Kalkawasser nooby move

[mike3epanda]

I added kalkawasser to my tank but I think I might have done it the wrong way.. I put it in a jug w/ some FW, shook it up, then poured some down on the tank... I believe that I was suppose to let it sit until some white crust builds up on the bottom and use the water on top... my ph went up and is now 8.4, my fishes seems to be fine but I don't know what I should do at this point.. PWC? or leave it alone for now?

 

[Innovator]

Congratulations, you just used the slurry method of kalk. Usually thick slurries are used when you want quick changes, but trying to avoid supersaturation of the water. The safer way would be to mix in a bucket or jug with a powerhead and then let it sit until clear on top and drip it in.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

 

[mike3epanda]

ok so it fine then.. I do want quick changes as I have more base rocks than LR.

 

[Innovator]

Quick changes often lead to disaster unless you know what you are doing and expect a particular outcome. Do read your other thread and my post.

 

[mike3epanda]

ok

 

[ccCapt]

Dripping kalk is a royal pain. I did it for many years. I found it much easier to use Randy's 2 Part http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm. FWIW, I use about 75 ml per day of each part (about a 1/4 cup) to keep my ca at 420 and alk at 8dKH.
But before dripping kalk or supplementing alk-ca, test to see how much alk and calcium is used in your tank per day. Unless you have alot of SPS's, water changes can usually keep your levels where they need to be.