Vinegar in Kalk?

[spicey]

im dripping the calcium hydroxide pickling lime from mrs. wages on the internet for kalkwasser and was wondering if anyone used vinegar to better disolve their kalk since i read that on google or something and it seems to work. otherwise do u guys think i should just go with something else to dose calcium? will the vinegar have negative affects?

 

[reefnut]

Before deciding to try vinegar, I would see if you even need to. If a normal mixture of limewater maintains your calcium/alkalinity levels and doesn't raise your tank's PH to much, then I would see no reason to mess with the vinegar... jmo

 

[spicey]

ok thanks sounds good to me. while using the vinegar though, u dont get any of the white sediment from kalkwasser because it all seems to disolve which was a plus i thought but i suppose its probably silly to mess with it. :happyfish

 

[reefnut]

That's kind of true. You will still get sediment from a saturated solution... just maybe not as much. When using vinegar you need to use a higher grade kalk mix than pickling lime IMO and RO/DI water. Vinegar keeps the PH of the solution lower so you do not get as much precipitation. Precipitation in kalk mix IMO is a good thing. Impurities such as PO4s and heavy metals will fall out of the solution!!
I used vinegar for a while... to be honest I never seen any improvements. The solution will hold a higher concentration of calcium and alkalinity though.
As with everything it has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

[tony detroit]

I think the vinegar is negative on the effects of the kalkwater in the aquarium. I think it is more potent on ions in the tank without being mixed with vinegar.
JMO, unfortunately no documentation to back this up

 

[spicey]

if you go to this link *** Post the article if you wish but not the link Please.***
it talks about how the acetic acid in vinegar adds CO2 to the solution so that more calcium ions are produced instead of the solid white calcium carbonate sediment. seems pretty neat to me perhaps you guys have a different oppinion.

 

[reefnut]

Read it many times...

 

[thomas712]

I use the vinegar, like that it makes my kalk mix clearer after a few hours, then from one mixing container to another for drip, keeps the sediment out of my drip container.
I've read that article many times as well, and taken many words of wisdom from Kip (whom I miss) as well.
Thomas

 

[spicey]

sorry i didnt know u couldnt post links but if u just search on google its right there

 

[solonfairy]

IMO the average tank doesnt need vinegar in the kalk mix. Also your average reefer's husbandry skills arent that they can keep a tank virtually algae free. Vinegar plus algae equals more algae.
Only reasons i would use vinegar:
1. you need to lower the pH of the kalk because your system pH is too high
2. your kalk isnt keeping up with the ca-dkh demand and you need the extra edge (extra edge can be obtained with supplement doses of a CaCl and (bi)carbonate additive system or the next logical upgrade a kalkreactor or even a calcium reactor)
as said, precipitation in your kalk jug is good, especially if you are using mrs wages.
I encourage anyone with at least a 1-2% evaporation rate and a good handfull of corals to drip kalkwasser 24/7. Nothing but good comes from it.

 

[spicey]

hey thanks alot solonfairy, i think i will have to go with your method and i figured it was probably turning into algea food :thinking: so thanks for the info but if u dont mind me askin, how do you drip into your tank since i have to put a big 5 gallon bucket of the ro/di kalk water on a chair next to the tank every other day and drip which looks pretty ghetto and id rather do it 24/7 like u suggested. thanks

 

[solonfairy]

upgrade to a k-reactor

 

[spicey]

ok ive been lookin at calcium reactors and they seem pretty nice, are they the same thing or is there a difference? thanks

 

[solonfairy]

difference
k-reactors use Calcium hydroxide powder (kalkpowder) mix with your fresh top off water and constantly topoff your tank while adding ca and carbonate (dkh). the chamber is sealed so you can add a lot of powder and it stay useful for weeks on end as the internal pumps stirs it up
c-reactors use calcium carbonate media (aragonite) with recycled tank water and carbon dioxide to break down the media into usable ca and carbonate (dkh).
both do nearly the same thing, just a c-reactor does it better as needed for high ca-co3 demand systems (like stony reefs)
a lot of people including myself use them together because a k-reactor raises pH and a c-reactor lowers pH. So, the balance each other out.
a k-reactor is a little better at keeping Ca up and a c-reactor is a little better at keeping dkh up.... another reason to use them in tandem
but a good deal of people can get by with just kalk as long as their systems are evaporating enough water than can be replace with kalk-water each day.
in a nutshell, a k-reactor is just a fancy way to drip kalkwasser

 

[spicey]

ok wow that really cleared that up thanks alot ill have to do alittle more research and see which one i want to get or maybe just stick with regular kalk since my tank evaporates ALOT. thanks for the info ill let ya know what i end up with.