need a chemistry calculator

[NanoReefWanabe]

i have a quick question for the chemistry math gurus..questions are at the bottom...small prequel to tank conditions starts, and sorry for it being as long as it is i wanted to try and be thorough, to avoid back and forth questions.

my system contains exactly 10gllons of water (5g tank less one 1", and the sump is 7.5 g minus 2g of water, it takes exactly two 5g pails of water for a 100% water change)

i must admit i am lousy with a WC shedule, if i remember/ when i remember kinda schedule...so i add kalk solution everyday to my tank, and once a week i add 3ml of essential elements (kent product) unless i do a water change.

for my kalk solution i simply have a 600ml sports drink bottle with 2 tablespoons of kalk powder in it and ro/di water to fill it...i shake vigorously to get it into solution. let it sit till the next day, then add about 100ml, top it (the bottle) up with fresh rodii every couple days, and shake it after every use...i see this being no different then a kalk stirrer (other then i do expose the solution to CO2 everyday when i open it).

i also add approximately 200ml of RO/Di as topoff water to the, all of this and the kalk are simply dumped in the sump when i get home from work.

anyway my question is...

how much of this saturated kalk solution can i add to my 10g of water to maintain the water parameters assuming i want to keep CAL at about 440 and ALK between 8-10, and a pH of around 8.1-8.2 (my pH never changes for some reason anyway, perhaps a result of this drafty old house i live in)

my fresh salt mixes to 440, 8, and 8.1 respectively...as for where my tank sits, hopefully somewhere close to those parameters ( i dont test it often)

perhaps the question is better worded how much of an effect will 100ml of kalk solution have on my tank given the fresh saltwater parameters, how much will 150ml of kalk effect it? how much would 50mL effect it etc...

i have no room or interest in setting up a ATO, as that is just something else for me to monitor and check...when i dump the bottles i can see they are low and top them up accordingly.

[tmz]

There are several questions in your question and no simple calculation.

First, How much can be dosed? This is limited by ph as it rises with calcium hydroxide dosing which can cause precipitation.Typically , dosing fully saturated clear limewater is limited to top off. Dosing cloudy water likely will include undissoved calcium hydroxide which can lead to overdosing.

Second. how much can be dosed at one time? In a given hour typically about one quarter to fith of your top off requirement?

Third , how much do I need to dose? Depends on consumption of calcium carbonate in your tank by coraline, stony corals and other calcareous organisms.

Sprung and Delbeek, in the Reef Aquarium volume3, recommend a limit of 1/4 tsp of dissoved clcium hydroxide per 50 gallons of system water in any given hour as a guideline to avoid ph spikes. Assuming you will use only clear limewater at full saturation that would limit your dose per hour to 1/40th of a US gallon or 95 ml per dose .

The volume of a ten US gallon tank is 37,854 ml so top off would usually be in the 300ml to 450 ml range. allowing for higher dosing if you spread it out into 4 to 5 increments per day.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In general, if you are unwilling to go ATO or otherwise drip limewater, I'd recommend a two part instead. The pH rise with limewater is too large for once a day additions of limewater unless the demand is very low, less than about 0.5 dKH per day.

[NanoReefWanabe]

well dang i thought this would be an easy answer...LOL

i will test my ALK consumption daily for the next little bit to figure out what i am using up...

i could do the 2 part way as well...i have a huge bag of the old dow flakes and a baking soda and epsom salts arent hard to come by either...but i also have a 5# bag of kalk as well that i have to do something with...LOL even at the rate i am going it is going to take me about 30 years to use it...unless i get a bigger system..

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Good luck. ::)

[NanoReefWanabe]

In general, if you are unwilling to go ATO or otherwise drip limewater, I'd recommend a two part instead.

it is not that i am unwilling...it is that i have absolutely no room to do so, hence no interest. and i have to ever listen to a air pump again i might go insane...

i might be able to set up an I.V. bag contraption and allow it to drip continuously like i did with my last tank...if my demand calls for it i suppose this would then be a viable option...i have two new SPS frags coming this weekend...once they are set up i will start testing again, no sense figuring it all out now then having to change it again next week...