Are you doing Alkalinity Correctly?
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- čas přidán 15. 02. 2024
- Josh delves into the nitty-gritty of everything Alkalinity. So grab your fish food, sit down with Professor Josh, and listen to him discuss how we handle our alkalinity, how you can apply this to your tank, and how Kalkwasser can affect your levels. It's time for class with Professor Josh!
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This video was really awesome for me. I have a reefing style/goal that is really similar to Josh’s so I’ve really latched onto learning everything I can from him! This reef will be my first tank ever on kalk. The kalk reactor just makes sense to me! Thanks WWC for making these videos happen. Thank you Josh for telling it how it is and making it easy!!
Kalkwaser is awesome I started using it because of Vik on his tank build. Ive seen awesome results on the aquarium! Thanks Vik and Josh!
Best reef video I’ve seen. Really emphasises the need for testing. As he said, if you don’t test something bad will happen.
Excellent video. Thank you
Josh, You are an awesome dude ! I admire Your approach to explain stuff. Great video !
Josh is the best!
Thank you Josh , I just started with kalkwasser , I was nervous but feel better about dosing . Also the way you explain on how to make adjustments is straightforward. I always test so that is not a problem . Hopefully this will help getting my corals to color up and flourish.
Good luck! Although I don't think you will need it. It's all about effort and understanding
Absolutely great video, I’m going to go back to kalk, currently using SC 2 part.
You'll notice the growth spurt!
Well done! I loved this simple focused and realistic breakdown! I hope you do the same thing with the other key elements.
Which others are your suggesting
Great video. I’m about to start dosing AFR for a smaller amount of baby coral. Two torches, a hammer, a candy cane and some mushrooms. I also have a crocea clam. So I’ll be using AFR to work this out. I do have Kalk+ 2 but have been scared to use it with a lot of reading of overdosing.
Very well done and informative.
I really liked how you showed the same principle at various scales. How a 2000 gallon system work and how a 75 gallon system work is the same in principle, but the tools change, the scale changes, and sometimes the actual methodology changes. Being able to show both a commercial scale and a hobby scale with the same principle is extremely informative.
On a personal note, I love my IceCap Kalk stir. Though I do wish the outlet was a bit larger on it.
Thank you for the love and support!
Sounds like an opportunity for aDIY projects. But really it shouldn't move that much water. If you need to move more water you probably need a bigger reactor for your size aquarium
A simple and well laid out explanation, thank you josh
Thank you for the feedback and for watching!
Josh is the best at explaining things very well to new and experienced hobbyist. I run Kalk via a 30 gallon sealed container with a versa pump and dose 10000ML per day to maintain my Alk. Eventually it will max out and then I will go to doser or Calcium reactor but until that time I get a great boost to my PH and for the cost it can't be beat.
This new series with Josh is fantastic and we are so happy everyone is enjoying it!
Fantastic video, I cannot begin to thank you guys and josh on how much I liked this video. Perfect in depth explanation. Most CZcams videos in reefing right now dont have any good info like this. Please do more of this
Thanks for the feedback. I like doing these when they are useful and appreciated.
@@jdearel1I appreciate your knowledge and approach to explain why you guys do it but also at times will admit, I don't know why, but we do it and it works too. Cheers
Amazing video, it would be nice to see a guide on how to properly calculate the amount of kalk for nano tanks. 🙏🏼👍
Well done Josh in driving the point home on how important keeping your alkalinity stable is.
Thank you!
Terrific advice!
I was going to try until I read your comment. What was your experience?
Thank you for watching!
Thanks for another informative video.
Of course, this is why we keep the videos pumping out! Thanks for watching.
@@WorldWideCorals Has the second video in Georgia been released yet.
Great tutorial Josh
Thanks for watching!
Awesome!
Thank you
Excellent content, I got a lot out of this
Thank you for Watching!
Loved this video with great information from the one and only Josh! I wanted to get your guy's thoughts as well as everyone else here on the channel. When you guys dose Kalk in your ATO reservoir, the thick sludge of Kalk that sits on the bottom builds up. It doesn't absorb in the water. What do you do with it? Suck it out with a pump or just leave it? Also where is your return pump located for your ATO? Because mine is sitting down in the bottom of my ATO in that sludge of Kalk, so is it dumping a ton of concentrated Kalk water back into my system? Hope this makes sense and I appreciate everyone's thoughts.
