dpassar12 July 6, 2016 Share July 6, 2016 So I wanted to try some kalk, mainly because I wanted to see if it would keep my ALK levels a bit more stable. I target my ALK at 10 DKH. At the time of my experiment my ALK was 9 DKH, MAG was 1400. I use a Calc reactor and my PH is consistently on the low end low @ 7.9-8.0. I was looking to see if I added a bit of kalk, if my ALK would stay more stable and my ph would slowly rise over several days into the 8.2-8.4 range. I gently mixed 2 tablespoons into a gallon of RO, I did this 3 times, so 3 gallons total of RO water with 6 tablespoon of Kalk. I then poured each gallon into my ATO. Which already had 15 gallon of plain RO water. I let the mixture settle for 2 hours. there was a bit of kallk on the bottom so i raised my pump up about 2 inches (Tunze), the water was slightly cloudy but nothing like a milky mixture. Over the course of 12 hours it topped off 2.0 gallons. My PH was 8.05. I added another 2 gallons of plain RO back into my ATO.. I'm think everything is working as i expected so no need to added any more kalk until I changed to some type of drip method. Another 12 hours and approx another 2.0 gallons later I have bleached at least 16 different SPS... My PH never went above 8.15. My system is 850 gals.. all of my fish are fine, snails, slugs, shrimp etc. Softies, leathers LPS shrooms all seem fine. I just don't see how 6 tablespoons of kalk in a 18 gallon ATO which never pumped more than 4 gallons max into my system could screw me up so bad? My initial intent was to use a dosing pump dripping 1ml a minute. That would have dosed approx 1/2 gal in 1 day. The reason i did not, was the BRS dosers are not designed to run 24/7 they are designed to run 5 hr daily max. I would never drip enough into my system to make any difference. I figured worst case scenario if my ATO broke and all 18 gallons got dumped into my system that it would not make any difference. 18 gallons into 850 gallons would barely move my salinity. Obviously I was wrong. I have since dumped and cleaned out my ATO. I have swapped out about 200 gals in the last 2 days. I still have SPS dying! What. Do I need to do anything else? None of my water parameters are off? My tank water was never cloudy or anything like that. I have seen a kalk system go bad and it looked like it was snowing in the tank.. That guy lost everything. I have not lost 16 pieces of Coral in the last 5 years let alone in a few days.. Who knows what is next. Not sure if I am more pissed at myself or embarrassed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidm July 6, 2016 Share July 6, 2016 anything else change? Did a temp sensor get moved out of the tank when you were doing this? a powerhead get moved? From what you described I don't see how the Kalk could be the culprit for such a rapid reaction. you might want to calibrate your osmometer if you haven't in a while. sorry I can't be of more help - and sorry for your losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds July 6, 2016 Share July 6, 2016 I don't use Kalk but what your describing in an 850 gallon system doesn't seem that it should have caused the losses. Have you checked the heaters and pumps? Maybe there is stray electricity? I have lost a few corals this year and have no idea why. The corals around the ones I lose are perfectly fine. No clue what causes it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS July 7, 2016 Share July 7, 2016 Agree with epleeds. What kind of kalk did you use? You sure it was reef safe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 July 7, 2016 Share July 7, 2016 Usually my SPS dies 2-3weeks after the mistake which makes it difficult to pinpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpassar12 July 7, 2016 Author Share July 7, 2016 (edited) I checked my heaters and pumps they seem ok. I used Mrs Wages pickling lime. Which is now in the garbage. Edited July 7, 2016 by dpassar12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpassar12 July 7, 2016 Author Share July 7, 2016 (edited) I also rechecked my PH in the system and it is correct on the Apex. That was my first thought that my PH was not as low as it was reading.. but that does not seem to be the issue. not all of my sps have bleached... I had a rainbow monti the size of a softball die right next to a sunset monti the size of a softball and that one is fine so far.. All of my Caps look fine... Millis dead tables dead... Tyree purple monster good so far stylos are good Pocci looks ok so far.. multiple tanks SPS is spread between 2 tanks... I have 8 returns and 5 tanks. I have yellow cabbage leather and a red cabbage leather that I was worried about prior to this and now they look great... Zoas fine.. Pulsing Xenia looked crappy this morning but just now looks good... Also checked my RO water TDS 0 checked for chlorine with a test strip fine.. I have had that happen a few years ago and lost a few fish.. changed to 5 stage RO last year.. Edited July 7, 2016 by dpassar12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k July 7, 2016 Share July 7, 2016 after you dosed all of the kw, how high did the alk and ca rise to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv July 7, 2016 Share July 7, 2016 Sorry to hear about the loss. I know the feeling all to well. Here is a link to an article that describes how I use a kalk stirrer and calc reactor in combination to accomplish what your goals seem to be (i.e. higher pH and stable parameters). I hope it offer some ideas. https://reefs.com/magazine/the-kalk-calc-combo-method-185.html/ Hopefully you do not lose anything else., Good Luck, Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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