It’s a really tough thing to talk about. It’s simple…except it’s also not. There’s a whole bunch of little if/ands/buts to mention in that introductory conversation. I tried to cover what I could without being too confusing. As for the cost savings - they are truly awesome, no doubt. Thanks so much for watching, and for your comment!

I think I heard that as well. And heck yes it does. I love it!

And Kalk + All for reef is the way for me

Thank you, friend! The pH game is a lot more fun with kalk, because it’s usually in a decent range. That game was no fun for me before I had kalk running 😂

So I refresh it every week. I’m sure you could go longer, but I’m a crazy person. Kalk is cheap, and I always want fresh kalk powder, so every Saturday, I dump out the solution and just give the reactor a quick rinse. I don’t scrub it out or anything. Then I refill with RODI water, put in my scoop of kalk powder, and I’m good to go for another week!

You were dosing kalk, or alk? I think you meant to type kalk, ha. As for how much you have to dose to actually see a pH boost, I wish I knew more. I’m no expert. What I do know is that kalkwasser is best used as a primary dosing method, as opposed to a supplemental method. To see that pH boost in a meaningful way, I’d say you should reverse how you’re approaching this. Go full-on with Kalk, and then use AFR to supplement the Kalk dosing. I use AFR in this way. AFR is my trace element “cocktail” that I dose in 10ml/day increments on my main tank.

@@kalamazoo_reefer I see your point, what should I start at as far as dosing amount in a 90 gallon?

@@islandreef5292 Totally depends upon how many corals you’ve got, and what size they are, and how much you evaporate out of the tank in a given day. I don’t have many corals, but I do have some larger pieces - enough to uptake slightly more alkalinity and calcium than I can dose in a day’s worth of Kalkwasser solution. My tank evaporates 2300-2400ml of water per day, so I set my Kalkwasser dosing at 2200ml (a safe point) and let it dose continuously from there. My pH low point is now 8.1, and the high is typically about 8.4, daily. Pretty awesome!

I turned off my ATO at noon, then waited a day. Turned it back on at noon that next day, and watched how much got sucked out of the reservoir. Not great to swing salinity a little bit like that, but was an important experiment to establish my baseline evaporation.

It’s an all-coral thing, as all corals seem to love kalkwasser, but you can always 3-part dose instead of going with Kalkwasser. I just firmly believe Kalkwasser has benefitted my corals and won’t be going back to exclusively 3-part dosing again. The benefits are too good.

Auto-topping into my DIY reactor isn’t strong enough to stir the kalkwasser powder. Not sure on traditional reactors. Therefore, I have it set to stir for a few seconds, 4 times per day (every 6 hours). However, you can absolutely just mix up a jug of kalkwasser solution and dose from it until it’s gone! Simplest way to go about it.

Thank you very much for the reply 😊 Seems available space would be a deciding factor . Nice Reactor 😊. I'm thinking Simple also . How about daily auto water changes with a salt that has your desired perimeters . May not need additives until it really grows out . With the daily auto water changes , may not need a skimmer unless you like to overfeed. With a little care & a large sump , use a doser as ATO . Wouldn't vary much in a controlled environment . Pretty easy . I'd want a Neptune controller . Use it for the auto water change . Can I get your opinion please 😊

@@lovermansmith9082 I do 10% weekly water changes, and never miss on them. I think they’re critically important. How I see the whole “when do I start dosing” question is like this: as soon as you’ve got corals in the tank, they’re uptaking elements, so you should start dosing sooner rather than later. Let’s say that you start the week with 100% of the desired alkalinity you need. Your alk is right at 8.0, let’s say. The corals absorb 1dkh of alkalinity. Now you’re at 7.0. So you do a 10% water change. But your salt mix also has an 8.0 dkh, which is typical. You’re not going to replace all of the alkalinity that was absorbed just through that water change. You’d need to be doing massive water changes, spending a bucket of cash on salt, to keep your levels stable. I start dosing pretty fast after getting corals in a tank. Even if they’re just small frags.

@@kalamazoo_reefer Thank you ! Great explanation . Propobably want a skimmer too . Overfeeding a bit can benefit coral . I like the way you think . I like at least trying to keep things simple & saving energy . Seems you can only do so much . Thanks again ! Great vids 😀 An ATO propobably wouldn't kill me either 😀

@@lovermansmith9082 Ha I would go crazy without an ATO! Check out the AutoAqua ATO Lite, or similar. There’s a lot of products like it. Really good design. Simple and cheap. I think they’re like $40 on AliExpress. I own 7 of them 😂