How much does air affect Kalkwasser potency?

[DeputyDog95]

Correct. Kalkwasser isn’t very water soluble, so the insoluble portion will redissolve when adding more water.

There will be some impurities that will precipitate out, so it’s best practice not to dose any undissolved particulates.

Agreed. I let it settle for a few hours after mixing so the water can clear up and I suspend the "pickup" for the solution about 5" off the bottom so it doesn't start sucking sludge.

I noticed my pH got down to 8.26 this morning and quickly realized I had run out of Kalk. Need to do a better job of that, but I get about 25 days at 6k ml/day, so I always forget to check it.

 

[trevorhiller]

Agreed. I let it settle for a few hours after mixing so the water can clear up and I suspend the "pickup" for the solution about 5" off the bottom so it doesn't start sucking sludge.

I noticed my pH got down to 8.26 this morning and quickly realized I had run out of Kalk. Need to do a better job of that, but I get about 25 days at 6k ml/day, so I always forget to check it.

I use the app called Aquarimate for iPhone to keep me on track with maintenance. I just set reminders for all my aquarium tasks and it works really good. Nice app you might want to checkout.

 

[DeputyDog95]

I use the app called Aquarimate for iPhone to keep me on track with maintenance. I just set reminders for all my aquarium tasks and it works really good. Nice app you might want to checkout.

That's a good tip!

I did the "jumper" mod for my DOS that does the 2 part so I can track my gallon containers of Alk and CA in the Apex dash.

I have extra jumpers for the Kalk DOS to do the same thing, just being lazy and haven't done it yet. At about 6500ml per day, I should get close to 25 days.

 

[QuickrdenU]

That's a good tip!

I did the "jumper" mod for my DOS that does the 2 part so I can track my gallon containers of Alk and CA in the Apex dash.

I have extra jumpers for the Kalk DOS to do the same thing, just being lazy and haven't done it yet. At about 6500ml per day, I should get close to 25 days.

Tell me more. It will track how much solution it’s pumped and can be reset? I need to know how to do this!

 

[DeputyDog95]

Tell me more. It will track how much solution it’s pumped and can be reset? I need to know how to do this!

Yep. Pretty easy actually. You just buy the jumpers from Amazon, wire them up, and plug it in. The tile pops up and you can program the volume of your container to anything you want and it'll track it

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/no-ddr-but-want-the-fusion-ddr-tile-no-problem.910828/

 

[DeputyDog95]

Tell me more. It will track how much solution it’s pumped and can be reset? I need to know how to do this!

I keep my Alk and CA in one gallon jugs and don't own a DDR, but the Apex thinks I do

 

[QuickrdenU]

Yep. Pretty easy actually. You just buy the jumpers from Amazon, wire them up, and plug it in. The tile pops up and you can program the volume of your container to anything you want and it'll track it

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/no-ddr-but-want-the-fusion-ddr-tile-no-problem.910828/

Sweet thanks! I never know how much is left in my kalk container and don’t want to open it.

 

[DeputyDog95]

So now I'm adding less and less to my 55g Kalk drum when it's time for a refill. I basically stick a pump in the bottom, let it run for 10-15 mins until the water gets cloudy, and seal the whole thing back up again. All that precipitate on the bottom is still good I guess as I'm not dosing any less to keep my pH up at night.

I was ballparking the container actual volume of Kalk at about 45 gallons (the pickup is about 6 inches or so off the bottom and it fills to about 6 inches from the top) and add 2 teaspoons per gallon (estimating about 6g per tea spoon or about 540g total ) on refills. I'll just keep whipping it up again at refills until I notice there's not much left on the bottom or I'm using way more Kalk at night to keep my targeted pH "floor".

Why waste it? And there's less to clean when it's time to rinse the barrel.