This looks like it's going to be an awesome series! Keep 'em coming!! ❤ One thing I need help with right now is installing a UV sterilizer. 😒
Send us a email about the Sterilizer
Great video! I would love to see some videos where you help new reefers who are struggling with their tanks and show updates as they become more comfortable with the hobby!
Thanks for watching! I'll pass the idea along.
Thanks for the information. I definitely shoudl be adding some more components like A, B and C . One thing I alwasy make sure is my salinity is good weekly. Having LPS and SPS corals, gotta be careful. lol
Well it's working for you, and that's not debatable. The purpose here is to help others see the value of doing things just slightly better if you so choose.
Great video
Thank you so much!
Great video !
Thank you for watching!
Great series 🙌👏✌️
Thank you for watching!!!
Great stuff Josh 👍🏻👌🏼 team kalk for the win 🙏🏼
💯%!!!
we do the exact same thing !! make daily in 40 gallon closed vat ! dosed with industrial stenner doser
The best way to do it for sure brother! Hope to see you here soon 😁 - Alex
You talk like a pro brother 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 nice video
Thank you!
I've been struggling with PH for years, at night it would drop to 7.6 and throughout the day it would get to 7.85, just started using an ATO and after adding kalkwasser in it i'm at 8 and could not be happier!
Glad to hear it. Kalk is great for numerous reasons!!!
dude this is really helpful, ive had problems with anything growing for years while testing and dosing calcium, mag, and alk. All in a 15 gal system with no luck. All of my coral ended up dead
Give kalk a try, but keep in mind that you can easily overdose it on such a small water volume.
@@WorldWideCorals Can i add it with a dosing pump? How much per gallon is a safe starting point? I have a new system going with some frags so im trying to get them going! I appreciate you for your help
Using kalkwasser and balling is really the best solution for high end tanks
We're huge fans of running kalk! Thanks for watching.
videos on different coral placement would be sweet
Hi. Love the videos. I know you guys have covered nearly everything there is to cover but youve said before you can tell a tank is doing well by the look off the corals. Any chance of a video to explain what you look for in the corals. Growth.. ( what to expect a corals growth rate would be expected to be in a healthy reef from different corals) and colour etc.
Ive understood your videos but can only compare coral growth too previous growth.
Thanks.
Oooo!!!! I really love this topic!!!! excellent suggestion?!!!
I have found mixing at max Saturation to be an easy solution for me. I mix a 17g airtight dogfood container with RODI eyeball around 3/4cup of kalk powder dump it in & give it a good mix I then let it settle this usually lasts around 2 weeks at 4ml a minute. I like this because I am not concerned with adding too much or too little Kalk, I also dont stress over remixing what kalk powder was left over from the last batch on the bottom. I haven't really noticed a drop off in alk concentration over a 2 week period not sure if that has to do with the container being airtight and lack of perception.
There is just something about it. Once you go kalk you never go back
I have been struggling with Alkalinity. Thank you for the video.
You are very welcome!
I'm a kalk fan as well. I mix 1/3 cup per 2000ml stored in a 5-liter reservoir. I have a cheap, $11 timed powerhead in the reservoir at night (when the PH falls) and a Neptune PH-probe actives a peristaltic at a 5-second runtime (then 5-mins Off) into the overflow on a Red Sea 165. Water top-off done by other means. So in short, I use 100% of the kalk as a slow-drip-slurry on demand at night only. No prblms. PH is 8.1-8.2 and Alk is 8.3-8.7 Very reassuring video presentation here... Thank you for helping us. 🌴👌
And I bet you wouldn't do it any other way. It's a magic solution haha.
I ran the tank 1yr as a beginner with zero control over PH. Duh. Then a friend recommended Kalk. The light came on Big Time. Magic stuff for sure !!
I’m still learning is this just for Ph control and your getting alk control as well with this method? Wanting to dive into kalk been using 2 part
Limewater is amazing! it covers evaporation, alkalinity, calcium, and pH.
