Calcium and dkh question

[RAV-65]

Hi all,

juz took my raeding and they are as follows :

Calcium : 470-480ppm (Salifert)

DkH : 7.5 (Aquamedi)

PH : 8.2 (PH Pen)

Was wondering if my DkH is slightly on the low side... should I use Reef Builder (Calcium Carbonate) to perk up the dkH to maybe about 8-9? As for the PH, do I need to increase it to 8.3-8.4?

I was told that Kalk and help maintain the calcium level and dkh level, am currently dripping it... do I need to continue?

Vincent Ho

[Michael Young]

Did you know that NSW has a dKh of between 6 to 7. I'd say your tank parameters are alright. Don't try to repair lt when its not broken. Chasing numbers will take away the fun in reef keeping.

[RAV-65]

Hey Michael... thanxs for the advice!! Juz take, I'm trying my best to keep the tank's water condition as well as i can.... coz my fish got whitespots, so i hope other factors dun affect my tank.... juz bought a skimmer today for $200!! Haiz... spent about $300-400 juz April alone liao....

Anyway, to clairfy, was told that Kalkwasser can help maintain the parameters, izit true? I thought is to increase calcium... Coz I'm currently dripping it and wouldn't want the calcium to overshoot....

Also, is no3 at 25ppm too high? my ricodeas dun seem to be opening very well... and i cant find the problem.... Phosphate is believe to be zero too, although I dun have a testkit, but I got no diatoms problems also am using about 600g of rowaphos for my 90 gallon tank....

Pls advise...

Vincent Ho

[Terryz_]

Bro... What skimmer you bought...

[RAV-65]

its a Macro needle-wheel skimmer... very similar to H&S, but of coz cheaper and I think the H&S still better, the skimmer hasn't break in yet, so dunno how good izit....

Vincent Ho

[Terryz_]

Oh....

[KingFish]

Chasing numbers will take away the fun in reef keeping.

Hear hear ... , you hit the spot with that one Michael.

Vincent, Ca & dKH has little to do with the fish's condition.

Maybe pH but your reading of 8.2 is fine.

A skimmer will to a certain extent by removing the DOM before it degrades to NO3, which in high levels can be a source of concern to even fishes, except the real hardy ones. That is one equipment one should not save on.

Kalkwasser will not increase your Ca level, it only serves to maintain.

I suggest a search on the Forum as I believe the use of kalk has been discussed in details.

No algae problem does not indicate you do not have NO3 problems.

Nonetheless, a reliable PO4 testkit is a good investment.

A general search on basic saltwater aquaria water chemistry will also be good reading on a lazy long weekend.

[roidan]

its a Macro needle-wheel skimmer... very similar to H&S, but of coz cheaper and I think the H&S still better, the skimmer hasn't break in yet, so dunno how good izit....

Vincent Ho

how tall and how wide is the skimmer chamber?

if it is of the same size as those H&S and the bubbles are chopped as finely...then it will be a good skimmer

[Joe_P]

Hi all,

juz took my raeding and they are as follows :

Calcium : 470-480ppm (Salifert)

DkH : 7.5 (Aquamedi)

PH : 8.2 (PH Pen)

Was wondering if my DkH is slightly on the low side... should I use Reef Builder (Calcium Carbonate) to perk up the dkH to maybe about 8-9? As for the PH, do I need to increase it to 8.3-8.4?

I was told that Kalk and help maintain the calcium level and dkh level, am currently dripping it... do I need to continue?

Vincent Ho

Vincent,

Water parameters have got a lot to do with what you intend to venture to...

If you are headin the direction of SPS or any high calcium consumption stuff, my suggestion would be to increase the dkH...

Unlike the ocean, a reef tank has a really small volume of water so some parameters are boosted up to create stability….

[RAV-65]

Wow! thanxs to all the nice people who took their time to respond to my thread, have a much better idea of wat's happening now.... i tink all your responses juz saved me a few hours trying to look through the archives....

Rumor,

am considering your suggestion of a phosphate testkit, but beside ugly algae, wat does the phosphate do? I juz dun wan another white elephant lying round...

Vincent Ho

[woonming]

Hello Vic,

PO4 is a fuel for many unwanted algeas. Like cyno / red slime..

If you want to view how a cyno look like drop by my home (hehe)

High PO4 level is discussed in RC that it harmful to certain corals.

To remove PO4. you could get a good skimmer or rowa.(chemical).

Kalkwasser is more of a buffer and used during your daily water top up to prevent any swing .

[KingFish]

Basically, besides the fact that it is one of the component in the growth of undesirable algae, the other effect is that it inhibits calcification.

Try reading Randy's article article for an introduction.

And if you haven't melted your brain yet, try this.

Essentially maintaining good water circulation to prevent the accumulation of detritus where PO4 can gather is a better solution. Thereafter, its up to skimmer to fractionize it out for export.

[RAV-65]

Hi all...

When I set up my tank, have placed 4 power heads to induce currents to prevent deritus buildup.... when the diatoms started building up, I had rowaphos put it to eliminate the phosphates... Also, have since introduced a new skimmer to improve the skimming... even though I only have handdful of small fishes...

