Kalkwasser? Benefits/Cons

[Squado]

I was just reading up on kalkwasser and was wondering what was so good about it? Also, is it tricky to use or is it easy? I read that it lowers phosphates (not that I have a problem with them) and can be used as a top off solution. Can anyone further explain the use of it? TIA...

 

[MT79]

Benefits- Its' cheap. You can buy pickling lime, same thing. It's a balanced Ca/alk supplement that does not add sodium and chloride ions to your water(most if not all others do). Those ions can cause problems, ex. increasing salinity, etc., if not reduced through PWC's. It' reduces PO4 and increases water quality a few ways. It improves skimmer function( I get at least 3x as much skimmate) and directly bonds PO4 so it can't cause problems. It can also help raise PH, which is often low due to high indoor CO2 levels, etc. If using an auto top off or drip doser it can create more stability by adding Ca/Alk constantly to keep up w/ demands, and FW to decrease salinity fluctuations from evap.
FWIW I love it! I will not go back to using two part alone for Ca/Alk maintenance.
Drawback- When dosed to fast it can raise PH too quickly and/or high. It needs to be dosed slowly, generally. Kalkwasser has a very high PH ( about 12). When handling it care should be taken to avoid contact w/ skin and especially eyes.

Here is a great article on Kalk- http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[Squado]

Thanks, that article pretty much took care of it. I'm gonna look into and maybe i'll start using it as a top off. The only thing is that I basically just use a drip line from a bottle of R/O water sitting above the sump. Could I use limewater with that process?

 

[MT79]

I made a DIY doser w/ a 1 gal container. FWIW I'm able to hide it in a room behind my tank. I drilled a small hole in the wall behind my tank to run airline through, and dose into the sump. Here are the instruction for the doser-
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/skip/agu/kalkdripper.htm

 

[Squado]

Thanks for the info! You really know where to find some good articles, a lot of the articles you pointed me to could not have answered my questions any better. Thanks again........

 

[MT79]

Glad I could help

 

[Squado]

Oh, one more quick question, if I were going to setup A DIY drip system, how fast due you drip, I mean in terms of drips per second. For instance, when I acclimate I read some where that you should drip new animals at a rate of about 3-5 drips per second. I would assume that for kalkwasser it should be alot slower, what do you use?

 

[MT79]

About 1 drop/second is a good start. You can go a little faster if necessary, just be careful not to increase PH too quickly and/or high by dosing too fast. Besides PH swings, IME you are also more likely to experience precipitation when dosing much faster than approx. 4-5 drops/second, which makes the Ca/Alk useless. As you are probably aware of, when you start using kalk monitor your PH, Ca, and Alk.

 

[Jarred Darque]

I started dosing Kalk again last week, and am noticing a MAJOR increase in slime algae, I sucked msot of it up during the PWC, but it is comin back in force the next day..any tips? and where can I get a good thing to dose it with, I am kinda on a budget, right now I mix it in with the RO/DI FW I use to top the tank off, and try to only add a bit at a time. I mix about 1-2 tablespoons of calc per 4 gallons of water, mix it well, let it sit a day with a small ph in the bucket, poor the water into another bucket to get rid of the crap left at the bottom, then run that for another day or so, then poor into the first bucket (after it has been cleaned) to get any residual solid matter out, and then I use that for topping off the tank.

 

[MT79]

Are you using pickling lime? Are you letting the mix settle for a couple hours before dosing it to avoid dosing the metals, etc.?

let it sit a day with a small ph in the bucket,

You only want to mix kalk for a few minutes initially to dissolve the powder. After that, additional mixing will introduce CO2 into the kalkwasser causing precipitate to form making the Ca and Alk useless. It should also be kept in a closed container. I highly suggest you read the link I provided in my first post. The second link I provided is an easy DIY doser.