chufa Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 I am tired Aragamilk not working. My Ca levels are always 280-320 ppm. I have tons of coralline growing, but I have some dead spots, which is a symptom of low Ca. I think my LPS are too much Ca hogs. So, I bought a jar of Kents Kalkwasser mix. It gives a huge range of concentrations that can be used. Can anybody give me a good starting point for a 12g with LPS? Thanks, Link to comment
labrat Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 I'm currently experiencing the same problem and have been using Kalk for about a month now. I use the max per gal that Kent recommends and my Ca levels are still around 300 ppm. I've started adding Ca (I'm at work and don't have the brand name with me, sorry), in addition to Kalk and the Ca is starting to rise slowly. Yesterday it was at 350 ppm. I've been doing this VERY VERY slowly and also have only LR, LS, and a cleanup crew for now so the other experts on the site probably can me more help than myself. Cheers, Rick Link to comment
Graywolf57 Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Once I have everything set up I am thinking about trying the vinegar method of mixing the kalk. Have you heard of or tried that. Here is a link to the discussion: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18...der=asc&start=0 Link to comment
cmoreash Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 kalkwasser is very good for maintaining calcium levels. if you want to raise them, use something like the Seachem calcium...thats calcium gluconate which raises levels well, but i wouldn't use it for long term calcium maintainence in a reef Link to comment
fishbabies Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 i know to mix Kents Kalkwasser properly....you want to keep adding the mix until it will mix no more.....but don't go above the 2 tbsp per gallon. u want to see the inmixed powder on the bottom of the container to know it is ready. Link to comment
chufa Posted August 4, 2003 Author Share Posted August 4, 2003 cmoreash: Kalk will do both: raise calcium and alkalinity (from Graywolf's link) Ca++ + 2(OH-) + 2(CO2) <==> Ca++ + 2(HCO3-) Thanks Link to comment
cmoreash Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 i've only been using kalk for about a month now, i think its the best thing i've done for my tank Link to comment
cmoreash Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 especially when you snort it Link to comment
T?@7 Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 lol im sure that would burn like hell Link to comment
chufa Posted August 4, 2003 Author Share Posted August 4, 2003 OK, for a 12 gallon, is it really necessary to build a fancy dripping mechanism, or will it be possible to dose by adding a few drops in a few minutes with a dropper? Link to comment
T?@7 Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 wouldnt that get tedious? 1 drop every 2 seconds for however long...... I think you can make a dripper pretty easily, but I dont know from experience. Link to comment
cmoreash Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 I use 1 teaspoon of kalk per gallon of water, and i use this for my topoff. You gott let it sit for a couple hours if you do that, cuz the phosphates, metals, etc, will precipitate on the bottom with the undissolved stuff, and there's some gunk on top, its the clear water in the middle you want Link to comment
blk_g20 Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 this clear water, is it clear like normal water? the mix i made last night, for the first time, was cloudy. but there were solids on the bottom tho'. i think i might have added too much kalk. Link to comment
Korbin Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Solids on the bottom is fine. All it means is that you have a saturated solution and the water can hold no more kalk. When you empty the container, just leave the solid on the bottom and add more water for next time. It will re-dissolve. I just bought my first kalk today too! I was about to get a little jar of the Kent stuff for $8, but I got a big can of the Ball (as in canning and mason jars) brand stuff for $1.50. As for a dosing mechanism, I have a 15 dollar float switch setup connected to a powerhead in a bucket. Its pretty simple really. Link to comment
Graywolf57 Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Chuffa, if you go with the vinegar let me know if you see the ph change mentioned in that other thread. Sounded like once your tank could handle the higher amount of vinegar the less dosing and more dumping you could do as it was ionically ballanced then.....I'm in way over my head chemistry wise with that one, but the thread sure was interesting. I'm looking forward to to testing it myself. Link to comment
chufa Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 OK, so I tried mixing it with the vinegar method posted by Graywolf57. It becomes a completely clear solution. But I tested it, and the pH is very low (off the scale) ??? Anybody else tried this? I'll appreciate your input. Thansk Link to comment
blk_g20 Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Originally posted by Korbin Solids on the bottom is fine. All it means is that you have a saturated solution and the water can hold no more kalk. When you empty the container, just leave the solid on the bottom and add more water for next time. It will re-dissolve. I just bought my first kalk today too! I was about to get a little jar of the Kent stuff for $8, but I got a big can of the Ball (as in canning and mason jars) brand stuff for $1.50. As for a dosing mechanism, I have a 15 dollar float switch setup connected to a powerhead in a bucket. Its pretty simple really. where do you get this big container for $1.50 from? are they the same? oh well, i bought my small jar for $$ already. maybe next time. Link to comment
Graywolf57 Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 wow, as I said I hadn't tried this myselfyet. Hmmmm, I'm still interested in this though. Looking at your profile, not much chance you were't careful in amounts on the ingredients. I'm going back to reread some and see what I missed. Link to comment
Korbin Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Originally posted by blk_g20 where do you get this big container for $1.50 from? are they the same? oh well, i bought my small jar for $$ already. maybe next time. I got it at wallmart. Its not in the food isles, its in the housewares. Theres a small section with mason jars and stuff. Be careful not to get the pickling salt by accident. You need the pickling LIME. Anyway, there's a big discussion about whether or not food grade pickling lime has more metals and impurities than Kent or other brands. What I got from about 1 hour of reading is that any impurities are so low in concentration, and you add such a small amount of this stuff to your tank over time that it doesn't matter much. That's my take on it. There ARE people who will disagree with me. But anyway... its crazy cheap. Like I said: calcium hydroxide is calcium hydroxide. What you are paying for is the supposed purity of the product. Link to comment
chufa Posted August 6, 2003 Author Share Posted August 6, 2003 OK, here's what I am doing: I dissolve 0.2 tsp of kalk powder in 1 tsp of white vinegar in a 1 pint bottle. Swirl. It all goes into solution. I make up the volume with distilled water to 1 pint. The resulting solution is clear, and acidic. I plan to make this weekly. I am dripping 0.5 ml (half of a 1 ml plastic pipette) every day. No changes in pH or calcium to the tank yet. Just started yesterday, I'll keep you posted of my results. Link to comment
Graywolf57 Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 I forgot to ask you, did you find out why the test batch ph you made was off??? Link to comment
Graywolf57 Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 Chufa - Sorry for the great sentence structre. What I was trying to ask was: were you able to find out why the PH was off in the first batch you made? Now even I understand what I was asking. Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 yeah but chemical grade and food grade is a bit different...... anyways your right you wont notice much of a difference between the food stuff and the kent stuff. kent i hear just dissolves much easier. how long did u let the kalk settle for? maybe too long and it reacted with the air. also that sounds like a bit too much vinegar to me, i dont add so much, maybe put in half a teaspoon? Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 "make up the volume with distilled water to 1 pint." whats this mean? Link to comment
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