Advice on raising and maintaining KH

[legos36]

Hi! Can any kind reefer advice on how i can raise and maintain KH in a cheap and effective manner? I currently have a dosing pump and could make use of that. I’ve also read up on using kalkwasser or baking soda but not sure which is better. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

 

 

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[Zixuan]

Just a newbie reefer, but here's my opinion! 

Kalkwasser's primary objective is to raise PH, besides the small additive of Cal and KH/Alkalinity that it provides. The general advise is for reefers to try kalkwasser, then move on to either 2-part or CR (Cal reactor) to supplement the uptake of the elements, since you can start-off with a low intensity of kalkwasser mix (1/2tsp per gal), and gradually work your way towards full saturation (1.5-2tsp depending on brand). However, the drawback is that you can only add as much kalkwasser water into your tank depending on your evaporation. Ideally, since a new tank wont take up so much calcium and alkalinity, kalkwasser is a great start. Furthermore, if your consumption starts getting heavy, you can look into 2-part dosing (Cal and Alk) to supplement the KH consumption. To some certain extent, it can precipitate a lil of the phosphates in your tank as well!

2-part's really useful since it allows you to control how much you want to dose the cal, and how much for alk as well ... This means, in some way, you can tune the levels of cal and alk in your tank to your liking. You don't really get this in your cross-the-counter solutions like Kalkwasser and AFR (All For Reef). 

However, with that being said, the dosing pump had better be those which could continually drip the kalk into your tank, i.e., a peristaltic pump (can search up kamoer, they've got really good ones)

Here's a kalkwasser calculator that I use.
https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/KalkContribution.php

 

All the best

 

[legos36]

Just a newbie reefer, but here's my opinion! 
Kalkwasser's primary objective is to raise PH, besides the small additive of Cal and KH/Alkalinity that it provides. The general advise is for reefers to try kalkwasser, then move on to either 2-part or CR (Cal reactor) to supplement the uptake of the elements, since you can start-off with a low intensity of kalkwasser mix (1/2tsp per gal), and gradually work your way towards full saturation (1.5-2tsp depending on brand). However, the drawback is that you can only add as much kalkwasser water into your tank depending on your evaporation. Ideally, since a new tank wont take up so much calcium and alkalinity, kalkwasser is a great start. Furthermore, if your consumption starts getting heavy, you can look into 2-part dosing (Cal and Alk) to supplement the KH consumption. To some certain extent, it can precipitate a lil of the phosphates in your tank as well!
2-part's really useful since it allows you to control how much you want to dose the cal, and how much for alk as well ... This means, in some way, you can tune the levels of cal and alk in your tank to your liking. You don't really get this in your cross-the-counter solutions like Kalkwasser and AFR (All For Reef). 
However, with that being said, the dosing pump had better be those which could continually drip the kalk into your tank, i.e., a peristaltic pump (can search up kamoer, they've got really good ones)
Here's a kalkwasser calculator that I use.
https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/KalkContribution.php
 
All the best
 

Wow thank you so much for the detailed run through!! Okay I’ll try this method out slowly and monitor my tank conditions as I proceed bit by bit. (:


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