Vinegar in Kalk - Should I?

[JCOLE]

I have used kalk in my top off water for almost a year now with great results. Keeps my levels and pH at consistent levels. I have read the positives of adding vinegar to kalk. I mixed up my first 5 gallon reservoir of kalk a couple days ago with around 8ml of vinegar. My reservoir is about to run out and I am going to put the vinegar mix online.

I have a concern as the system has been running great for a couple months minus a brief stent of dinos and I don't want to switch to this method if there could be any issues.

Does anyone see an issue with this?

 

[Daddy-o]

I dose vinegar with my kalk. I currently dose 150ml to 5g R/O and 10tsp kalk. I have dosed as much as 300ml per 5 gallons without any issues.
Cheers! Mark

 

[JCOLE]

I dose vinegar with my kalk. I currently dose 150ml to 5g R/O and 10tsp kalk. I have dosed as much as 300ml per 5 gallons without any issues.
Cheers! Mark

Wow! I read not to exceed 30ml. What is your total water volume?

 

[Daddy-o]

Wow! I read not to exceed 30ml. What is your total water volume?

At the time I was dosing 300ml per 5g, I figured that my reef was getting 1ml per gallon of tank water per day. Where did hear 30ml? was that a reference to how much vinegar to add to you kalk so that you can mix 3tsp per gallon instead of only 2?
Cheers! Mark

 

[html]

At the time I was dosing 300ml per 5g, I figured that my reef was getting 1ml per gallon of tank water per day. Where did hear 30ml? was that a reference to how much vinegar to add to you kalk so that you can mix 3tsp per gallon instead of only 2?
Cheers! Mark

How often do you dose vinegar?

 

[JCOLE]

At the time I was dosing 300ml per 5g, I figured that my reef was getting 1ml per gallon of tank water per day. Where did hear 30ml? was that a reference to how much vinegar to add to you kalk so that you can mix 3tsp per gallon instead of only 2?
Cheers! Mark

I went back and reread the article and they mention not to exceed 30ml per "quart" which would be 600ml per 5 gallons. I thought it was 30ml per gallon.

From the article incase anyone is interested.
Some words of caution, especially for any reefkeeping newbies out there -- If you are using Vinegar in your Kalk mix for the first time, I'd start off with 5 ml per quart at first. If you find you still need to get more Calcium into your tank per unit Kalkwasser, work up over a couple of weeks to a max of 12-15 ml per quart (the stoichiometric amount for Carbonate as recommended by Craig Bingman), or if you are feeling brave or really need lots of extra Calcium and de-Nitrate action as I do, a max of 24-30 ml (the stoichiometric amount for Bicarbonate, which I use).

Link to article
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have used kalk in my top off water for almost a year now with great results. Keeps my levels and pH at consistent levels. I have read the positives of adding vinegar to kalk. I mixed up my first 5 gallon reservoir of kalk a couple days ago with around 8ml of vinegar. My reservoir is about to run out and I am going to put the vinegar mix online.

I have a concern as the system has been running great for a couple months minus a brief stent of dinos and I don't want to switch to this merhod if there could be any issues.

Does anyone see an issue with this?

Even though I dosed both, I do not like to combine them as I want to control the timing and amount of each independently. But if the goal is to get more calcium hydroxide to dissolve, it is ok to mix them.

 

[JCOLE]

Even though I dosed both, I do not like to combine them as I want to control the timing and amount of each independently. But if the goal is to get more calcium hydroxide to dissolve, it is ok to mix them.

Yes, thank you. The reason I wanted to start adding Vinegar was to get more out of my Kalk and also add a carbon source for my bacteria. I guess at only 7ml for 5 gallons I probably won't notice anything anyways. I will start low and slow for awhile.

 

[Daddy-o]

How often do you dose vinegar?

It doses all day/night through my ATO. I like this better than dumping it in several times a day as I think it helps keep a constant food source for the bacterial colonies that are growing in my reef. I am also at my max of 2 tsp. kalk per gallon of R/O and the vinegar helps it dissolve better and leaves me the option to add more kalk if needed.
Cheers! Mark