Question about dripping kalk....

[dutch06]

Ok, so I tried to drip kalk yesterday for the first time.
Two teaspoons into a bucket with a gallon of RO water. Stirred it for about two minutes. Put lid on bucket and let it sit for two hours. After two hours, I placed bucket above sump and started the drip. Fearing a huge PH increase, I put the drip rate about one drop every three or four seconds. Checked it before bed, still dripping, checked it when I got up, still dripping, checked it when I got home, still dripping. No problems.
So I open the bucket to see how much is gone, it was virtually nothing. Like maybe less than an inch out of the bucket. It also had a white crusty film on top. Almost like milk that has set out for a few days.
1. How fast is your drip rate? Shouldn't I be dripping almost the entire gallon in a 21 hour period?
2. The white surface on the kalk, is this normal? I have a tiny hole cut into the lid with just enough room to put the drip tube in but I'm sure a small amout of oxygen is getting in the bucket. Does this make it unusable?
Thank you for your help.

 

[nacl freak]

bump

 

[eklikewhoa]

I add kalk to my top off water and dose it that way....the white film is normal and if you add a lot of kalk you will get sediment build up at the bottom.
I tested so that I only add what I evap throughout the week so lets say I evap a gal. a day.....I add enough kalk to keep the parameters stable for that day diluted into a gal. worth of water.
Right now I am using 7tsp. in 5g of water.
If you are dripping I would test after lights come on and right before lights go out. Having parameters saved for what it was during those times before the use of kalk would help a great deal too.
forgot to mention....
I use a 5g water transport jug, sealed with the breather hole drill out to fit perfectly around airline tubing(actually polyurethane) and moved from top off tank to sump via Aqualifter pump and controlled by JBJ ATO which is controlled by RK2.
For mixing I use a FraggleReef nano powerhead(250gph) to mix overnight and sit a few hours before using. Sealed with ziploc bag and rubber band while mixing.

 

[hurt]

I drip between 1.5 and 2 gallons of Kalk in my tank daily through my ATO. Which is at least a drop a second. When my fans are on it drips close to 2 drops a second I'd say. Before I got my Ca reactor my tank pH was never above 8.5. With my Ca reactor it's around 8.1 typically. In your tank I'm guessing you probably top off about 2-3 gallons a day? So I'd say you should be at least at a drop a second.
The white film is normal, as is the white precipitate at the bottom of the jug, those are the impurities left over from the Kalkwasser. Just try not to suck the precipitate at bottom into your kalk drip.

 

[dutch06]

Thanks Hurt.
Yes, I top off about 2-3 gallons a day. I got the drip rate to about one a second and I'm able to drip about 3/4 a gallon in around 12 hours. Do you think I should prepare a second bucket to drip in the morning to get somewhere around a gallon and 1/2 a day?
I was going to try it with just the 3/4 gallon for three days then test everything to see where I was at.

 

[aztec reef]

The amount of kalk-water that you drip-add daily, doesn't change what changes is the amount of kalk mix that u use in your potion. depending if your tank is loaded with animals/corals or just a few..
Also do you know the right amount of water that gets evaporated daily?

 

[hurt]

He actually will not change the amount of Kalkwasser in solution. He has a high demand SPS tank, and therefore he has to dose saturated Kalkwasser 24/7 to help keep his levels up. In a low demand tank the amount of Kalkwasser added to solution will vary.
Dutch, I'd wouldn't worry about dripping it so slowly. All of your top off water should be saturated Kalkwasser. Which means 2-3 gallons daily. Just make sure your drip rate keeps up with the level in your return pump chamber in your sump. You shouldn't have to dose quiet as much B Ionic now.
Copy and Paste:
"On larger tanks, 125 gallons and up, 5 gallons of make-up water will not have as much of an effect as it will in smaller tanks. For a 125-gallon tank, the Kalkwasser can be added at the rate of approximately 5 gallons in 8 to 12 hours. In a 200-gallon or larger tank, the 5 gallons can be added without any clamping system, allowing the airline tube to empty the 5-gallon bucket unrestricted. This will take less than 1 hour."

 

[dutch06]

1. Sounds like I need a bigger bucket.
2. Can you give me the link to where you got that quote from? Either here or shoot me an e-mail.
Thanks, E

 

[hurt]

You can use an old 5 gallon salt mix bucket if you have the space for it.
E-copy and paste the quotes in google and it will come up.