Was thinking about starting to use Kalkwasser.

[Paolissimo]

Friday I was at my monthly Brooklyn Aquarium Society meeting. The sale bench had a Two Little Fishies Kalkwasser bottle for sale for $9.I know about Kalkwasser, but I never actually used it, because I have a small tank. I normally dose Kent part A & B to supplement calc, alk, and mag. I wanted to give Kalk a try, but I didn't but it until i read a bit more. Should I try kalk at all in a 40gal tank (that is the total amount of water in my tank). I been reading, and supposedly Kalk is bad to inhale, and if not monitored can raise your PH drastically. The way I would use it, if I give it a try, I would mix the recommended dose in a 5gal bucket. Let it stir it overnight, and then use it, as a top off. I top off manually, so I would probably add one or two full cup of ro/di water mixed with kalk at night to top off what has evaporated. Would that raise the PH? Would it raise it too quickly?
Any input is appreciated it.
Thanks.

 

[duke62]

I was also thinking of using it. I was Going to do the same ,stir it up and let stand overnight and just take the liquid part and put that in my ato. But I use a calcium reactor. Is your ph low?

 

[Paolissimo]

My ph is about is 8.0, I don't know how much it drops at night, because i don't have a controller to monitor it.

 

[james1990]

Do you have to monitor how much it adds from your top off? I have the JBJ and it tops off as needed. So would I add too much?

 

[Paolissimo]

James, i don't dose it, but from reading about kalk dosing, if you dose too quickly, it will increase your ph too quickly. Kalkwasser has a ph of 12. You monitor your ph to make sure it doesn't increase drastically. Again, I never dose it, so I can be wrong.

 

[Boomer]

Please read this guys
[SIZE=+1][/SIZE]

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[Paolissimo]

Thanks boomer, i'll read it tonight at home, because I just glanced quickly and it's a pretty long article. As always thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

 

[Boomer]

Ok

 

[duke62]

Hey boomer can I do what I wrote and stir the Kalk and leave overnight and syphon the liquid and add that to my ato reservoir so I don't have the paste building up in my reservoir?

 

[Boomer]

Yes Duke that is the way it should be done

 

[duke62]

Are all Kalk brands made the same. I know about the pickling lime but I already have a full container of Kent's kalkwasser. I'm sure they are pretty much made the same

 

[Boomer]

Yes, they are and those that claim they are not are talking gibberish.

 

[duke62]

I was told by a veteran reefer that Kalk binds phosphates is this true.

 

[Boomer]

Yes, it is true, to a dgree.

In short, the Ca(Calcium) seperates from the OH(Hydroxide), in Ca(OH)2

Ca(OH)2 ----> Ca + 2 OH

Then 3 Ca bind with 2, PO4 (Phosphate)

3Ca + ( PO4 )2 -----> Ca3(PO4)2, Calcium phosphate, where some settles out to the bottom and a small amount is removed by the skimmer.

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

A few things...

1. You don't want to do your top off with kalk water if you do it all at once. It would cause your PH to spike and other nasty things can happen. It is best to get an IV kit (like the type used in hospitals) and hook it up to a 2.5 gallon container (preferably with a small powerhead in it to keep the kalk suspended). Let it drip in, very slowly.

2. It does help with removing Phosphate. You should try to track down old issues of Aquarium Frontiers magazine or look up articles by Craig Bingman online. He has explained the chemistry very well. (He has done the chemistry section of most of the top books)

3. The two part calcium products are good, but they increase salinity. They must be used as part of an overall maintenance routine that includes regular water changes.

Best,

Alfred

 

[duke62]

Everything I read so far is to mix the Kalk wit 24 hours for the powder to settle then use the water and not the powder. I haven't read anything about having the powder float around and drip in

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

I should have clarified... How heavily populated is your tank with SPS? There comes a point when "kalk water" is not as efficient. In either case, the method I mention works well. Use the same amount of kalk in a larger volume of water and drip it over a longer period.

You have to time it to coincide with your lighting or you risk spiking your PH.

 

[duke62]

Well I was going to use the Kalk water in my ATO which sends out a small amount of water every 15 minutes or so

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Here is a great article by Craig Bingman:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030418...twork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/oct/bio/default.asp

[EDIT: Opps, this was the wrong article, still a good read though...]

Alfred

 

[piranhapat]

I tried Kalk when on went on vacation for 7 days. I also add two parts BRS. I added two teaspoon of kalk in one gallon of RO/DO water. I also added 5ml of vinager and stirred it and let it sit over night. I made 8 gallons in my ATO. I remove as much water from top and put it in my ATO. It really maintain my levels to drop off a lot. Levels drop but for 7 days it was like 2 days not adding anything. So it did what I wanted to do. I stop using it because I Still got a build up of power in my ATO. The pump didn't clog but in time I can see it might happen.Also ATO water stays cloudy . I would do it again when go on vacation. If I don't buy something else. If you want why don't you add Ph buffer to your top off. Wouldn't that be safer since you using Cal reactor. When I see my PH levels go down. I buffer my ATO at times. When you are adding top off water from RO/DI. It's like adding 7.0 water into your tank? So in time your PH will drop....