Kalkwasser

[Scottm84]

Is Kalkwasser ok just to be added to top up water or during a water change or does it need dripping in via a dosing pump or reactor?

[ccCapt]

It could be added to your top off water and if you know what your alk and calcium levels drop by everyday, make the kalk mixture as strong or weak as necessary. You can also using a dosing pump and make a full strength mixture and just dose enough to keep up with the daily alk and calcium demand in your tank. It should not be added to a fresh saltwater mix that will be used for a water change.

[Scottm84]

Thanks. It's something I will be thinking of doing in the near future so I'm just gathering up info for now. I'm guessing by using a dosing pump I'll need some kind of reservoir to dose from? I'm just not really familiar with the whole process

[Scottm84]

Or could a liquid calcium additive be added instead of Kalkwasser along with necessary alk buffer?

[ccCapt]

Yes, but depending on the types and amount of corals you keep, no supplementation at all may be needed. Weekly or biweekly water changes, in many cases, are all that's needed to keep your water parameters in line.

[Scottm84]

Is the kalk needed anyway to keep a healthy aquarium or only to help SPS and LPS grow? I only intend on keeping soft corals for now so if weekly water changes will suffice without extra Kalkwasser being added then that would be fine but I'm guessing adding kalk won't hurt as long as the correct parameters are kept?

[ccCapt]

First rule is never dose anything you don't or aren't testing for. Adding kalk or any other calcium and alk supplement when it's not needed could and most likely will throw your water chemistry out of whack. If you don't plan on any SPS corals than more than likely you won't need to dose anything.

[Scottm84]

No I wouldn't do that. I like to know what's in my water. Thank you for your input, you've been a great help