Kalkwasser

[daniellevendetta]

Okay, so I bought the little tub of kalkwasser powder stuff.

 

Now what?

In english please.

):

[supernip]

put about a teaspoon in a gallon or two of drinking water and shake. Test calcium concentration and dose tank accordingly

[tinyreef]

kalkwasser shouldn't be something you try first. it's really a hazardous substance to use at first.

 

disclaimer aside: the limewater you get from the mixing nip described will be on the top of the water. much like cream rises to the surface the limewater will be at the surface and should be skimmed off accordingly. go too deep and it's only fw.

 

however, i would suggest not using drinking water though but specifically RO/DI or distilled water instead. "drinking water" is too wide of a term imo, spring water, tapwater, etc. all fall under that category.

 

limewater needs to be used relatively soon and also should be capped or separated from the atmosphere. ambient CO2 readily reacts with limewater to form a surface film of CaCO3, lowering the CaHCO2 concentration (or whatever the actual formula is ).

 

it's a great Ca/alk supplement (almost perfect imo) but is a real pita to use and dose, without a kalk reactor.

 

CaCl dosing is much easier and safer. i'd strongly suggest the two-part solution supplements instead of the kalk, if you're starting out. hth

[mechanic]

Okay, so I bought the little tub of kalkwasser powder stuff.

 

Now what?

In english please.

):

Hey Danielle,

 

Back in the day (i.e. 10 years ago or so) I used to dose my 45gal. tank with Kalkwasser daily. I'd mix it in a jug with RO water as per the instructions, then use a very slow drip to to add it to the tank. For the drip, I just used a piece of rigid tubing with airline hose attached to it - the rigid piece went in the jug (I found it easier to get the rigid tubing to stay on the bottom of the jug), and ran the airline hose into the top of my tank. To get the drip I tied a knot in the airline hose just tight enough to get a slow drip (maybe one per sec.). My friends were using the drip regulator from an I.V. hose, which worked very well. That being said, for a small tank I would think you'd have to be very careful not to overdose the tank, and not to add the mix too fast. Hopefully someone with some experience in dosing a nano reef will respond to the thread.

 

Good luck!

 

\m/ \m/

[Phixion]

limewater needs to be used relatively soon and also should be capped or separated from the atmosphere. ambient CO2 readily reacts with limewater to form a surface film of CaCO3, lowering the CaHCO2 concentration (or whatever the actual formula is ).

 

it's a great Ca/alk supplement (almost perfect imo) but is a real pita to use and dose, without a kalk reactor.

 

CaCl dosing is much easier and safer. i'd strongly suggest the two-part solution supplements instead of the kalk, if you're starting out. hth

 

Geez Tiny, that's not English!

 

 

Is kalk one of the better ways to dose Ca/alk into our tanks?

[BKtomodachi]

Geez Tiny, that's not English!

 

 

Is kalk one of the better ways to dose Ca/alk into our tanks?

I think it is usually better to increase Ca levels with a two-part, and then maintain their balance with Kalk.

[Schwanson]

If you do not have any LPS / SPS / Clams then I see no need to dose kalk. Are you testing PH and calcium? I was using kalk but switched to B-Ionic 2 part as the PH swing when using kalk can be extreme.

[Phixion]

If you do not have any LPS / SPS / Clams then I see no need to dose kalk. Are you testing PH and calcium? I was using kalk but switched to B-Ionic 2 part as the PH swing when using kalk can be extreme.

 

Good info to know! I can't speak for the OP, but in my case I have B-Ionic that I have yet to use, but wondered if kalk is a "better" alternative...

[daniellevendetta]

I have frogspawn, hammer coral, and candy cane coral.

 

What product do you suggest? I want my corals to be healthy.

[Phixion]

You honestly don't need to dose for those corals. Just SPS and clams is when you'd want to start dosing Ca/alk/Mg... Hope that helps you out and saves you some $$$!

[daniellevendetta]

How bout a finger leather coral?

[Schwanson]

I would stick with regular water changes. No need to spend extra money on chemicals that are replenished with water changes.

 

Buy a test kit and watch your alk and calcium, if they get depleted then I would dose 2 part. Never dose for something when you do not have a test kit to test for it.

[tinyreef]

I think it is usually better to increase Ca levels with a two-part, and then maintain their balance with Kalk.

i'd tend to agree with that. two-part'ers are definitely easier and have more impact on (initially) adjusting the ca/alk as the CaCl is so readily 'absorbed' into the water column (not exactly the correct term but i'm using engrish! ).

