kalk question

surfn · Feb 28, 2008

is it normal for a crusty layer of solids to form on the surface of freshwater for topoff?

mixed at 1tsp/gallon of water? just curious...its less than saturated...so i thought this was odd.

revhtree · Feb 28, 2008

I always got a crusty film. I always heard that when you know it's right! LOL!

twon8 · Feb 28, 2008

it's forming calcium carbonate, and sealing it off from air, preserving the potentcy of the limewater.

how do you like the new container?

chadfarmer · Feb 28, 2008

thats normal

surfn · Feb 29, 2008

twon8 said:
it's forming calcium carbonate, and sealing it off from air, preserving the potentcy of the limewater.

how do you like the new container?

its nice, i have it stashed into a corner out of the way. i haven't started dosing the kalk yet, i was waiting for pH probe to get here so i could keep an eye on that. was really just curious about what my pH initially was...just in case adding those frag plugs was messing it up.

Azurel · Feb 29, 2008

The crust is normal like they said, what you want to make sure now is that you use the clear water between the sediment and the crust....The PH of the limewater should be about a PH of 12 from the stuff I have read......

surfn · Mar 9, 2008

so, if i disturb the surface too much, that calcium carbonate won't re-dissolve...correct?

just curious, b/c i can't seem to keep my alk up even though the top off water *should* be at 2tsp of kalk per gallon of RO/DI water.

any suggestions? should i just add more kalk? but if i add more kalk, i'll need to mix it up to get it dissolve...thus disturbing that crusty surface.

J. Montgomery · Mar 9, 2008

I keep a 5 gallon container of limewater in my stand. Since I can't really get into it underneath the stand, I refill it using a 2 gallon container and a piece of tubing.

I add RO/DI water to the 2 gallon, throw in 1 Tbsp of lime and then whisk it until everything is dissolved. I then pour the limewater into my larger reservoir. Once its in the reservoir I don't touch it. I have to refill about once a week.

Are you mixing it any at all?

surfn · Mar 9, 2008

what i initially was doing when i first filled up the 37g resevior......was to dissolve 10tspn of kalk in 5g of ro/di water in a 5g bucket and mix it up, then dump the bucket into the 37g.....thus disturbing that crusty surface every day as i only made about 5g per day.

so basically, b/c i keep disturbing that crusty surface, am i messing up the potency of kalk solution?

revhtree · Mar 9, 2008

No your not. Most kalk reactors actually stir the kalk up at pre set times. It's actually good IMO to mix it up every once and a while, but you dont want your tank to top off before it has settled once again.

twon8 · Mar 9, 2008

you can add more kalk, and yes, you will lose some calcium carbonate which will settle out at the bottom. but kalk is cheap, so nothing really lost dollar wise.

i just dump way more kalk than i need to make sure it's saturated.

surfn · Mar 9, 2008

so that film of calcium carbonate that forms on the surface can re-dissolve?

twon8 · Mar 9, 2008

surfn said:
so that film of calcium carbonate that forms on the surface can re-dissolve?

no, but in the scheme of things it's really not much to worry about

J. Montgomery · Mar 9, 2008

My top off pump routinely adds precipitate into my tank when I refill the reservoir. No problem.

bamachamp92 · Mar 9, 2008

Hey Guys A Quick Question While We Are Talking About Top Off Water, I Have A 320 Gallon Reef, My Ro Water Ph Is About 9.6 Is This Normal, This Is The First Time That I Have Checked This And It Shocked Me A Little Thought You Guys Might Know.

surfn · Mar 9, 2008

bamachamp92 said:
Hey Guys A Quick Question While We Are Talking About Top Off Water, I Have A 320 Gallon Reef, My Ro Water Ph Is About 9.6 Is This Normal, This Is The First Time That I Have Checked This And It Shocked Me A Little Thought You Guys Might Know.

definitely not normal, was is the pH of your tap water?

bamachamp92 · Mar 9, 2008

Ill Go Check Be Back In A Minute

JuniorMC8704 · Mar 9, 2008

Kalk will only dissolve to a certain point given the amount of freshwater available. This is how a kalk reactor works, and why in the reactor you just dump a bunch in, and it dissolves more as needed. Its a good practice to cover your kalk water container as much as possible to extend the life of it. I have been told also, that you do not want to mix more than 5 days worth of kalk water at a time, as it can go bad beyond that time line. I found shortly after deciding to top off with kalk water, that it was too much of pain will all the mixing, and stirring, and rinsing, and making new batches etc, that i got a kalk reactor. Even going with a GEO, it wasn't very expensive, comparing to that of a calcium reactor, or other high end equipment. It really makes things a lot simpler.

Also, its important to know that you need to draw water from your kalk reservoir from a couple inches off the bottom, and not allow it to pull from the very bottom. A slurry of undissolved kalk will collect there, and can cause major spikes if sucked up and added to your tank. You can simply build a small egg crate stand if need be.

bamachamp92 · Mar 9, 2008

Al, My Tap Water Right Now Is 8.35

JuniorMC8704 · Mar 9, 2008

sounds like you test kit, or PH meter is off...i just dont see how thats possible...most of us cant keep water at 8.3+ with kalk top off, and buffers...