REEF DOSING

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KMyers18

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
331
Location
central florida
Can anyone tell me if you really need to dose with a bunch of different junk? If not what do you really need to keep any kind of corals? Please help im confused. Are there any good books on reef keeping. I have heared that you can maintain with only water changes and KALK. Is that for hard corals also?
 
Can anyone tell me if you really need to dose with a bunch of different junk?

Nope, you sure don't

If not what do you really need to keep any kind of corals?

Stable water conditions with NSW levels of CA, ALK, PH etc..most can simply supplament with a balanced additive like kalkwasser and do fine so long as they do regular water changes. If you never do waterchanges...you'll need to dose the junk.

Are there any good books on reef keeping.

Plenty, check our library (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/library.php).

I have heared that you can maintain with only water changes and KALK. Is that for hard corals also?

Yep, that's what I do and I keep both soft and hard corals.
 
Running high-grade carbon will also help water quality...also with the water being "clearer" the lights will penetrate the water better, helping your corals.

A lot don't need specific feeding (depends on the coral), but adding a bit of phytoplankton each week can only help the tank in general. But be careful not to overdose!

Reefrunner: is KALK really neccessary?
 
Reefrunner: is KALK really neccessary?

Nope, there are plenty of other additives, I use kalk cause it's cheap and easy and a balanced solution, it replaces both the CA and the ALK and helps maintain the ionic balance of the tank.
 
All I do is dose kalk and do water changes every two weeks.

Never have a problem with any of my levels. It is also much cheaper to change the water as it is to dose the "junk".
 
So kalk is used as a buffer as well?

How often does it need to be added, how much, and is it easy to overdose?

What problems can it cause if it is overdosed?
 
Is it really needed at all, and can it affect pH and evaporation (along with other calcium products)?
 
Mark,

All you ever wanted to know about Kalk and then some.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rhf/feature/index.htm

Yes, kalk is also a buffer. How much is added and how often depends upon the Ca and Alk demands of your tank. I mix two tablespoons of kalk per gallon of water. This is considered fully saturated.

You only want to dose kalk at the same rate evaporation is removing water from your tank. Some people setup a drip system to drip in kalk slowly over the day to match evaporation. Some use an auto topoff device to dose it into the tank when the water level trips the auto topoff.

You don't want to overdose kalk. The pH of kalk water is 14 8O. This is why it must be put in slowly over the course of the day.

You should also do a search on Kalk on this forum in addition to reading the above articles I linked to. That should answer every conceivable question you should have on the subject as I only brushed over the subject.
 
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