Sure does!
How often do you change the tubing on the versa& are you using the regular versa tubing or another tubing thx
អគុណសាធូ❤❤❤☺️🌷
Great video! Been thinking of trying Kalk. How did you figure out what your evap rate was to know how much fluid you could dose? Doesn't the amount change from Summer to Winter months?
Well you know what you add regularly right? That's your staying point. Make a mark on the glass and set a rate that you think will work. Check back, if it's high turn it down if it's low turn it up.
👍 Explained very well. This helped me make a decision on a method to dose kalk with ATO. Thanks!
Just test. That's the answer!!
A vid of trace elements would be nice
We do not dose/test trace elements unfortunately. Thanks for watching and for the suggestion!!!
How about one on lighting for looks with anemone? Finding that sweet spot with PAR, but also allowing the colors to pop.
Anemones are not super demanding for the most par when it comes to PAR(except for Magnificas!). They will take anywhere between 250 down to 80 without an issue. Keep the blue spectrum channels turned up all the way for the pop!
So you don’t run a ATO like the tunze osmolator for replenishing fresh water, instead you use the versa drip? On my tank I have a container for my ATO water and a separate container where I dose kalk with my versa. I only dose 1.10mL/per minute because I don’t have many corals. How would I be able to figure out how much kalk to mix with my 5gal ATO bucket? Also doesn’t the tank evaporate different amounts everyday?
So I have a question. I currently have an 80 gallon system that I want to me a mixed reef SPS dominate. I have all systems in place, Avast Kalkstirrer pulling water from the ATO resevorior controlled by a Neptune DOS and Maintained by the Trident. I keep the PH of the reactor pegged at 12PH and know when it drops below 12 to add more Kalkwasser to the reactor. My question is what is the proper way to administer the kalkwasser. Josh says that they do a constant 25ml/min on their system. So was this determined by the evaporation rate of the tank? I think that is where I am confused. When I first set my system up, I took a gallon of water converted that to Milliliters/divided it in half and was using that as my starting dose from the Kalkstirrer. Sort of half evaporation from ATO and half from the Kalkstirrer. My Alk always seems to see creep up and I have the trident to set to shut off the stirrer if Alk in the tank goes above 9. So I am just not dialed in correctly with how much kalkwasser is beeing administered to the tank? Please help me understand what I might be doing wrong.
Great thx…putting the kaulk in you return … how often do you have to buy pumps for the top off container…
W don't dump the kalk into the return chamber. With the combination of the warmth and the moving parts that would cause expedited decay on your equipment. We dump in a quick moving area of the sump or overflow
The top off reservoirs that we use only have a pick up tube from the doser with only has silicon tubing contact
triton's core 7 keeps alk stable like a rock.
💪💪
What if I’m running Triton Method? Can you run Kalk when doing this?
This was a great video Josh! I'm currently dosing kalk from a 5g container with a kamoer pump direct to my RS170. I dose that during lights out and All for Reef during the light period. This has me thinking I should be dosing the kalk a bit faster than the 1.3ml/h I am. Thoughts?
Depends on how much water you evaporate. You can only pump in so much RO
I was space limited so I went with auto dosing of red seas alkalinity which doesn’t require stirring
So far it keeps my alk in the range I need at around 30 ml per day
That gets expensive so I buy the big jugs
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Great video Josh! I thought you guys used Two Little Fishies Kalk?
We have been using Brightwell Kalk+2 for about 10 years but from time to time we use TLF kalkwasser, Both are great products! Thank you for watching.
@@WorldWideCorals is it okay to try different kalk products? I currently use Brightwell Kalk+2 on my tank and recently picked up a tub of TLF kalk on sale. I haven’t begun using TLF yet, but wanted to see if there is a risk switching to a different kalk brand.
There really isn't much of a difference in the two products both are clean forms of kalk.
@@jdearel1 sounds good, thanks Josh!
Using a kalk stirrer how often do you recommend adding kalk, should you remove some powder from the bottom periodically?
