Raise pH on ATO water

yogoshio

yogoshio

New member
Since my top off is RODI, its pH is naturally 7, which is causing slow but sure lowering of my overall pH, and if something gets a little clogged in my sump and I don't catch it, it causes a big swing, sometimes as much as .7 or .8, and then I have to throw some baking soda in to try and catch up.

Is there something I can mix with my ATO that can help maintain pH? I have a small pump in my ATO reservoir to keep things stirred up, could I keep kalk in there? I don't want to buy another reactor.
 
Kalk is my best friend ;) Keeps my levels steady (ALK & CAL) and PH at night 8.1 and day at 8.2.. I just mix once and leave alone until refill or might shake it every other day... Has to be air tight.
 
Lil BamBam said:
Kalk is my best friend ;) Keeps my levels steady (ALK & CAL) and PH at night 8.1 and day at 8.2.. I just mix once and leave alone until refill or might shake it every other day... Has to be air tight.
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Kalk was the single best thing I've ever done to my tank. I add it to my ATO resevior and never bother to stir it or shake it.

LBB - a read a post by Randy Holmes-Farley on RC and he said that the decrease in potency is soooo insignificant that you don't have to worry about an airtight container. (Mine isn't airtight and I've been good.)

This is a great article. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php
 
EricTheRed said:
Kalk was the single best thing I've ever done to my tank. I add it to my ATO resevior and never bother to stir it or shake it.

LBB - a read a post by Randy Holmes-Farley on RC and he said that the decrease in potency is soooo insignificant that you don't have to worry about an airtight container. (Mine isn't airtight and I've been good.)

This is a great article. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php
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Will have to read tomorrow with a nice cup of coffee ;) He has so much great info..
 
Right now, though, I have a large rubbermaid which isn't airtight, and not looking to buy anything extra or make big changes. Any other options? Or as long as its mixing (I have a pump mixing the water continuously) can I have it closed, but not airtight?
 
You have everything you need to dose Kalk just make sure that if you do use the pump to stir it up it has to be intermittent. You only want to use the saturated kalk water and not the sediment.

I dose but I am really leaning toward Kalk. I lose so much water due to evaporation that my PH is always moving. I think it due to the top off water.
 
yogoshio said:
So if I mixed in kalk, I'd mix it once, and then leave it alone?
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That's how I do it. You are not suppose to dose the sediment that settles on the bottom of your resevior. Everytime you mix it you are kicking up all the sediment and it gets into your tank. I know some people mix it with pumps, others mix it manually. I used to shake my jug every day but I stopped because my LR was getting filled with the sediment and the whole tank would cloud up everytime I used a turkey baster to blow my rocks before water changes. I stopped mixing and nothing changed, except I no longer have the sediment in my tank.

If you're not going to mix it, you'll want to make sure that your tubing is about 1.5 to 2" above the bottom of your resevior so you don't suck up the sediment. This will always leave some water at the bottom. I then throw out the bottom couple inches of cloudy water. Kalk is very cheap so it's no big deal. I find this much easier than mixing the kalk.
 
I have buffer if you want it maybe half a container just sits now that I'm dosing everything by pumps let me know
 
EricTheRed said:
That's how I do it. You are not suppose to dose the sediment that settles on the bottom of your resevior. Everytime you mix it you are kicking up all the sediment and it gets into your tank. I know some people mix it with pumps, others mix it manually. I used to shake my jug every day but I stopped because my LR was getting filled with the sediment and the whole tank would cloud up everytime I used a turkey baster to blow my rocks before water changes. I stopped mixing and nothing changed, except I no longer have the sediment in my tank.

If you're not going to mix it, you'll want to make sure that your tubing is about 1.5 to 2" above the bottom of your resevior so you don't suck up the sediment. This will always leave some water at the bottom. I then throw out the bottom couple inches of cloudy water. Kalk is very cheap so it's no big deal. I find this much easier than mixing the kalk.
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+1 that's how I do it
 
Im not sure how big your system is... But here is my DIY to an air tight ATO\kalk on my 75gal.. The tube is about 2" off the bottom. Total cost under 20 with aqualifter from PA.

Tube was purchased from Petsmart :( Only place that had around my area.. No choice!!

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EricTheRed said:
That's how I do it. You are not suppose to dose the sediment that settles on the bottom of your resevior. Everytime you mix it you are kicking up all the sediment and it gets into your tank. I know some people mix it with pumps, others mix it manually. I used to shake my jug every day but I stopped because my LR was getting filled with the sediment and the whole tank would cloud up everytime I used a turkey baster to blow my rocks before water changes. I stopped mixing and nothing changed, except I no longer have the sediment in my tank.

If you're not going to mix it, you'll want to make sure that your tubing is about 1.5 to 2" above the bottom of your resevior so you don't suck up the sediment. This will always leave some water at the bottom. I then throw out the bottom couple inches of cloudy water. Kalk is very cheap so it's no big deal. I find this much easier than mixing the kalk.
Click to expand...

This is how I manage both my 72 and 92 reefs.... Pretty straight forward and easy to set up.
 
All that Kalkwasser is only good until a point where it's not enough. I used it and hated it, until I started two-part. Now life is beautiful. Kalk will significantly lower your pH and can make a nasty mess, possibly causing death, when accidentally overdosed. For example your ATO float switch fails and dumps the kalk into your system. With that said, I do have a free half-gallon of kalk from BRS, for the ones who still like to use it. PM me for pickup.
 
markitekt said:
All that Kalkwasser is only good until a point where it's not enough. I used it and hated it, until I started two-part. Now life is beautiful. Kalk will significantly lower your pH and can make a nasty mess, possibly causing death, when accidentally overdosed. For example your ATO float switch fails and dumps the kalk into your system. With that said, I do have a free half-gallon of kalk from BRS, for the ones who still like to use it. PM me for pickup.
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Did you mean to say that kalk raises pH...
 
Not sure on that last comment either? Did he say that he now doses and uses kalk?

His tank is beautiful, so much SPS. How my much do you dose two-part?
 
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