Kalk Settling??

[Bippus]

I just recently started dosing kalk water for my top off, and “wow”!!!! My reef has been set up for almost two years and everything looks 10x better in the 2 weeks I have been using kalk then it ever has before. I don’t know why I have never done it before now, but I wish I started sooner. I mix a gallon of RO with 1 teaspoon of kalk and let settle for 24 hrs. I never get very much settlement at the bottom, but my question is if in a pinch, what is the minimum amount of time I should let it settle before dripping??

Thanks in advance and if you don’t use kalk. . . . TRY IT!!!!!!
:D

[Bippus]

bump

[loc01]

As long as the unmixed kalk.powder settled on the bottom you can discard and use right away.

Loc

[paulallen]

Unmixed kalk power?? That isnt what is settling out of the mix. It is an almost harmless calcium carbonate, aka a type of rock. It forms from the lack of Co2 in the water to continue facilitating the reaction of the calcium hydroxide. I have heard that it hads something to raising your KH. And some people keep it in suspension when dosing kalkwasser. The amount of time that you let it sit does not matter as long as you have mixed the solution adaquetely. The longer the let the calcium hydroxide solution sit the less potent it becomes, but this takes days to weeks.

[leeweber85]

If I remember correctly, my old KENT kalk said to wait at least 8hrs..... I'm not positive though.

[dandydan]

Take a trip to the Reef chemistry forum on ere, If you dont come away an expert on Kalkwasser, then give up lol.

Usual is 2 Tspoon to 1 gal, depending on you tanks demand (your small gallon of course) chuck an old powerhead in there, mix for couple of hours, let settle over night and go.
as Randy says leave the gunge on the bottom for 6 months or so, or it becomes too coloured.
Happy wassering