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04/13/2012, 06:18 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 92
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Kalk....
Is it true that when you add kalk to your tank directly, the calcium will evaporate??? I thought only water evaporates out but never minerals?
how do you guys add kalk if you use it? |
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04/13/2012, 06:27 PM
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#2 |
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Registered Member
 Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Garden Grove, Ca
Posts: 17,023
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Mix it with RO/DI water (1-1/2 teaspoons per gallon of water) and add that mix a little at a time. Using an ATO with a kalk water reservoir is the most common method.
PS, Calcium does not evaporate, but it will bind with other chemicals and either be unavailable for your corals to use or will precipitate out of the water column. |
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04/13/2012, 06:54 PM
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#3 |
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Dr. Reef at ur service
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kalk needs to bond with co2 present in ur tank water. if there is not enough co2 kalk will goto waste. thats why its suppose to be added slowly over time.
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Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE |
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04/14/2012, 12:57 PM
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#4 |
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Reef Chemist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Arlington, Massachusetts
Posts: 86,233
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No, calcium can never evaporate, aside from on the surface of Mercury.
Limewater (kalkwasser) needs to be added slowly because it boosts the pH too high if added rapidly. Adding the equivalent of 10 ppm calcium and 1.4 dKH of alkalinity will boost pH by more than 0.6 pH units instantly. When added slowly, the aquarium will draw in CO2 from the air, keeping the pH moderated. This has more: What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm
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Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef |
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04/14/2012, 04:15 PM
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#5 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 3,561
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How do you really decide when it's time to start using kalk? I know that it's been said that you shouldn't really use kalk when using the tunze ATO osmolator.
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120 gallon mixed reef |
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04/15/2012, 08:26 AM
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#6 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 820
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Quote:
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04/15/2012, 10:31 AM
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#7 | |
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-RT * ln(k)
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Little Rock
Posts: 9,705
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Quote:
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David Current Tank: Undergoing reconstruction... |
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04/15/2012, 12:47 PM
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#8 | |||
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,912
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Quote:
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I have used the Tunze osmaolator and placed kalk in my reservoir. I did not have any problems. HOWEVER, I can see where people think there may be a problem the longer you use it. When the Tunze is done dispensing the kalkwasser, the water left in the tubing backs down back into the reservoir. The tubing fill up with air, with CO2, and cause crystallization of any residual kalkwasser in the tube. I tried a one way valve, but the kalkwasser causes the valve to malfunction. Like I said, I did not have a problem with the Tunze osmolator and kalk in the ATO reservoir. But, due to the theoretical concerns, I switched to a TLF reactor connected to the Tunze osmolator. I use a large short see-through hose to deliver the output from the reactor/Tunze ATO set up, and I can see crystallization and deposition wiithin this big tube. I can imagine it happening to the smaller Tunze tubes and possibly causing a problem. EDIT: Oh, I forgot to give my input on when to start using kalkwasser. Keep an eye on your parameters. When to start kalkwasser dosing depends on what salt you use, how frequently you do water changes, and how much stonies you have in your tank. I use Reef Crystals, do 15% WC weekly, and have aggressively been adding stonies (SPS, NPS, LPS). It was over a year before the alk and calcium started to go down and I started to dose.
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Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam Last edited by Palting; 04/15/2012 at 12:53 PM. |
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| 90 gallon tank, evaporation, kalkwasser, parameters |
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