Dissolving kalk in vinegar.?

GrampaDon · Feb 3, 2015

I use kalk in my ATO and sometimes add vinegar. But I read that it's best when using both to dissolve kalk in the vinegar first.
Well I tried it using 1 cup vinegar / 1/3 cup kalk. I barely stirred it and waited for 1/2 hr. It seemed to dissolve most of the kalk.

So can someone better explain about this. Such as how much to stir? and how long does it take to dissolve all the kalk before adding it to the RO.?

The ATO is 14gal and the kalk used is the BRS brand.

GrampaDon · Feb 8, 2015

Tried again. Except this time I waited 4hrs and got the same results. So I poured off the clear top 2/3 into my ATO and added another 1/2 cup vinegar to the remaining kalk. And bamm it was instantly gone.
It seems like a ratio thing that I picked up from rereading Randy's recipe in What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
I was trying to avoid using to much vinegar for fear it may cause problems. But also wanted to dissolve kalk better so it's not laying at the bottom of my ATO.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 8, 2015

There's no reason or advantage to dissolve the calcium hydroxide in vinegar first. It all ends up the same. But it is fine to do so, if you want.

Personally, I wouldn't be mixing vinegar into limewater unless you have determined that normal full strength limewater is not enough to satisfy the tank alkalinity needs.

You will likely end up with some solids (such as calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide) on the bottom of the ATO no matter how you make it, but that is generally not a concern. I leave mine untouched for years at a time.

heathd.hd · Feb 17, 2015

wait why not mix the vinegar in with the water?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 17, 2015

heathd.hd said:
wait why not mix the vinegar in with the water?

You can, but I do not because I want to control the vinegar and limewater delivery amounts and times independently. For example, I do not want to dose vinegar at night when O2 and pH are already lowest.