mixing Ms. Wages for Top off water

[ducklabdad]

OK, I want to start adding Kalkwasser (Ms. Wages) to my top off water, I have a 55 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump, and I am topping off at the rate of 1/2 of a gallon of water twice per day.

I would prefer to add top off twice a day as I am not set up to auto top off at this time, I want to be "cautious" and not raise my ph too much at one time.

how much Lime should I add to one gallon of top off water to add to my sump, and would it be best to do this before or after I feed both my fish and corals which I do twice per day??I know this has to have been asked over and over but I only see reference to saturated solutions of Lime water??

Am I missing something on one of the links.

Thanks for the help

[NanoReefWanabe]

my bottle of kalkwasser says you can use anywhere from 1/8th teaspoon to 2 teaspoons per gallon of water i would assume Mrs wages would be the same..

if you want to super saturate the solution i believe you add 10ml/gallon of vinegar...

[ducklabdad]

Pleae do not take this wrong but the "*** u me" part is what I really do not want to do, my Daddy always told me to be very carefull about that especially when it came to lives and dollars!!

Anybody else!! Please!!

[mkeller]

I have Mrs Wages and I used 2 teaspoons/ gallon of RO water and dripped 1/2 gallon over 1hr's time in a 12 gallon tank and everything is fine. I am not saying I am 100% right, but everything is still alive and is doing good, so will have to go with that. Go with 1/2 teaspoon / gal water and see what the results are and keep adding more untill you are satisfied.

[bdare]

If you are adding 1/2 gallon at a time you won't be able to dump it in. It will need to be dripped.

[rbursek]

Max saturation is 2tsp per gallon, you will still have to let it sit for a few hours after being mixed because there is some residue to settle out. Adding vinegar will let you increase saturation, but the vinegar is a carbon and can fuel an algae growth.

[ducklabdad]

If 2 tbsp. is satuartion point if I only add 1/2 tbsp to 1 gallon and addid only 1/2 gallon in the morning and 1/2 in the evening would that still be too much "shock" to my system. My ph is currently stable at 7.9

[mkeller]

read this article, http://melevsreef.com/chemicals.html , bottom of page...

[mkeller]

forgot to mention, click the supplemental article, it talks about adding 1/2 gal all at once

[ducklabdad]

Thanks that is what I was lookiing for, I had already read the "supplemantal article" in reef central, but at what a mixing rate was vervy confusing and I am trying to be cautious.

[acrylic_300]

Each tank will be different. I would just saturate it then dose what you need. It will be consistent this way.

If you are topping off at lights on and lights off then you might want to just use the kalk at lights off...depending on what your lights on pH spike is.

[NanoReefWanabe]

well at least i wasn't wrong...and considering kalk is the same thing as mrs wages...there wasnt really any assumption...but anyway...

Vinegar wont fuel algae it will kill algae as it fuels bacteria which consume algae's food...

best of luck start slow...dripping wont change your Ph either...i drip 1/2gallon in my twenty of super saturated everyday...Ph remains constant...sadly only at 8.0 though..dumping 1/2 gallon will certainly effect your PH..

[bertoni]

When vinegar is added to limewater and dosed into the tank, it will fuel bacterial growth in most cases, since it provides a carbon source. It's too dilute to kill bacteria.

[Magnus6208]

I mix 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of RO top off water and manually pour in 1/2 gallon every morning when the ph is the lowest. I don't drip and my tank is doing great. No problems what so ever.