Mixing salt into kalk

[Daddy-o]

Hi All,
I have been running Kalkwasser through my topoff for a couple of years and now I am at the 2 tsp. per gallon of R/O limit and my reef needs a bit more. Can I mix a teaspoon or 2 of kalk into a 5 gallon bucket of R/O and then use this mix to make my salt water?
Cheers! Mark

 

[JimWelsh]

No.

 

[Dan_P]

Hi All,
I have been running Kalkwasser through my topoff for a couple of years and now I am at the 2 tsp. per gallon of R/O limit and my reef needs a bit more. Can I mix a teaspoon or 2 of kalk into a 5 gallon bucket of R/O and then use this mix to make my salt water?
Cheers! Mark

No. Kalkwasser is very basic and will precipitate the magnesium and calcium.

Consider adding vinegar to the RO water to increase the amount of calcium in solution. This would also introduce a small amount of organic carbon, making this a weak carbon dosing solution. The more popular approach is to dose calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate separately.