I use kalk, what brand ru using? I've found that the clearest solution is from the BRS pharmaceutical grade kalk. I also dont dose as much. I'm at 2.5tsp per 5 gal of water.My attempt at kalk dosing has resulted in a messy ATO reservoir. I only used half tea spoon per gallon. Any suggestions? Tips?
So I was away for two days. I have an apex jr and a Wyze camera I could see the tank remotely. Nowadays many manufacturers have made their equipment accessible through the cloud so the need for a dedicated controller like an apex has diminished. I have the pump, powerhead and lights all controlled by ecotech smart and I do not use a heater. But I still end up getting an used apex jr to monitor the temperature and ph. I am used to monitoring these parameters. Plus I can use it to control the dosing pumps when the time comes.
I do have a story to tell after all the rambling. I noticed the ph has crept up which I was away. This is quite unusual. Ph is affected by alkalinity and the atmospheric co2 level. I do not dose and I didn’t have the window so there is no change in co2 level. On the contrary the ph level should drift lower due to alkality consumption, albeit very little.
I didn’t figure out what’s happening until I came home then all of a sudden I realized I have not dosed vinegar for two days. The tank was simply using up the excess vinegar. Indeed the phosphate level was basically zero the day I left. What this means is I can monitor excess vinegar using ph as an indicator.
Tank is almost one month old and carbon dosing has kicked in. The few corals are doing great as well, except I see an aiptasia!
I was under the impression that the powder form was only calc mag and alk and you needed to supplement the trace but the liquid is complete. Am I mistaken. Because the powder is waaayyyyy cheaper
If you were not home for an extended period than CO2 would be less and ph would rise
Ok good. I picked up one bottle of liquid and because of cost was investigating powder form. Wanted to be sure I was on the right track. Thanks
I understand the thinking. And yes there is LESS air exchange when windows are closed but houses are deigned to breath. They are not by any means air tight. If you are away from your house for even 24 hours than that would be long enough to dissipate co2. No different than setting off a bug bomb in your house. If your house was hermetically sealed you could never return. Additionally, by simply not being there you are not consuming oxygen or adding to the co2 levels. I was merely pointing out that there is to much of a variable to make the conclusion that you would know the vinegar dosing level based on PH unless all other variables were removed. I am not suggesting that there is no correlation between carbon dosing and PH of course there is. But no body in the house skews the results enough to render the information not usable on a practical level.
To tame the jungle of wires I employ a controller board and a cart from ikea. There is still room for additional equipment.