 

kalk simply isn't very soluable (floats to the surface) but i think it's the optimal ca/alk supplement. you just have to be careful not to 'pickle' the tank.

 

vendetta,

if you're very regular with the waterchanges (and using a calcium-enriched salt, e.g. Reef Crystals), you probably don't need to supp the calcium except for an occasion two-part mini-dosing based upon periodic test checks.

 

as for the finger leather, i side with the miniority that they are slightly significant ca/alk users. most don't consider them to have any impact but their significant spicules (coral bones) and relatively fast growth rates could have some impact. still nothing like an LPS though and even further less than a sps or clam.

[BKtomodachi]

Everything you have listed so far requires nothing more than small weekly water changes.

[dsoz]

I have frogspawn, hammer coral, and candy cane coral.

 

What product do you suggest? I want my corals to be healthy.

 

Depends on how big they are. If it is only one or two heads of each, then no, you don't need to dose. If your tank is full of them, and they are growing like mad, then yes.

 

Leather corals usually don't need calcium because they are not "hard skeleton" corals.

 

If you are doing regular weekly water changes, then you should be fine for calcium and alkalinity. If you are finding that your corals "use up" all the calcium before you do your weekly water changes, that is when you need to dose. Kalk is easy, but it is also dangerous with the pH swings, and all that other chemistry mumbo-jumbo. 2-part solutions are a little more difficult (need to add two things, not just one), but are a little more safe to add.

 

In my case, I have a 75g, and change 10g every other week, which is not enough. I have about 15 heads of frogspawn, about 5 heads of hammer, a galaxy, and about 10 SPS frags that all suck up the calcium. So I supplement with Kalkwasser. When my coraline algae starts growing out of control, I cut back on the kalk.

 

dsoz

[daniellevendetta]

Well, my tank is only 14 gallons.

All of my corals have about 3-4 heads.

[eklikewhoa]

I would just stick to weekly water changes with good salts....I kept my NC12g fully loaded with zoas/rics/frogspawn and never needed anything other then weekly water changes.

[Phixion]

Without dosing (I've never dosed my tank) my candycanes are growing new heads monthly! I have one that I bought with 5 heads originally a little over a year ago, and it's up to somewhere between 12-14 heads! Another I got as 11 heads, is now well over 20 heads! Again, no dosing here.

[daniellevendetta]

Okay, thank you everyone.

I don't really like SPS corals anyways, so it won't be trouble!

 

And excuse me for being a noob.

[Phixion]

Okay, thank you everyone.

I don't really like SPS corals anyways, so it won't be trouble!

 

And excuse me for being a noob.

 

No worries. Just trying to save you from an extra something you don't really need to do. Dosing can be a PITA initially.

[tontovila]

I was told that using the 2 part b-ionic system would help with corline growth...

 

from what you guys are saying, i'm getting that that might not be true?

[tinyreef]

I was told that using the 2 part b-ionic system would help with corline growth...

 

from what you guys are saying, i'm getting that that might not be true?

i'm curious how you could've gotten that impression? everything that's been noted actually is the opposite of that, i.e. that it would promote coralline growth.

 

could you note/quote the statements that led you to think it's not good for coralline?

 

not being critical (and i apologize if it comes across like that though), just curious how you came to the opposite conclusion.

[gotboost15psi]

the thing about 2 part, you have to keep adding it to maintain a stable ph. Ph will drop when the lights are off, they will slightly raise when the lights are back on but not sufficiant enough. Without a ph controller or doser you will be doing manual doses everyday which im sure alot of people hate unless you have time on your hands. This is why I use kalk. I have a 10 gallon sump that is split in half so that I have a section of about 5 gallons to use for my auto topoff/kalk dose. I mix 2 gallons of kalk with my and use that to replenish my tank for the whole week. When the water evaporates, the autotop off switch activates and doses the tank with kalk at the propor ratios ot keep my calcium/alk/and ph in check. However if I had enought money to afford a automatic dosing machine I would use the 2 part instead. The 2 part contains all the necessary major, minor, and trace elements that are depleted.

[bdare]

Limewater (kalkwasser)

 

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

 

The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser)

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm

 

The Degradation of Limewater (Kalkwasser) in Air

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-...ature/index.htm

 

Magnesium and Strontium in Limewater

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm

 

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm