View Full Version : Any advice on dosing kalkwasser?
JeffersonReef
08/19/2006, 08:46 PM
I have decided to begin dosing with kalkwasser in my tank along with my make-up water. Any advice on the best way to do it? What is the best and easiest to use kalkwasser? Is there one that I dont have to go through the whole "mixing" process? Is there a product or supplement that works as well or better than kalk that is easier to use?
Thanks for the info!
-noob reefer
Konadog
08/19/2006, 09:15 PM
One of the easiest ways to mix it is use a 5 gallon water bottle. Add a few table spoons of kalk and mix, the water will turn milky white. Once it settles out (next day) siphon off the clear water and use it as your makeup water. Just drip it in slowly so you don't raise your PH quickly. You can purchase kalk at the LFS, but you can also use "pickling lime" as it is the same thing, just cheaper.
Keep an eye on your PH, alkalinity, and calcium levels when using.
TWallace
08/19/2006, 09:35 PM
The Kent Marine AquaDose (http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_dosing_pumps_top_off_kent_marine_aquadose.asp?CartId=) is cheap, easy to use and is what I'm using now. No pumps or float switches to worry about malfunctioning. The only downside is that because it's gravity fed, it must be positioned above the tank or sump.
affan
08/19/2006, 09:36 PM
Another vote for KM's Aqua Dose.
Serioussnaps
08/19/2006, 11:26 PM
www.innovativeaquatics.com
read up on peristalic pumps and dosing kalk
JeffersonReef
08/20/2006, 09:29 AM
Thanks Konadog. That sounds easy enough. So I guess I could follow ur instructions, and then use the KM Aquadose to slowly drip the make-up water/ kalk. Should I do this every time I add make-up water?
Also, can anyone reccommend a test kit for calc, alk, ph, etc? The ones I have been using (as my tank was previously just FOWLR) dont include calc.... Thanks! (Also, thanks for the info on the KM Aquadose.. I will get one ASAP!)
-Tony
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7973341#post7973341 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Konadog
One of the easiest ways to mix it is use a 5 gallon water bottle. Add a few table spoons of kalk and mix, the water will turn milky white. Once it settles out (next day) siphon off the clear water and use it as your makeup water. Just drip it in slowly so you don't raise your PH quickly. You can purchase kalk at the LFS, but you can also use "pickling lime" as it is the same thing, just cheaper.
Keep an eye on your PH, alkalinity, and calcium levels when using.
JeffersonReef
08/20/2006, 09:38 AM
Also, what is the best kalkwasser mix? Any thoughts? Is there any drawback to using pickling lime instead? What about adding baking soda to the kalk? Sorry for all the questions! :)
-tony
Konadog
08/20/2006, 09:47 AM
Don't add anything else to the Kalk mix, Add other stuff separately if needed. As for using all the time, you can but as I said, test your water parameters to judge yourself. Test kits, I recommend Salifert kits as they are easy and inexpensive test kits that are accurate.
Billybeau1
08/20/2006, 10:06 AM
There is no drawback to using pickling lime. It is all pretty much the same stuff.
Many replace all of their evaporation with limewater. Say you evaporate a gallon a day. Then you can replace that with limewater.
You may want to start out at 1 tsp per gallon and test after a week and see if it maintains your cal and alk. If it doesn't then then you can go up to 2 tsp per gallon. This is what we call the saturation point meaning no more than 2 tsp in a gallon will go into solution. Any more will just settle to the bottom.
Here's a good read when you have time.
What your grandmother never told you about lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm
PsychoKnight
08/20/2006, 12:25 PM
Formerly wastebasket reactor.
This is my cross-post from the original poster's similar thread in the southern Calif forum.
I'd like to share it here also only because its worked well for me and seems radically different than any other solutions I've seen.
I made a wastebasket kalk reactor out of my freshwater auto topoff tank. Maintenance free other than scooping in some pickling lime every other month and scraping the kalk outlet tube opening for a minute each time I reload, and doesn’t require unscrewing any chamber caps, manually stirring, waiting around for kalk to settle, or setting drip rates.
I grossly (and intentionally) overdose lime powder so the solution stays saturated with excess slurry at the bottom and converts whenever the solution is diluted w/ more feed water automatically by a simple level controller As a result, the output remains very consistent when I check w/ a pH meter. I only get variations of dosage based on evaporation rates, and that only changes when I turn on my sump fan for cooling on super hot days.
Its been running about eight months and I don't see any need to clean it out for at least a couple of years. The wastebasket cost me $2.79, Rio90 $16, clear vinyl tubing $4, digital timer $10, pickling lime for a year $3.95, plus an old 10g tank.
Just last night, I upgraded the wastebasket "reactor chamber" to a 2gal fishbowl, for nothing else but to look less tacky, and give a clear view of the chamber.
The ro inlet feeds into the fishbowl and then is gravity feed to the settling tank through a siphon tube, taking dissolved kalk from the top of the bowl. RE-settled kalkwasser is then gravity siphoned from the 10g tank through a 10ft coil of 3/8" o.d. vinyl tubing thru a valve (blue) into the sump. To reduce osmotic transfer of salt from the sump into the settling tank I use the coil of tubing, in lieu of a one-way gate or valve. The hydro sponge at the kalk output is just there to weigh down the outlet tube (but I also use it to set up an instantly cycled quarantine tank when needed).
A rio90 placed at the top of the bowl has its outlet directed thru a tube down to the bottom to agitate the lime every 6 hours for 1 min on a plain digital timer. 20 min before the next cycle, the ro valve opens for up to 15 minutes and closes when the bowl is full. This has been timed to allow maximum settling before transfer to the next compartment, filling the bowl to the preset level. Its all siphon fed (not dripped), its rate controlled by evaporation. As the sump level goes down, it sucks kalkwasser from the 10g settling tank, which sucks kalk from the fishbowl reactor. The water level controller in the 10g keeps the fishbowl fed with ro top off water during the 15 minute replenish period. By opening the ro only at certain times, it not only allows kalk powder to settle, but also prevents a major flood should any of the ro fittings come apart.
There is a minor drawback so far. If I don't keep up with the weekly or biweekly water changes, the pH will tend to push upwards to 8.35-8.40. My adjustment for that is to simply move the ro supply tube from the wastebasket two inches over to the settling tank which it sits in, no big deal. This will dilute the solution until I resume water changes.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/PsychoKnight1/IMG_1612.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/PsychoKnight1/IMG_1611.jpg
King-Kong
08/20/2006, 12:27 PM
I dont know how cost is, but I really enjoyed getting a pH monitor/controller when I started dosing Kalk.
Being able to watch the pH move real-time w/ the dosing let me know if i was going too fast or too slow. I imagine I would have stressed out my fish and done a lot of pH testing without it.
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