DIY Limewater drip question..

[gregghia]

I am using pickling lime for a calc drip and I made a couple 2 liter bottles into homemade dripper application. Working OK so far but I have two questions;
1. Is there a good and easy way to calculate how much I should be dripping per day and the concentration of the mix?
2. I made the dripper as instructed where the intake tube doesn't sit at the bottom of the 2 liter to avoid the sediment being dripped into the tank. However there seems to be an awful lot of sediment even after I thouroughly mix the lime powder and RO water at the bottom of the bottle. Is this correct and do i just dump it after the dose is gone? Just seems like not much is being dissolved.....
Thanks

 

[bang guy]

1 - The general idea is to match the drip rate with the evaporation rate. Without an auto topoff there's no way to be exact because the evap rate changes constantly. Luckily there's no reason to be precise. If your water level drops more then start dripping more.
If all of the lime doesn't dissolve in cold water then you have a saturated mix. Saturated limewater is about 800ppm Calcium and an equivalent amount of Hydroxide.
2 - You should be able to dissolve slightly more than a teaspoon of lime into a 2 liter bottle of cold water. If you stir it too much or otherwise force CO2 into the water then you will end up with Calcium carbonate sediment. This sediment will not redissolve in limewater.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Here's a tip - When dosing lime water, you should use a 2 liter bottle, and put a tight cap on it. Drill a hole in the cap that is slightly smaller then airline tubing. Force airline tubing through the cap and approximately 2" from the bottom of the bottle. Then, add pure RO/DI water that has been sitting up for a little while into your bottle. Fill it until you get about an inch to the top. Then, add your lime mix. About as much as what Bang said.
Cap it and slowly turn the solution back and fourth until it's mixed. If you stir it up too much, just as bang-guy said, you will see a lot of precipitation in the bottom of the bottle because of the excess carbon dioxide. The concentration of calcium ions in the water is decreased tremendously after mixing. Let it sit for about two hours to 24 hours before using.
Remember, the pH of limewater is approximately 12.45, so when dripping limewater, you should only drip as much as needed for top off. You don't want too great of pH swings in your tank. Good luck and have fun!

 

[gregghia]

Thanks guys that helps out alot... I'll give it a shot.