Ok all you Kalkwasser users

[bang guy]

OK
1 - Contact with CO2 causes the formation and precipitation of CaCO3 only in fresh water. In saltwater it forms Carbonate or BiCarbonate and Ca++. You NEED CO2 for it to work properly in Saltwater. That's one reason why PH climbs - the removal of CO2 from the tank water.
2 - The inside of a skimmer is rich in CO2 so this will make the limewater more effective.
3 - As a bonus, With the rich mix of molecules Phosphate tends to precipitate out of solution when in contact with limewater when there's an abundance of CO2.
Can you drip it into the overflow leading to the Skimmer? That should work almost as well.

 

[thomas712]

I can drip it into the overflow, heck I can run a tube if I have to through the bio balls above the pump. Ill work something out.
Thanks again Bang, Kip, and everyone else
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

Have you been running kalk before? I found out Kip was right it does take tinkering- checking- tinkering to get it right, and probably becomes a matter of habit.
Thomas

 

[broncofish]

in my 29g I lose 1/2 gallon a day. in my 90, about 1 1/2 to 2 g a day.

 

[bang guy]

I lose between 5 to 20 gallons a day to evap depending on if I remember to put the cover on the lagoon.

 

[broncofish]

You have a cover for that thing...I hope you have an auto top off system

 

[bang guy]

I have the coolest DIY Auto topoff system ever devised.

 

[joerdie]

my calcium never seems to become depleted. i have stoped dripping calk. do i have something wrong? i do have corals that use calcium but again the numbers never seem to go down.

 

[joerdie]

its been over a week scince i have used it. i am using salfert (i think) and the kits are brand new.

 

[joerdie]

i just have shrooms, polyps, and a ton of diff. kinds of leathers. some of them are large (5"+) but most are under 2". i do have a lot of coriline on my back wall/powerheads/overflows/ect. does coriline effect cunsomtion in some way? its a 150g and its been fully stocked for some time now. the odd thing is that everything seems to be running smoothly but only 3-4 of my corals are growing quickly. i was worried that somehow my leathers where not geting enough calcium. My trates are around 15ppm and dropping (thatnks to my new fuge) and my ph/alk/trites/amm. are all perfect. Im just in the need for growth (huh huh) and i had thought that this may be the case somehow.

 

[thomas712]

Ok after starting the kalk drip, and laying off of the b ionic I now have the following test scores;
Alk 2.74
Cal 460
Its been 9 days now.
Needless to say I have added a dose of alkalinity.
I think I have it now were I am dripping just to maintain the evaporation level. I went up to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons per gallon. No vinegar yet.
Thomas

 

[joerdie]

weeeelllllll ok mabey my alk and calcium is off a bit im at 480 on calcium and approx 5.0 on alk. could this be my problem? how can i fix this issue anyway?

 

[joerdie]

i have Not been dripping for a couple of days now and have not seen a change. i normally test weekly but latly ive been getting more into params. so ive been trying to change some things for the better. i just feel like the calc. should be used faster in my tank... but im still new to using kalk. (about three months) so i just need to breath.

 

[thomas712]

AHHHHHHHH. I'm ready to quit. .
For a while I added some alk only to the system. Then let things slide for a week.
Current readings
Alk 2.63
Cal 370
PH 7.73
Kalk mix 1 and 1/2 teaspoons per 1 gallon of RO water.
Open to more suggestions Kip, Broomer5, Bang Guy, any guy, any gal.
Reefs, relaxing they say, watch the pretty fish and calm down they say, reduces blood pressure they say....Yea RIGHT
Thomas

 

[broncofish]

It's OK Thomas take a deep breath. Are you sure your test kits are good? I've had nothing but good luck with using my RO and dripping Kalk a few times a month..so I have no good advice besides, stick with it, and if you need a break you can always send your coral to my 90g on vacation

 

[reefnut]

Have you thought about raising your mag? For some reason I have to keep mine around 1350 to get the cal above 400. Just a thought.

 

[thomas712]

Test kits good, salifert, not outdated. Attitude bad, mine.
Well everthing looks well anyway so I ought to be thankful.
Ok heres the plan. Sammy and Ryan you will be in charge of Ohio, when the pipe from Michigan comes down there you will extend it to Kentucky where a member will see to it that it makes the next leg of the journey down to a Reef off the Florida coast,someone from each state will be in charge, then we can all just pipe up some ocean water on a constant basis.

 

[bang guy]

Reefnut has a good thought.
My thought is that it might be time to start using a saturated solution. Try 2tsp/gallon. You can reuse the Kalk that doesn't dissolve by mixing with your RO water before adding more powder. The next step is vinegar.
You can also always continue to use B-Ionic... you just won't need nearly as much as you used to.
Don't give up yet! You're almost there.

 

[thomas712]

Thanks Bang, Reefnut, I'll double check the Mag
You know what really gets me is the ph, why would it be so low if the kalk has a 12.0+ ph range? Iv'e been dripping 24/7.
Thomas

 

[broncofish]

Definately try the vinegar thing this is what could be happening in your tank........
If you drip too fast or if there is not enough Carbon Dioxide available in the water, your shiny new Bicarbonate ions will be converted to Carbonate ions (a bad thing), like this:
Ca++ + 2(OH-) + 2(HCO3-) <==> Ca++ + 2(CO3--) + 2 H2O
The Carbonate ions formed will make the Ca++ you are trying to add to your tank get wasted by the useless precipitation of Calcium Carbonate -- the white stuff you are seeing.
So, too rapid addition of Kalk may actually cause the Calcium and Alkalinity in your tank to go DOWN instead of UP (a bad thing), like this:
Ca++ + 2(HCO3-) + Ca++ + 2(OH-) <==> 2 CaCO3 + 2 H2O