Dont know what im doing wrong

[duke62]

Hey boomer i started using kalk in my top off water but not in the top off container. ive been adding kalk into a 5 gallon of rodi mixing it up letting it sit in a closed 5 gallon bucket,waiting 24 hours then syphoning that water into my top off container.Since i have been doing this my alk has dropped to 6.8 from the normal 7.8 and i am having trouble keeping up the alk even with the calcium reactor going. what can in be doing wrong. right now coming out of my effluent cup my PH is 6.5 and my calcium reactor is almost up to 2 bubbles per second and water is dripping in and cant go any lower on calcium reactor flow

 

[NYreefNoob]

how much are you using per gallon ? also what brand of kalk are you uysing ?

 

[duke62]

Im using 10 TSP of kent kalk. boomer wrote it doesnt matter the brand. my concern is the drop in alk since using kalk

 

[NYreefNoob]

that cant be right i your using that much per gallon, this might help, when i used it i used 2 tsp per gallon, and i wouldnt use it attached to a ato, fried my tank that way when it got stuck, you can also use vinegar in the kalk to make it stronger, btw there is differances in the type of kalk, personally i used mrs wages pickling lime which is a food grade with less impurities, here's where i got all my info

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[duke62]

believe me i cant see it being right either thats why im asking. im at 6.45 right now on my ph probe which is insane considering it was at 6.90 for the longest time. my water coming out of the reactor is dripping and im using 2 bubbles per second when i was using 1 bubble per second as well for months. but since using kalk alk has dropped. am i doing something wrong? should i just just add the kalk to my top off container instead of mixing it in a bucket? im just worried about the kalk clogging up my aqua lifter

 

[NYreefNoob]

i use to makle it up but with vinegar, would leave a powerhead in it to mix over night then just used the container i mixed it in and left it in there, and had it on a doser, you might want to try and clean and re-0calibrate ph meter also

 

[Boomer]

NY

There is no such thing as different kinds of Kalk. Calcium Hydoxide is Calcium Hydroxide, Ca(CO3)2. Some is actually Calcium Oxide, CaO, which is not Kalk. All those I know in this hobby are Food Grade or higher. The only difference are impurities. That does not define a different kind. A different brand is not going to change things in regards to Alk, pH, Ca++ or CO2 but yes, adding vinegar to it will, as it allows you to dissolve more and so will cooler water temp..




Duke

Where is that Kalk drip dripping to ? If Kalk is added to an area of high Alk/Ca++ it can pull down the Alk and Ca++., i.e., reactor input, reactor out put, added to a small area with poor circulation, to much added at once. You may not even notice the drop in Ca++, for as 20 ppm Ca++ leaves solution you lose 2.8 dKH. The only way Kalk can pull down the Alk is to much at once.

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

OH + HCO3- -----> CO3-- + H2O

CO3-- + Ca++ ---->. CaCO3 (solid = precip, snow storm )

 

[duke62]

My calcium reactor drip is going into the top tank 20 gallons which is a refugium. The kalk drip is going into the lower tank, my sump chamber where my return pump is so the kalk is pretty much going right in the DT from the return pump. Probably doesnt stay in that chamber to long. Im sorry boomer i do not know chemistry terms so everything you wrote up top is kinda a different language to me LOL. Any way you can explain it in a simpler term for me. I just emptied my top off container and added new ro water and put the kalk right in instead of mixing it in a 5 gallon bucket then syphoning the water into the top off container. Do you think this is a good idea? I was going to try it for a week and see if my alk raises. If not im thinking of just stopping the kalk