Bob i need to know your salinity level to??
Reed great question. I am not saying to not use kalk, kalk is a great way to add calcium and alk to your system. What I was trying to show was that using kalk to take P out of the system is not really a viable system for the removal of P, it just puts it on hold for a bit and then its back in. Its ok just dont rely on it. Was that what you were asking??
Now just to side track that example for a moment and relay it to a DSb type filter and you can see that instead of exporting it via a skimmer, the inorganic P Poop goes into the bed and is taken in by bacteria and algae to form organic P. Now that bed never gives it back, it just keeps cycling the P from say organically bound P in bacteria to Inorganic P when they die, then back to organic P when the algae sucks it up then back to Inorganic form when the algae dies. the never ending and always expanding P cycle.
Mike
Reed great question. I am not saying to not use kalk, kalk is a great way to add calcium and alk to your system. What I was trying to show was that using kalk to take P out of the system is not really a viable system for the removal of P, it just puts it on hold for a bit and then its back in. Its ok just dont rely on it. Was that what you were asking??
Another good one, your on a role, lol Inorganic P is food, everthing in the tank wants a peice of it, bacteria.algae/corals and so on. Elements also want to bind with it, but the binds are not as strong as the organic forms. I will ive you an example. You throw in some food, the food has inorganic P in it (as it is dead and dead=inorganic, lol) The fish swallows the food, so now the inorganic is organic as the fish is going to use some. but the fish poops, animals usually poop out 90% of what they eat and keep the balance. So now the poop becmes inorganic once more. First one on the spot is bacteria, they surround it and begin the reducing feast, So right now you have an oppertunity to remove not only the inorganic form but all that bacteria which has alot of organic P bound up inside itself. Good flow and a good skimmer (along with other types of filtration if wanted) will remove both the inorganic P poop and the organic P bacteria associated. A double win for the P reduction in your tank.
Now just to side track that example for a moment and relay it to a DSb type filter and you can see that instead of exporting it via a skimmer, the inorganic P Poop goes into the bed and is taken in by bacteria and algae to form organic P. Now that bed never gives it back, it just keeps cycling the P from say organically bound P in bacteria to Inorganic P when they die, then back to organic P when the algae sucks it up then back to Inorganic form when the algae dies. the never ending and always expanding P cycle.
Sure, great way to suppliment your alk. Take 1 part washing soda (Na2CO3) and 6 to 8 parts baking soda (NaHCO3), and 1 tsp of this powder in 25 gal seawater will raise your alk by 5 dKh or 90PPM. Sodium Carbonate can actually be prepared in a kitchen oven by spreading the powder out on a sheet and baking it for a few hrs at around 250F, This drives off a molecule of water and of Carbon Dioxide to leave a molecule of Na2CO3 from 2 molecules of NaHCO3. The advantage of the mixture is the lack of sudding fluctuation in pH seen when using NaHO3 alone.
Mike