No need to remove the kalk sludge in the bottom, unless it goes high enough to go into the outflow, which can clog the line.
This is excellent information and advice from a successful commercial operation. They are literally putting their money where there mouth is.
How do you calculate your evaporation rate? I would hate to overfill my tank! Also this type of video rocks.
I use my red sea ato app which gives daily top off information. That's how I would do it.
If you are aware of how much you add daily that's the number. Make a mark with your sharpie. To of your tank daily to that line. Do the math at the end of the week. That's your marker. It's very very simple
Would you ever have the need to dose kalkwasser on a fish only system? Thanks
It will help pH, help fight back nuisance algaes, and promote coraline. But little else honestly. Unless of course this is a fish only with soft corals.
All for Reef is perfect for smaller tanks.
It is great
Where can you get those 30g extra tall glass tanks like under the farm systems? I’m local to you guys, I haven’t seen them around Orlando though. I need one for my new build!
Shoot us over an email at contact@worldwidecorals.com and we can help you out!
Balling method wouldn,t work with the Kalkwasser additive?
We do not use the balling method. Might work, but that is not something we have done.
I have a 4 ft tank how much kaulk would I have to use in my top off off starting off.. I dose triton about 2.5 mil a day LPS they don’t need much I guess.. would they benefit from the switch to kaulk
Honest your are already dialed in with another product it's hard to say. If it were me I would discontinue all other forms of mineral supplemental. But before establish you top off volume, once established add kalk starting very low. Test daily if alk ruses discard that solution and start again weaker. If it goes down discard and mix more stuff. Once your kalk dies not provide you with enough alk, bring back your other supplementation.
can u do a video on BIonic dosing alk ?
Hi John, thanks for watching! Dosing b-ionic is the same as dosing any 2-part additive. It would not be specific to that product.
I dont use so much kalk to make full saturated solution , still always have white dust on the bottom :/ why ? If I give RO and stir it will it dissolve ? Ty dor the answer I love your videos guys
There is always going to be a biproduct of your solution that will never entirely mix regardless of how much you use
@@jdearel1 and should I Just empty it then time to time ? I tought what is on the bottom what didnt dissloved ( sry for my english) and if I pour RO on it and stir then it will dissolve and disappier
Can you add other supplements to the kalk top off water. Ie: Iodide, mag etc
I really have no idea
It is best to add supplements directly to the tank.
Josh you are a reefing hero! Could listen to your knowledge for Hours!
I have a question…
I’m thinking of starting to use kalk.
I have a 20 gallon mixed reef and would like the benefits of increased PH from kalk.
I’ve heard using kalk in ATO is a bad idea as it creates an inconsistent PH level due to changes in evaporation due to variables out of my control. (Room temp, humidity)
Have you found any issues in using kalk in a ATO for a smaller tanks?
I planned to run my ATO as normal and start dosing kalk on a doser at as close to evaporation consumption as possible, along with the coral essentials 2/3 part.
Would u keep it simple and using in ATO and risk the slight PH inconsistency
Or dial it in with a doser?
Email us at contact@worldwidecorals.com with all the parameters you have and we can help you!
I think you should omit the ATO you would easily be able to do this with a doser alone.
Small tanks are limited by evaporation. Because you don't use much make up water you will only be using small amounts of kalk. Which is fine because you won't need so much alk. If you can force evaporation you will benefit much more.
Doesnt the magnesium in the l
Kalkwasser precipitate out as magnesium hydroxide? Making it pointless in the mix
We do not rely on the magnesium from the Kalk+2 so we supplement the mag itself
Is 9.4 alk good
Geo’s Reef has a nice KalkRx
Geo has top notch equipment for sure!!!
I use all for reef I dose 15ml everyday at night and test once per week now I’m wondering if doing this would benefit me more than all for reef
The pH would be the only real advantage. That being said it's a relatively large advantage
What Alk level do you target at WWC?
