OK To Topoff With Kalkwasser All the Time?

mudplayerx

Active Member
Is it alright to do all of your topoff with kalkwasser mix or will this lead to problems. I was thinking of dosing all the time with a very low dosage.
 

mbowker

Member
as long as you start off with good water, you should be fine. Calcium level will determine how much you need to dose. as far as the powder goes.
 

dogstar

Active Member
As long as your testing your levels and can get a drip amount adjusted properly where you dont end up with too high levels. Even low doses can end up being too high over time if you livestock is not useing/depleating the levels.
 

james983

Member
Your LFS should have mix or you can oder it. Best to set it up with a slow drip so you do not have problems with PH spike.
 

db

Member
I replace all my evaporation with Kalk water mixed at a high concentration. I have a SPS and Clam tank so it's necessary to keep up with the alk and ca consumption. If it's a soft coral tank I don't think you will need to do it all the time.
 

mudplayerx

Active Member
Goto the grocery store and buy "pickling lime" it has near exact ingrediants as kalkwasser, is much cheaper, and has been recommended by mods here.
 

swfreak

Member
Is pickling lime a powder or a juice, and what area would I get it? I've been thinking of dosing kalk, but right now I just add super buffer and calcium whenever it is needed.
 

gregzbobo

Member
Originally Posted by SWFreak
Is pickling lime a powder or a juice, and what area would I get it? I've been thinking of dosing kalk, but right now I just add super buffer and calcium whenever it is needed.
Pickling lime is a white powder, consisting of calcium hydroxide, chemically identical to commercially available aquarium hobbyist kalkwasser mix, although its MUCH cheaper. I would even go so far as to say that perhaps the germans (the pioneers of kalkwasser use) used pickling lime before many manufacturers got into the business of it, but thats just a guess on my part.
 

lepete

Member
Originally Posted by KDFrosty
Can someone recommend a specific brand of pickling lime to use please?
I use Mrs Wage pickling lime for 2 years now... no prob. I just mix mine in the gallon milk container.
 

kdfrosty

Active Member
Do you guys mix the pickling lime with anything besides water before dosing? I've read that several people add a little vinegar. what's your trick?
 

dburr

Active Member
Vinegar will allow the water to hold more kalk in the solution. I would not recomend doing that until you know how your tank is doing with the normal mix.
I dose it as 1 tsp. per 1 gallon of RO/DI.
 

kdfrosty

Active Member
Originally Posted by dburr
Vinegar will allow the water to hold more kalk in the solution. I would not recomend doing that until you know how your tank is doing with the normal mix.
I dose it as 1 tsp. per 1 gallon of RO/DI.
Very good, and thanks for the advice
 

shnabbles

Member
If i didnt want to set up a drip and just wanted to poor some Pickeling Lime "Water" into a gallon of top off water... How much of the pickeling lime water do you think could be added?
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by mudplayerx
Is it alright to do all of your topoff with kalkwasser mix or will this lead to problems. I was thinking of dosing all the time with a very low dosage.
I dose limewater 24/7. It is the only topoff I do.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shnabbles
If i didnt want to set up a drip and just wanted to poor some Pickeling Lime "Water" into a gallon of top off water... How much of the pickeling lime water do you think could be added?
It depends on the amount of available CO2 in the water and how much topoff you're goin to add at once. If you're going to add a full gallon all at once then I'd recommend no more than a pint of saturated limewater.PH is a real problem if you dump limewater directly into the tank. Once PH gets above 8.5 the Calcium and Carbonate you just added will start to precipitate. You could easily end up with a lower Calcium level that what you started with.
 

mudplayerx

Active Member
It is really easy to drip kalk into the tank, even if you don't have fancy equipment. Just set a gallon jug of kalk mix on top of the tank and use a saftey pin to poke a hole in the lower corner of the jug. It will slowly drain over 1-3 hours. Just make sure that you make the pin-hole above the white layer of precipitate on the very bottom of the jug. You do not want that stuff in the tank.
On adding vinegar: I will never do that again. I added only about 10 drops of vinegar into a gallon of kalkwasser mix and I had an alage bloom that lasted a month.
 

kdfrosty

Active Member
Originally Posted by mudplayerx
It is really easy to drip kalk into the tank, even if you don't have fancy equipment. Just set a gallon jug of kalk mix on top of the tank and use a saftey pin to poke a hole in the lower corner of the jug. It will slowly drain over 1-3 hours. Just make sure that you make the pin-hole above the white layer of precipitate on the very bottom of the jug. You do not want that stuff in the tank.
On adding vinegar: I will never do that again. I added only about 10 drops of vinegar into a gallon of kalkwasser mix and I had an alage bloom that lasted a month.
Great, thanks for the tips, Mud.
 
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