Kalk Drips??

ltkenbo

Reefing newb
So I ordered some calcium hydroxide from bulk reef supply to help in my ongoing battle against the dinoflagellates in my tank. So, I was wondering how you do these things exactly? The stuff is coming today so I would like to figure it out.
 
i use 1 tsp per gallon of ro water and drip it into the tank at about 1-3 drips a sec. i made my dosing jug out of a oceanic 50 gal salt mix jug i drilled a hole in the top of the lid than stuck the airline tubing in the hole and than poked a hole in the handel of the jug to let air in the jug if you dont do that the flow will stop. than i sued a little air line valve in the tubing to control the drip if you need a pic i can take on for you to show you how i made mine
 
003-25.jpg

005-21.jpg

006-21.jpg


i used zipties to keep the tubing straight in the jug so that it did not curl up and only use a little bit of the kalk
009-16.jpg


010-19.jpg
 
So I ordered some calcium hydroxide from bulk reef supply to help in my ongoing battle against the dinoflagellates in my tank. So, I was wondering how you do these things exactly? The stuff is coming today so I would like to figure it out.
I don't follow you. How is adding a calcium and alkalinity supplement (kalk) going to help you fight dinos?
 
Yes, I understand that, but there are other ways that are probably safer. IMO, you need to dose too much kalk to keep the pH consistently high. I just feel there is too much that can go wrong with high kalk doses, and if you don't dose enough you won't get the pH your looking for.

That article also gives these other methods...
"1. Reduce available nutrients in the water. These include nitrate and especially phosphate. In a severe case, the concerns with driving phosphate too low may be minor compared to the dinoflagellates (and their toxins). In addition to the usual ways of reducing nutrients (skimming, growing macroalgae, deep sand beds, etc.), aquarists should consider very aggressive use of granular ferric oxide (GFO). Putting a larger than normally recommended amount into a canister filter or reactor, and changing it every few days, may help. Don't bother to measure the phosphate level, because the goal is to have it well below normally detectable levels (say, 0.02 ppm).

2. Reduce the photoperiod to four hours per day. This may help to keep the dinoflagellates under control, but by itself will not usually eradicate them.

3. Use more than normal amounts of activated carbon, and possibly ozone, to deal with toxins that the dinoflagellates may be releasing. This may allow snails and other organisms to survive while the dinoflagellates are still at nuisance levels.

4. Manually siphon out as much of the mass of dinoflagellates as possible. Daily removal would be preferable to keep populations at a reduced level."
 
Yes, I understand that, but there are other ways that are probably safer. IMO, you need to dose too much kalk to keep the pH consistently high. I just feel there is too much that can go wrong with high kalk doses, and if you don't dose enough you won't get the pH your looking for.

I agree. My kalk overdose was evidence of this!
 
Yeah I'm doing all this, I ordered a dual GFO/carbon reactor at the same time I ordered the calcium hydroxide, however after I ordered it, turns out it is on backorder and I called the guy today and he said they should get them by early next week, so until then I have been doing another blackout since the dino's were getting so bad and I thought I might as well keep the ph up while I'm waiting for the other stuff. I have removed most of the sand bed so there should be no excess nutrients (especially with the amount of water changes I usually do).
 
Back
Top