Another twist due to the low temps

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Got a skrik just now, tanks ph has dropped to 7.8! Quickly realised it's because of the fan not running over the waters surface and therefore minimal evaporation to kick in the kalkstirrer

I'm a little confused as most don't use fans for cooling so how do you keep ph stable? Normally in summer my tanks ph is 8.1 - 8.4, with heavy evaporation and topping up through the kalkstirrer. My calcium demands are pretty high.

Any ideas?
 
yes, dose your kalk via a timer, i dose about 10 minutes worth of kalk throughout the day. found that time through lots of trials and testing. the auto top up then deals the balance of the RO necessary. This way my dosing is not dependant on top ups. Much more stable this way ;)
 
I add kalk using the slurry method and keep the PH up at about 8.5 - 8.6.
 
Alan - for the sake of our newer members (and newbies) - could you perhaps re-iterate what this "slurry method" entails? Or perhaps supply a URL where this is explained that you find useful?
 
Howzit Gaboon? Another reason why most guys will find their ph dropping is, because in winter, we tend to close our windows and doors due to the cold, therefore increasing the Co2 level inside our houses, thus causing the tanks Ph to drop.
 
And gas heaters, they must push the CO2 levels in the house up as well?

Should water evaporation not be more with colder air around the tank?
 
Jip - same thing here. My water evaporation is also up. Not sure if it due to the cold, or dryness in the air.....

BUT, my pH is stable. It must be because my wife opens up the windows in the daytime when we are not there.... I have 4 x 300 watt heaters in my "system" (one in the DT, and 3 in my sump tanks).... This could also be due to the fact that I have +-1500 liters of water....
 
100% Riaan. Evaporation really increases. I noticed my tank taking an extra +-2 liters a day recently

Yes and my RO drum was almost empty yesterday afternoon, where it normally last at least until Saturday morning. It is a 90L drum. So what I found is that my Kalkstirrer is also empty, where it also should last until Saturday. Because the RO-topup goes via kalkstirrer. So I'm using MORE kalk than before. So that is totally the other way around for me
 
Ahhh, its all making sense now:), started the gas heater on Sunday and all windows closed. When the fans were going in summer I was going through about ±35L RO in a week, it has dropped quite a bit now with them off. Should I be trying to add O2 to the tank?

The ph in the latest TOTM on reefcentral is kept at 7.7 - 8.1, would it be safe to let my ph drop to this naturally over the winter period? I'll obviously make sure the other params are stable.
 
Or else, tonight switch off the gas heater and throw open the windows...
 
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