How Do you Dose Kalk In Your Tank?
- Thread starter Reed639
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mjaustin22
Active Member
I use an aqua medic kalk stirrer hooked to my ato, I find it easier than mixing buckeys of kalk.
harlequinreefer
Active Member
I like dosing it both ways you're asking about; through a kalkreactor/stirrer then hooked up to topoff.
Devonjevon
Active Member
Don't forget when using kalksweiser either in ATO or Kalk stirrer that the water temp in your storage container stays consistent through out the year. This is really important with smaller tanks or tanks that have an ato directly in or near the main display. Fall or spring months are of special concern. During these months it's often cold in the mornings and hot in the afternoon. Last week in Nashville it was like 40 degree in morning and about 75+ in the afternoon. So if your auto top off doesn't have a heater or located in your crawl space like mine, you would be surprised at the ph difference. pH of calcium hydroxide and temp of the water are inversely proportionate. The pH is substantially higher at lower temperature. At your normal tank temp of 77 degrees. Fahrenheit the pH of normal (not super saturated) kalksweiser is 12.54. The pH of kalksweiser at 40 degrees is 13.1+
So with that said in an unregulated storage tank, The ph of kalksweiser last week (in Nashville ) would be 5.1 times higher in the morning then the afternoon.(if the math in my head is right) In our world stability is the key to a thriving reef tank. It is literally like going from adding something with ph of ammonia which is already hi (basic) to adding something with the ph of lye.
As a side note I hyper/super saturate my limewater with vinegar which helps in 2 ways. 1) Increases the amount of calcium hydroxide that can be dissolved per gallon 2) Reduce the pH slightly. (There are disadvantage to this method as well)
Who woulda thought 4 years of college chemistry would pay off at 1 am in the morning to answer this thread.
So with that said in an unregulated storage tank, The ph of kalksweiser last week (in Nashville ) would be 5.1 times higher in the morning then the afternoon.(if the math in my head is right) In our world stability is the key to a thriving reef tank. It is literally like going from adding something with ph of ammonia which is already hi (basic) to adding something with the ph of lye.
As a side note I hyper/super saturate my limewater with vinegar which helps in 2 ways. 1) Increases the amount of calcium hydroxide that can be dissolved per gallon 2) Reduce the pH slightly. (There are disadvantage to this method as well)
Who woulda thought 4 years of college chemistry would pay off at 1 am in the morning to answer this thread.
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Akwarius
2500 Club Member
Great explanation Devonjevon! I always wondered if supersaturating kalk with vinegar contributed the same proportion of "carbon dosing" as vinegar used alone. I wouldnt want to create a nasty bacterial bloom by overdosing.
creefer
Valuable Member
Great explanation. The whole reason I use Kalk for top off is to assist in maintaining pH. I was struggling to maintain pH anywhere above 7.7 with 2-part alone. Once I moved to kalk, I'm able to maintain 8-8.1. On my new system, I'm ultimately going to implement a kalk stirrer for better control. Thanks also for the note regarding the effect of temperature on the pH of the limewater mix. I had not considered that.
Devonjevon
Active Member
Exactly that is the main disadvantage. It will increase bacteria population and can result in a bloom if it's overdosed. Another disadvantage is that the higher bacteria population can reduce oxygen level. I run ozone so that helps eliminate both these issues. But may not be practical for everyone.
Spsfan
Community Member
I do it with both my jbj ato feeds the two lil fishes kalk stirrer an pours strait into the sump
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