Kalkwasser

[fla. keys]

Hello,
Please tell me the proper and correct way to use kalkwasser????
I just started adding this to my 75 gal last night. I was told to also use some coral vite(kent Marine)?
I mixed up about 2 teaspoons into a gallon water jug, mixed it, and let it stood for a couple of hours.
How much of the solution should I be adding to the tank and should I add the solution every day.
I am really wanting to get the purple coraline algea to start to flourish in my tank and on the rocks. I also have some live sand in the tank and 2 powerheads one that is 400 gph and the other is 200 gph.
Please give me all of your awesome suggestions.
Lastly should i also be adding strontium/molybedum and/or iodine?
Thank you,
Gregg

 

[kris walker]

Kalkwasser is probably best used to replace evaporated water. 2 tsp per gal is the max recommended concentration. If you calcium sink is huge (you have lots of calcium absorbing corals), you will need that 2 tsp. If it is small (only soft corals), you will likely make your calcium too high, and should only use say 0.5-1 tsp. I would buy a Ca test kit, and periodically check it as you go, and change your routine if need be. Most tanks evaporate anywhere from 0.2-0.5 gal of water a day. Doing kalk every night is good, night being better than day because pH naturally drops at night.
You do not need coral vite, especially if you do water changes say once every 2 weeks. But it might be a good idea if you have lots of corals and a good skimmer (skimmer removes good stuff all the time, some of which is replaced by coral vite).
sam

 

[kris walker]

Sorry Keys, in retrospect, I didn't really answer your question. I agree with Lore, but I would wait a bit longer than 1/2 hour just because it seems the longer I wait, the more solid the film develops at the top of the kalkwasser. I wait anywhere from 8-12 hours before I siphon out the water in between the solids on the bottom, and the film on the top.
I've heard if you don't remove the film or solids, they act as nucleus points for the precipitation of CaCO3 once added to your tank, which will have the opposite effect of just adding kalkwasser.
Also, some people (like me) drip the day's worth of kalkwasser into the tank every night in a matter of 10-30 minutes--depending on how tired I am. I have heard that others have slowly poured kalkwasser directly into the tank over certain corals and the corals paid no attention (I still recommend the drip though).
sam