Becoming a first-time kalk user. Help!

NoStRaThOmAs · Aug 4, 2015

Randy, what brand of kalk are you using?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 4, 2015

At the moment I use BRS.

For many years I used a 50 pound bag of Mississippi Lime Company quicklime (CaO) that my local reef club got in a group buy.

Mattyice008 · Aug 10, 2015

All alk and calc levels are still staying stable @ 9.0dKh/425. Stayed the same from Friday. pH levels are still staying low...now testing around 7.6...starting to get on my nerves!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 11, 2015

Sorry, I didn't reread the whole thread. Have you tried the aeration test I describe here:

Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

from it:

The Aeration Test

Some of the possibilities listed above require some effort to diagnose. Problems 3 and 4 are quite common, and here is a way to distinguish them. Remove a cup of tank water and measure the pH. Then aerate it for an hour with an airstone using outside air. The pH should rise if the pH is unusually low for the measured alkalinity, as in Figure 3 (if it does not rise, most likely one of the measurements (pH or alkalinity) is in error). Then repeat the same experiment on a new cup of water using inside air. If the pH rises there too, then the aquarium pH will rise with more aeration because it is only the aquarium that contains excess carbon dioxide. If the pH does not rise inside (or rises very little), then the inside air contains excess CO2, and more aeration with that same air will not solve the low pH problem (although aeration with fresher air should).

Mattyice008 · Aug 11, 2015

I read up on that before, I'll see if I can test it out today.

Mattyice008 · Aug 18, 2015

Hey Randy, I am considering trying out some chemipure elite in my filter basket, my phosphates and nitrates are above average, too high for comfort. Will it have any negative effects with the kalk?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 20, 2015

Mattyice008 said:
Hey Randy, I am considering trying out some chemipure elite in my filter basket, my phosphates and nitrates are above average, too high for comfort. Will it have any negative effects with the kalk?

No, that combination will be fine.

Mattyice008 · Aug 20, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
No, that combination will be fine.

Ok thanks Randy. I'm noticing all great results since starting the kalk, almost finished with the 5 gallons of topoff that I originally dosed kalk with, and I plan on upping the dose a little in the next one

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 20, 2015

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

tom39 · Aug 21, 2015

Great thread! Would have loved to have this info 2 years ago when I first started using kalk. Would have saved me a lot of time and trouble.

s2nhle · Aug 21, 2015

Great thread. Thank you for the information sharing.

Flameback Pair · Oct 19, 2017

@Randy, can I use kalkwasser on my 10 month old tank using a kalk reactor I already have. I don't have much calcium/alkalinity demand but won't it precipitate out if there's too much? Here's some specs: Red Sea Reefer 250, 54 gallon display, 11 gallon sump, 50 pounds pukani rock, 15 to 20 pounds aragonite sand, 3 fish, 3 corals. Or should I get a kalk dripper?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 19, 2017

powers2001 said:
@Randy, can I use kalkwasser on my 10 month old tank using a kalk reactor I already have. I don't have much calcium/alkalinity demand but won't it precipitate out if there's too much? Here's some specs: Red Sea Reefer 250, 54 gallon display, 11 gallon sump, 50 pounds pukani rock, 15 to 20 pounds aragonite sand, 3 fish, 3 corals. Or should I get a kalk dripper?

I'm not certain what sort of precipitation you are asking about, but you can generally use limewater on most any tank, but it may be true that some reactors will be hard to adjust to deliver very low levels. .

Do you want to use the reactor as an ATO, or on a timer, or what?

bif24701 · Oct 20, 2017

@Randy Holmes-Farley,
After some time the settlement of the bottom of my 32 Brute builds up and will not dissolve to be dosed. Does this not occur in a reactor? Is the Kalk in a reactor as soluble as dry Kalk in the same water?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 20, 2017

bif24701 said:
@Randy Holmes-Farley,
After some time the settlement of the bottom of my 32 Brute builds up and will not dissolve to be dosed. Does this not occur in a reactor? Is the Kalk in a reactor as soluble as dry Kalk in the same water?

The solids are a mix of dissolvable calcium hydroxide, and undissolvable calcium carbonate.

In a reactor, people periodically clean it out.

bif24701 · Oct 20, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The solids are a mix of dissolvable calcium hydroxide, and undissolvable calcium carbonate.

In a reactor, people periodically clean it out.

So either implementation (reactor or large reservoir) will end up with about the same amount of settlement?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 21, 2017

bif24701 said:
So either implementation (reactor or large reservoir) will end up with about the same amount of settlement?

The settled material comes from insoluble impurities in the sodium calcium hydroxide (such as magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate), from reaction of the calcium hydroxide with CO2 in the source water to form insoluble calcium carbonate, and from the entry of CO2 in the air to the liquid to form calcium carbonate.

How much of the latter you get will depend on the exact setup, but may be less with reactors if they are closed well.

Flameback Pair · Nov 6, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'm not certain what sort of precipitation you are asking about, but you can generally use limewater on most any tank, but it may be true that some reactors will be hard to adjust to deliver very low levels. .

Do you want to use the reactor as an ATO, or on a timer, or what?

When calcium and bicarbonate reach a point of concentration don't they combine and precipatate? When Kalkwasser is dripped into the tank?

I want to try limewater with a reactor and ATO. The ATO pump would be a slow drip peristaltic pump. So does low Calcium and Alkalinity demand cause a problem of too much limewater if I dose as described? I do few water changes.

Flameback Pair · Nov 11, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 11, 2017

powers2001 said:
When calcium and bicarbonate reach a point of concentration don't they combine and precipatate? When Kalkwasser is dripped into the tank?

I want to try limewater with a reactor and ATO. The ATO pump would be a slow drip peristaltic pump. So does low Calcium and Alkalinity demand cause a problem of too much limewater if I dose as described? I do few water changes.

All seawater is poised to precipitate calcium carbonate. Limewater will tend to boost this process by raising the pH.

There's certainly no problem with low dosing limewater from a reservoir, but a reactor might be hard to control the actual dose. A stirrer on a timer might be able to do it.