Quote:
Originally Posted by Melanie  I thought of another question, how do you keep from "overdosing" your tank when the Kalkwasser (and Ca reactor) adds itself and you aren't adding a specific amount? (Sorry for the thread hijack. Your tank is just magnificent and I want to learn from you!) |
Thanks...
Ok... the calcium reactor needs to be "dialed in". That means that you have to adjust the amount of CO2 being injected into the reactor, and the amount of effluent dripping out of it. You generally have it right when the PH of your effluent dripping out of the reactor is around 6.5. At 6.5PH, the media inside the reactor should be slowly disolving and supplying you reef with a steady dose of calcium and other trace elements. There really is not much danger of overdosing with a Ca reactor, as the media is
slowly disolving. The risk of infusing too much CO2 into your tank as to drop the PH dramatically is low to none. The CO2 setup utilizes a precision needle valve to control the amount of CO2 entering the reactor. Also if the power goes out, the guages have an auto cut off to shut down the CO2.
Now... as far as the Kalkwasser reactor... there is a little more risk, not much, depending how you do it. Kalkwasser solution has a very high PH around 12 or something like that. I don't need to tell you what a PH that high would do to your reef...
Some people use a dosing pump, which could be risky if not done right (overdose). My method utilizes the Kalkwasser reactor to make the solution, and it is fed to my sump by gravity. My reactor sits higher than my sump, and when water evaporates from my tank, only that amount of Kalkwasser solution is being added to my system. So there is really a low risk of my tank ever being overdosed with Kalkwasser solution. The only thing that could fail in my setup would be the plastic Kent Marine float valve, which controls the flow of Kalkwasser solution into my tank. The only thing I need to do is keep it clean from calcium buildup. And even then... a failure of that valve would likely mean it gets clogged up and doesn't allow ANY solution from entering my tank.
So as you can see both methods are slowly providing a constant supply of calcium to my reef, which my corals and corraline are constantly using up.
These two methods are nothing like the calcium additives, that can raise your calcium level quickly. It also depends on the demand for calcium your tank has. The more corals you have, the more demand for calcium there will be.