Kalkwasser VS Two Part

[dannyny]

hey guys.

i wanted to know what the difference would be between kalkwasser and two part. im sure each have their own pros and cons but wanted the community here to help me out.

i am trying to maintain my reef with as little additives as possible and as easy as possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mattl22]

Go with 2 part if u wanna keep it simple

 

[dannyny]

Go with 2 part if u wanna keep it simple

i think kalkwasser is much simpler than the 2 part with less equipment to buy.

the kalkwasser will go into my ATO but the 2 part would need 2 dosing pumps along with a controller or timer...

 

[nanoreefer22]

Kalkwasser precipitates phosphates from the water, but doesn't add alk to the water. You'll need to do water changes to add those.

2-part allows you to get more precise dosing and more stability IMO.

It really depends on what you're trying to achieve and keep.

 

[Wes]

Kalk will work just fine as long as you don't have a heavy calcium demand.

You are limited by the amount of water you evaporate.

Kalk WILL add Alk to your water, just not as much as 2-part.

Another downside to kalk is an ATO malfunction can be catastrophic. I've seen many tank crashes because of a faulty float switch dumping a bunch of kalk into the tank.

A good quality dosing pump and 2-part is a very simple and efficient method. But a good dosing pump will cost money. Don't go cheap on the doser. Get a good one and it's set and forget.

 

[Mattl22]

Kalk will add both cal and alk and is very simple too add through ato the problem with that is that kalk overdose can happen very easily for a number of reasons it happened to me a few times that's why I switched to 2 part with dosers and am very happy with them

 

[dannyny]

i am not sure what i am trying to achieve. this is my first saltwater/reef tank. i want to be able to go to the store see something i like and place it in my tank without questioning myself if this will work or would i need to adjust my levels before i buy this piece.

 

[dannyny]

thanks for all the responses guys!

 

[Paolissimo]

i am not sure what i am trying to achieve. this is my first saltwater/reef tank. i want to be able to go to the store see something i like and place it in my tank without questioning myself if this will work or would i need to adjust my levels before i buy this piece.

Well you got the right attitude, buy something put in the tank and it will survive. But remember as you keep more live stock those pristine levels will start to fluctuate. Do you have test kits? What is the brand name of the test kits. I use salifert, but I hard good things about the Red Sea test kits. i am assuming its a fairly new tank, is it cycled? Once you know your levels (mag, alk, calc and salinity). Monitor them for a few weeks and see if they stay at optimal levels for the corals you want to keep. Start with easy corals, don't jump into hard to keep stuff, start easy and you'll get get some satisfaction and then you can go a lil harder. Again make sure your levels stay stable. I learned the hard way..and my corals are dying because my mistke.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Kalk will work just fine as long as you don't have a heavy calcium demand.

You are limited by the amount of water you evaporate.

Kalk WILL add Alk to your water, just not as much as 2-part.

Another downside to kalk is an ATO malfunction can be catastrophic. I've seen many tank crashes because of a faulty float switch dumping a bunch of kalk into the tank.

A good quality dosing pump and 2-part is a very simple and efficient method. But a good dosing pump will cost money. Don't go cheap on the doser. Get a good one and it's set and forget.

I'm losing it!

He's right, and I'd personally go with 2-part especially if you wnat to keep everything and anything. Invest in good dosers like he mentions and you'll be all set for a very long time.

 

[dannyny]

Well you got the right attitude, buy something put in the tank and it will survive. But remember as you keep more live stock those pristine levels will start to fluctuate. Do you have test kits? What is the brand name of the test kits. I use salifert, but I hard good things about the Red Sea test kits. i am assuming its a fairly new tank, is it cycled? Once you know your levels (mag, alk, calc and salinity). Monitor them for a few weeks and see if they stay at optimal levels for the corals you want to keep. Start with easy corals, don't jump into hard to keep stuff, start easy and you'll get get some satisfaction and then you can go a lil harder. Again make sure your levels stay stable. I learned the hard way..and my corals are dying because my mistke.

i have the API saltwater master kit which has the PH ammonia nitrite and nitrate. i also have the red sea reef foundation kit which has ALK CAL and MG.

i've been testing for 2 weeks now and logging everything i have and looks like water parameters are decent with the exception of ALK which drops to 7 dkh sometimes.

i will have to retest i just watched redsea videos on their test kits and i might have been doing them wrong.

the tank is just cycled so yes it's very new.

thanks!!

