does your alk float around 11-11.5?

[@jules2545]

I have just switched to a kalk stirrer from a tank of RO+kalk and found the potency of the Kalk has gone up. I am in the process of re-adjusting my kalk dosage as my pH shot up to 8.75 for a short period of time. You mentioned some people are running high pH, what value would that be please? Your tank is looking very good.

[@casualreefkeeping]

I'd say 8.75 is high pH haha I did not see a difference from reservoir vs stirrer, but that may depend on the flow rate. At a high rate it may not stir enough to maintain saturation while dosing. I've seen people like Deven from @reefdudes add more propellers or zip ties to increase the mixing to combat that, but I have not tried that myself.

[@stevewong6956]

Are you controlling the kalk using the apex and if so can you post your programming? Also for the ato outlet?

[@casualreefkeeping]

Tough to share here, I'll try to copy and paste to another comment. The apex is turning my kalk pump on and off based on pH, so that's just using the pH control drop down, no custom code. For the ato outlet, I had that setup with the atk task, switched it to advanced and added a line that if the kalk pump is on, ato off, so that they don't run simultaneously.

[@davidhackett6298]

On the apex what is your low value and high value u have it on when it's low or high

[@casualreefkeeping]

@davidhackett6298 I'm using the code options not the form so it's just Set on if ph > setpoint then Off.

[@BrownReefer215]

Still regular water changes??

[@casualreefkeeping]

Water changes yes, I wouldn't call them regular though lol depends on how high my phosphates get. I have noticed my phosphates don't rise as rapidly since starting kalk, there might be some chemistry behind that or another factor. Too many variables for me to say anything with any confidence just yet.

[@andrew5762]

Stylos and monties so easy to grow even without Kalc 🙈 I’m dosing kalc not a great improvement in my sticks in growth 😢

[@casualreefkeeping]

Unfortunately the biology is more complicated than we really understand. What we dose is just one of many variables. Some of which are beyond our control. Hopefully you continue to see good growth!

[@davidhackett6298]

How do you tell the versa to turn off at 8.29

[@casualreefkeeping]

The versa unfortunately is just plugged into a spot on the eb832 and controlled by power cycles. I was hoping the MXM would support the versa so I could stop doing it this way but it does not.

[@davidhackett6298]

@@casualreefkeeping ok thank u

[@casualreefkeeping]

@davidhackett6298 no problem. Unfortunately there isn't a great option with apex integration yet. Power cycling works but it isn't ideal, and the DOS pump isn't rated for continuous duty. It shouldn't run 24/7 but it will run for nearly 12 hours and the DOS will likely fail prematurely and be loud.

[@davidhackett6298]

@casualreefkeeping yes the Dos is loud I just bought a versa to dose kalk with the avast stirer

[@casualreefkeeping]

@@davidhackett6298 that's exactly how mine is setup

[@RobBzReef]

You yanked the xenia 😅

[@casualreefkeeping]

Lol no the xenia is in a different tank

[@RobBzReef]

@@casualreefkeeping oh my bad! Great video!

[@casualreefkeeping]

​@RobBzReef thanks Rob! You'll be able to see the xenia when I do an update on the nano, hopefully in the next week. I really do need to do something about it before it consumes the whole tank again.

[@jeremy87turbo87]

My friend if there's stuff you wanna get rid of in your tank coral wise get hold of me. And I will definitely send you my email address. I will pay for the shipping... And a reasonable price for coral.... I live in Arizona just so you have an idea where my location is.