Help with Kalkwasser Mix

R.W. · 01/27/2008, 09:48 PM

I got a container of Kent Marine Kalkwasser Mix and have no idea how i should add it to my tank. What are cheap and effective ways i can add this via my sump? Also, i would like to conserve space since it is quite crammed under my stand.

sjm817 · 01/27/2008, 10:20 PM

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

tmz · 01/27/2008, 10:44 PM

It is better to drip it in over a period of time. I dose it at night to offset the normal ph drop.Limewater( in German kalkwasser) has a ph of about 12.4 .There are limits on how much you can safely dose in an hours time without spiking your tanks ph, generally no more than one quart of fully saturated limewater mix(2tsps per gallon) per hundred gallons per hour further limited to your total daily top off water.

Fill a one gallon container with fresh water and add two tsps of lime(kalk),mix vigorously. Let it settle for a few hours. A sludge will form at the bottom consisting of precipitated calcium carbonate and impurites from the lime. You wan't to dose only the clear limewater.
There are a number of ways to do this.One way is to pour it into your sump but to avoid a large ph spike you would need to portion it out to 3 or four times a day if you were trying to cover your top off.
One of the easiest and least expensive is to make a resevoir from a buckett with a lid. Drill a small hole in the side of the buckett about 1.5 inches from the bottom. Insert a short piece of rigid airline tubing .Try to size the hole so the rigid tubing fits tightly. Seal the outside of the hole with Plumber's Goop. Slide some flexible airline tubing on the protruding rigid tube and add a platic airline vavle at the end to control your drip. Fill the buckkett with a days worth of limewater mix and stir it up. Let it sit a few hours and begin dripping. Clean th sludge out ,once a week or so.

fatboyjoe · 01/28/2008, 06:40 AM

I just got that mrs. weges lime, had to order from site, could not find it amywhere locally. way cheaper than kent.

vito is hooked · 01/28/2008, 07:09 AM

I use this methard and it works!

zebrafish · 01/28/2008, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fatboyjoe
I just got that mrs. weges lime, had to order from site, could not find it amywhere locally. way cheaper than kent.

Try Wal-Mart in the canning section or there abouts, they have tons of it.

Sk8r · 01/28/2008, 08:40 AM

Stir 2 tsp per gallon into your topoff water and add as topoff: best added by dosing pump, which squirts tiny doses in. A massive single dose of kalk can spike the ph incredibly.

It is not a bad idea to have a 6pack of bar soda water in your cabinet should you have a topoff accident.

SHould you have a spike, remember that the spike is transient: ie, it goes way high and then falls rapidly: if you dose with soda water to calm it, start small and test your water every 15 minutes during that process to try to establish a 'rate and direction of change' with the dosing you are doing. You don't want to complicate matters by overshooting the correction.

Kalk, compared to other things you can put into your tank, is not outstandingly dangerous, but it must be respected and used as directed. NEVER NEVER NEVER stir it directly into your sump! Always mix it properly in ro/di water and remember the ideal liquid dose is by the spoonful, not the cupful.

01/27/2008, 09:48 PM	#1
R.W. Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 890	Help with Kalkwasser Mix I got a container of Kent Marine Kalkwasser Mix and have no idea how i should add it to my tank. What are cheap and effective ways i can add this via my sump? Also, i would like to conserve space since it is quite crammed under my stand.

01/27/2008, 10:20 PM	#2
sjm817 On Yer left! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern VA Posts: 18,777	What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm __________________ - Scott

01/27/2008, 10:44 PM	#3
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	It is better to drip it in over a period of time. I dose it at night to offset the normal ph drop.Limewater( in German kalkwasser) has a ph of about 12.4 .There are limits on how much you can safely dose in an hours time without spiking your tanks ph, generally no more than one quart of fully saturated limewater mix(2tsps per gallon) per hundred gallons per hour further limited to your total daily top off water. Fill a one gallon container with fresh water and add two tsps of lime(kalk),mix vigorously. Let it settle for a few hours. A sludge will form at the bottom consisting of precipitated calcium carbonate and impurites from the lime. You wan't to dose only the clear limewater. There are a number of ways to do this.One way is to pour it into your sump but to avoid a large ph spike you would need to portion it out to 3 or four times a day if you were trying to cover your top off. One of the easiest and least expensive is to make a resevoir from a buckett with a lid. Drill a small hole in the side of the buckett about 1.5 inches from the bottom. Insert a short piece of rigid airline tubing .Try to size the hole so the rigid tubing fits tightly. Seal the outside of the hole with Plumber's Goop. Slide some flexible airline tubing on the protruding rigid tube and add a platic airline vavle at the end to control your drip. Fill the buckkett with a days worth of limewater mix and stir it up. Let it sit a few hours and begin dripping. Clean th sludge out ,once a week or so. __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.

01/28/2008, 06:40 AM	#4
fatboyjoe Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: philadelphia Posts: 122	I just got that mrs. weges lime, had to order from site, could not find it amywhere locally. way cheaper than kent. __________________ joe Current Tank Info: 90 gal reef

01/28/2008, 07:09 AM	#5
vito is hooked Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Port Charlotte FL Posts: 845	I use this methard and it works! __________________ IT'S THE SAME THING-ONLY DIFFERENT Current Tank Info: 300gal with 180gal Ref/Sump M/H lighting 2-175 watt 10.000 K 3 150watt 15.000 K 8 blue actinics 4 Purple OCTOPUS Extreme-X200 Skimmer Max Flow 4200gph Return

01/28/2008, 08:40 AM	#7
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Stir 2 tsp per gallon into your topoff water and add as topoff: best added by dosing pump, which squirts tiny doses in. A massive single dose of kalk can spike the ph incredibly. It is not a bad idea to have a 6pack of bar soda water in your cabinet should you have a topoff accident. SHould you have a spike, remember that the spike is transient: ie, it goes way high and then falls rapidly: if you dose with soda water to calm it, start small and test your water every 15 minutes during that process to try to establish a 'rate and direction of change' with the dosing you are doing. You don't want to complicate matters by overshooting the correction. Kalk, compared to other things you can put into your tank, is not outstandingly dangerous, but it must be respected and used as directed. NEVER NEVER NEVER stir it directly into your sump! Always mix it properly in ro/di water and remember the ideal liquid dose is by the spoonful, not the cupful. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.