8-9 is the key numbers we look for
Hello I am having trouble with my reef tank. I purchased beginner corals from you guys, but I am now sure that the nitrogen cycle did not complete, I have high nitrites and low ammonia, I am wondering if I should do a large water change or if I should leave it and dose seachem prime or similar products
My PH has been fluctuating and got pretty low, wondering if that had to do with too much ammonia to begin with, but I never have dosed ammonia. My main concern is that all the nitrites are now dead and stalled the cycle. Debating if I should dose ammonia but I’m afraid that will raise my nitrites to dangerous levels
Don't complicate things by worrying about your pH right now. Using some Dr Tim's one and only and let it ride will likely be your best option.
@@jdearel1 thank you for the reply, just ordered a bottle of one and only. Will dose that and see what happens
What sand substrate are you using in the main display. Where the copper band is at ?
Not sure what time stamp you are referring to.
6:46
Caribsea special grade
@@jdearel1 can I use crush coral for reef tank ?
@@danriver12345 absolutely we use reborn calcium reactor media. This is nothing more than coral skeletons.
it is my goal to have vic come review my tank one day.
Be persistent it will pay off
Keep on working on it and let us know when it is ready!!!
Cheers Josh. I've been wondering at what point do I reach maximum saturation using all for reef in my ato (7gallons). I've gone from 100ml a week to 300ml a week in the last few months. Any thoughts???? besides calcium reactors, they scare me 😅😂
How is everything looking in the system?
@@WorldWideCorals almost too good as in I've been thinking of lowering light intensity and duration slightly and reducing the kh to around 7 (from 8.1-8.5) in order to slow growth. My monti caps are almost as wide as the tank, encrusters are reaching places I'd rather they didn't just yet, etc. and I wanna try n hold off fragging as long as possible. Nice problems to have I suppose but is the reason for my original question pertaining to reaching the point of 'can I add xx amount of solution to my ato?' Hope I've explained the situation in enough detail. 👌🙏😍
Honestly I have never used All for Reef in an ATO. I'm not sure I understand your original question.
So you add 6 grams per gallon of kalk for the size of the container or the whole water volume @worldwidecorals
Please shoot over a little more clarification on the question and we'd be glad to help you out!
@@WorldWideCorals was asking if you’re adding 6 grams of kalwasser for the how many gallons you’re mixing container is or are you adding 6 grams for how many gallons the aquarium is
Per solution
1 gallon =6grams
5gallon =30 grams
I didnt get it how long in advance the solution has to be mixed and also in what time used? I ve read that Calciumions fall apart whilst in contact with oxygen, thats why a kalkstirrer is in this point better?
Best to mix the kalk the night before. Done daily would be best for efficacy from what we have found.
@@WorldWideCorals thanks 🙏 did it this way, but with dosage written on grotech kalkwasser: 7gr per 10 ltr.
Its nothing settled on the ground, ph rises a little bit from 7,78 morning to 7,95. is it not satured? stronger the more i put in Solution? Thanks again
@@gocedimoski728 If nothing is settled at the bottom of the reactor, you are not putting enough in. There should be a clear line showing the difference in the settled kalk and the kalk solution.
@@WorldWideCorals perfect, thanks a lot for the advice. Will try it today. 🙏
Works better, 8,22 from 8,08 in the evening, 7,78 to 7,95 morning before lights rise. Gralla gkr950 Calciumreaktor since 8 month on the System, this is surely an improvement.
Balling light was easier to handle but in an sps/lps loaded tank to expensive on a long run.
Thanks again! You re great guys!
Please suggest a good brand for kalkwasser.
We typically use Brightwell's kalk, mentioned in this video.
@@WorldWideCorals Thank you so much.
What’s the name of that Orange/Red Rhodactis at 9:15???😊
Jason Fox raunchy red
Hi josh what’s the phosphate level on your tank?
I will ask him for you
My personal and office tanks run 0.0
How do we determine the starting concentration? (In Grams per Gallon)
Also what is the acro at 11:51?
Can you use a dosing pump and dose 40ml every 30mins into sump of reefer 250 or is that too much at one time?
Would a Trachyphyllia survive with 40-50 par?
Absolutely, but it's on the lower side.