 

[dannyny]

I'm losing it!

He's right, and I'd personally go with 2-part especially if you wnat to keep everything and anything. Invest in good dosers like he mentions and you'll be all set for a very long time.

not sure which doser to get. a friend of mine has the BRS ones and he likes them alot. although i dont have a controller i dont know if it is still a great product without it that is why i am leaning towards the kalkwasser. also i've been reading all morning about dosing and was planning to dose vinegar vodka and sugar? but i have to do some more reading.

 

[nanoreefer22]

I wouldn't mess with vinegar, vodka or sugar at this point. All of them can easily cause more headache and full on crashes. Take it slow, dosing those things should be done much later on.

 

[Paolissimo]

I don't like api. Red sea like I said it's suppose to be good, alk is a bit low for sps rise it and keep it at 8-9. When you say it just cycled can you be more specific? Did you have high nitrate levels and now they dropped close to zero. If you feel you tank has stabilized, i would increase alk, make sure mag and calcium are where they are suppose to be and add live stock. do you have a cuc (clean up crew?)

 

[Paolissimo]

not sure which doser to get. a friend of mine has the BRS ones and he likes them alot. although i dont have a controller i dont know if it is still a great product without it that is why i am leaning towards the kalkwasser. also i've been reading all morning about dosing and was planning to dose vinegar vodka and sugar? but i have to do some more reading.

You don't dose all tree, you dose either vodka, vinegard or sugar, but don't mess with that. Oh I use part a&b and an alk buffer. nothing else

 

[Mattl22]

Dany both methods have ups and downs but I've used both and find 2 part with dossiers keep my #s perfect wish I would have switched long time ago btw I bought 2 digital timers at home depot which is what I run my brs dosers off of!

 

[KathyC]

not sure which doser to get. a friend of mine has the BRS ones and he likes them alot. although i dont have a controller i dont know if it is still a great product without it that is why i am leaning towards the kalkwasser. also i've been reading all morning about dosing and was planning to dose vinegar vodka and sugar? but i have to do some more reading.

With a new tank you should not have to dose all of that stuff!

First - learn how to take care of the tank using proper husbandry methods with water changes, intelligent stocking levels for fish and feeding the correct amount so that your parameters stay stable.
Add a carbon and a GFO reactor to take care of the phosphates you will be adding through feeding.
A controller is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment you can purchase to regulate & control heat/lighting and IMO you should be looking to get one of those long before you spend money on a doser.

Until you learn how to properly maintain a tank, I would leave all of the sugar & vinegar and kalk dosing to people with more experience as a lot of those things can cause issues of their own and are sometimes used as band-aids to correct issues that have come about by not practicing proper husbandry.

 

[Paolissimo]

with a new tank you should not have to dose all of that stuff!

First - learn how to take care of the tank using proper husbandry methods with water changes, intelligent stocking levels for fish and feeding the correct amount so that your parameters stay stable.
Add a carbon and a gfo reactor to take care of the phosphates you will be adding through feeding.
A controller is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment you can purchase to regulate & control heat/lighting and imo you should be looking to get one of those long before you spend money on a doser.

Until you learn how to properly maintain a tank, i would leave all of the sugar & vinegar and kalk dosing to people with more experience as a lot of those things can cause issues of their own and are sometimes used as band-aids to correct issues that have come about by not practicing proper husbandry.

+1

 

[dannyny]

I wouldn't mess with vinegar, vodka or sugar at this point. All of them can easily cause more headache and full on crashes. Take it slow, dosing those things should be done much later on.

thanks! i will continue reading as much as i can absorb per day.

 

[dannyny]

I don't like api. Red sea like I said it's suppose to be good, alk is a bit low for sps rise it and keep it at 8-9. When you say it just cycled can you be more specific? Did you have high nitrate levels and now they dropped close to zero. If you feel you tank has stabilized, i would increase alk, make sure mag and calcium are where they are suppose to be and add live stock. do you have a cuc (clean up crew?)

cycled as in i placed 3 raw shrimps in my tank on May 22nd i had an ammonia test kit Salifert but no readings after a week. then i placed my order for a api test kit but by the time it got to me my ph was 8.2 but ammonia and nitrite was at 0. my nitrate was slightly present but not enough to register on the test kit. but i think im cycled. i used instant ocean bio spira as well.

i have a few hermit crabs and snails but i recently ordered a CUC from reefcleaners.org.