Foam in kalk

[Heabel7]

I developed a skin on my kalk very fast. I would like to implement a foam top that floats in the kalk like ACI aquaculture does. Can I use the standard pink foam at menards/Home Depot?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I developed a skin on my kalk very fast. I would like to implement a foam top that floats in the kalk like ACI aquaculture does. Can I use the standard pink foam at menards/Home Depot?

Do you have a link?

I just used a closed Brute can and it was fine for a month or more.

 

[Heabel7]

Home Depot link
I use a 20 gallon brute with lid on. It runs out of liquid in about 2 weeks. I usually get a skin on it after only a couple days and it starts to lose saturation noticeably over the 2 week period. Rather my overnight low will change as I dose. Usually 8.16ish at end of container. It will rise with new mixed kalk to 8.2 or better in a few days and then slowly go back to 8.16ish. If that makes sense. I read your article and thought it to be odd that it loses saturation so rapidly. I tried 3 different brands of kalk thinking maybe one would be better than the other. No measurable change. I do have a small home with 5 people and a dog. I thought my in home co2 may be just too high.

Prior to kalk and skimmer line running outside my overnight lows would get down in the 7.6s.

 

[Heabel7]

Do you have a link?

I just used a closed Brute can and it was fine for a month or more.

What’s your thoughts?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What’s your thoughts?

My experience is that a Brute can help potency for longer than yours, even if only half saturated to begin with. It might be CO2 in your home, or something different than depletion of the kalkwasser that is causing the effect you see.

The Degradation of Limewater in Air - Reefkeeping.com

Figure 2. The conductivity of the limewater in my dosing reservoir as a function of time.