Vincent Ho

[jd_n]

So Macro have launched their needle wheel skimmer

[Michael Young]

Hi all...

When I set up my tank, have placed 4 power heads to induce currents to prevent deritus buildup.... when the diatoms started building up, I had rowaphos put it to eliminate the phosphates... Also, have since introduced a new skimmer to improve the skimming... even though I only have handdful of small fishes...

Vincent Ho

Vince, 4 powerheads really doesn't mean anything if they are not providing enough 'flow'. Always remember: Its the amount of water that is moving that counts; not the speed.

[Infinitereef]

Hear hear ... , you hit the spot with that one Michael.

Vincent, Ca & dKH has little to do with the fish's condition.

Maybe pH but your reading of 8.2 is fine.

A skimmer will to a certain extent by removing the DOM before it degrades to NO3, which in high levels can be a source of concern to even fishes, except the real hardy ones. That is one equipment one should not save on.

Kalkwasser will not increase your Ca level, it only serves to maintain.

I suggest a search on the Forum as I believe the use of kalk has been discussed in details.

No algae problem does not indicate you do not have NO3 problems.

Nonetheless, a reliable PO4 testkit is a good investment.

A general search on basic saltwater aquaria water chemistry will also be good reading on a lazy long weekend.

- Kalkwasser will not increase your Ca level, it only serves to maintain.

Can you explain why you come to this conclusion? Kalkwasser is Calcium hydroxide. The hydroxide will turn into carbonate that helps your alkalinity. Left with calcium to boost your calcium in the water.

If Kalkwasser does not increase Ca level, then why will someone drip Kalk to replace the Ca that is loss. Dosing too much Kalk will defintely make your Ca level go over the roof.

Will like to hear your explaination.

[ervine]

I think what he's trying to say is that kalk is usually not used to boost Ca levels but merely to maintain them...

An overdose of kalk will bring about higher Ca levels but it will also cause pH problems... as such there's only so much Ca you can gain from dosing kalk before screwing up the pH in your tank..

Hope I got it right...

[untouchables]

fr my understanding, kalk is to increase calcium but in a stable tank, u only need to top up calcium loss so it is correct to say it is used to maintain calcium level. if u need to increase calcium level, try not to use kalk cos it will affect pH. use calcium additives instead. for me, im using seachem calcium to increase it to 450-480 and now im trying to keep it stable using kalk.

cheers!

[Michael Young]

Kalkwasser or lime water by defination is a dissolved solution with calcium and hydoxide ions. The calcium ions in the solution obviously add to the calcium level in the water and the hydroxide ions supply the alkalinity which buffers the pH.

However, hydroxide cannot be absorbed by corals to aid in calcification unless it is combined with CO2 (which is omnipresence in the atmosphere and from respiration) to form bicarbonate and carbonate.

Therefore, the answer is yes, kalkwasser will boost calcium level in your aquarium.

[Infinitereef]

This is what I thought. Thanks for clearing this up.

[typrobin]

Kalkwasser or lime water by defination is a dissolved solution with calcium and hydoxide ions.  The calcium ions in the solution obviously add to the calcium level in the water and the hydroxide ions supply the alkalinity which buffers the pH.

However, hydroxide cannot be absorbed by corals to aid in calcification unless it is combined with CO2 (which is omnipresence in the atmosphere and from respiration) to form bicarbonate and carbonate.

Therefore, the answer is yes, kalkwasser will boost calcium level in your aquarium.

michael, dosing excessive kalk will screw up the ph rite?? and since u mentioned tat kalk will boost calcium level, does it mean there is a chance of overdosing kalk juz light overdosing calcium additives??

and how does it screw up the PH??i was told that there is a slight chance of overdosing on kalk, i'm using coralife kalkwasser plus, 6 tea spoons into container and only pour out the clear solutions, top up with tap water once the clear solution runs out....have been using the 6 tea spoons of kalk since last friday....

my tank is about 280ltr, evaporation 3-5 ltrs a day, 100% top up with kalk solution....will i ovedose??

[typrobin]

somebody pls help....really confused over the kalk issue.....

[RAV-65]

Bro,

you have to do a drip... coz it's better to drip the kalk into the tank... also, is 5 teaspoons too many? have the amount to add on the label? I only add one teaspoon to my tank every 3 days or so...

Vincent Ho

[typrobin]

i use 6 tea spoons but it does not readily mix with the water mah....there will definitely be white residue on the bottom of the container, so more or less i assume that 6 teaspoon will be spread over a period of 1 week.....

i don't pour in all 3 ltrs of top up at one go, i do it throughout the day, about 500ml each time....

[RAV-65]

Bro,

have you measured your Calcium, PH and dkh? I dose only 1 teaspoon every 3-5 days and my calcium rose from 470-480 to 520-530.... u may wanna be real certain of ur readings before you start dosing again, if not ur tank will crash....

Dun worry about the residue at the bottom of the bottle, dat is why its better to make a drip, and when u do, the tap should not be at the bottom, it should be at about 1.5 inch away from the bottom of the bottle...

Vincent Ho