WWC has given away one of their secrets! Kalk for 99.9% of their tanks including the nanos 🤯
😎😎
សាធូអគុណ❤😂😢🎉
"When you fluff the bottom, it gets stiffer." 😂😂😂
You know it
How do you stop your calcium climbing too high. I'm balling and tried kalkwasser with it and the calcium went out of whack
I would stop dosing Calcium
Generally calcium is in lower proportion in kalk. And honestly unless you are starting high the proportions are balanced so even if it does force it to run high it won't be negatively impactful.
How do you know how much to kalk water to put in? I tried with the auto top off and it would just take the top off the water and let the top off pump put it in but my alk went through the roof! It was pumping just when it evaporated
I'm a smart system volume I suggest not using a top off. Calculating top off volume is easy. Make a mark with a sharpie. Top off every day to that line, calculate by ML that's your fault solution success by 24 hours. Use a constant speed dosing pump.
If you do this with water only first and let it run for a week this is now your new top off and it doesn't fail you. After this has become tried and true you start with the concentration of kalk powder and rather your alk only
Thank you so much it had been very informative!!! You are definitely #1 whom I love to listen to on here!! I learn a tremendous amount from you. Thank you so much Josh.
In a small.......
Sorry bad typo
Josh how do I know how much kalk to put
You say 6 grams per gallon
Do you think I can use 6 grams per gallon as well
Vic is using the same thing 6 grams per gallon but his consumption rate is different than yours
What is the torchs name at 11 minutes flat?
No name on that one just yet 😉. Good eye!!!
I keep my DKH about 10 is that good I seen some coral deaths but I think it’s my light…
Unless your light is bright don't point the finger at it, too commonly this it the variable that people mess with because it's the easiest thing to change
So what if your system uses alkalinity but very little calcium? My tank is all softies. If I dosed Kalkwasser, I’m afraid my calcium would shoot sky high….
There’s other products that focus on ph and alkalinity. This is just if you have calcium based corals
@@phoenixking2406 is there a product you recommend? My tanks is pretty much zoas and torches.
@@user-fm4vj4ok1i ive been using eight.four and my soft corals are doing great.
Put a pump in the ato bucket, boom. Cheap kalk stirring
so you dose about 12000 ml of kalk a day?
for the 125gal yes in a day.
Or Josh's Tank lol
Yes that's around 3+ gallons for the 125
Also kalk is the cheapest way to maintain alk/ca in their huge systems that is the secret 😎
100% correct my friend. That is one of the reasons why we use it on all of our larger systems!
@@WorldWideCorals yes i used to own a store in Puerto Rico and the best cost effective way to supply ca/alk and the corals grow like weeds.
:11 budgie smuggler?
Good Eye! Yes it is
Killer right?
You’ve won me over on calc. Giving this a go. Thanks heaps for the well explained content!
Please more Info about the Office Tank. Light, skimmer.... Looks Hot. Kind regards from Germany
Which? Vic's or mine?
@@jdearel1 this in 9:30 min.
This tank is lit by (3) Ecotech radion xr30 lights. There is no skimmer on this tank currently since the bioload is super light! Thank you for watching!
Kalk is totally impractical for most reefers with small to medium tanks. Your much better just using a good two part or even AFR on smaller tanks
Maybe this is a good opportunity to do a video on something like that?
Just a message to new reef aquarists. Josh is very experienced and he tests alkalinity weekly, less experienced people should be testing more often than that. I am a beginner and test alkalinity, salinity, and temperature daily, and other parameters weekly, I recommend this schedule to anyone starting out.
🙌🙌
Personally I think that is setting one up for failure to much work will turn most off. If it's hard you won't do it unless you are a compulsive individual. The only time you should be testing more than once a week is when you make a large impactful change and you want to check your work. Or you don't trust your automations. Your tank shouldn't swing that much, if it does you are making too many changes
Great video but the clicking in the background is too much, I'm bouncing!
That was the drums from the background music lol.
So wait, you dose 8.5ml per minute? So if there is 1,440 minutes per day, you dose 12,240mls per day? Wow.
Yep
@@jdearel1What would you say the 180G Acro tank at Winter Park gets dosed per minute?
@@shawnriv9🎉🎉🎉🎉
😅😅😅P😅😅😅l
Yg El iseng yg 5c@@jdearel1