Kalkwasser container

[GSnake]

Hey,
I wanted to reimplement kalk into my tank.
I was wondering if I could use a 5 gallon aquarium that's laying around safely with kalk. My concern were the silicone seals, and the kalk sludge on the bottom.

When I first started kalk I had it in a 4l water bottle, on two occasions the kalk sludge eroded the bottom of the bottles and it became paper thin, eventually cracking and leaking. I then used a WC bucket which worked well.

Space wise the tank would work better in my current setup, or are high density hard plastics/acrylics our only reliable option. Alternative options im looking at on amazon now is a hdpe 5gal jug or an acrylic dosing container.

I will be implementing kalk through a doser this time around

 

[Bo.]

I'd assume it will be fine as it gets put into glass aquariums with silicone seals all the time

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, it should be fine.

The main material that we use that is not fine at high pH is polycarbonate.

 

[GSnake]

Ok, im making room for a kalk tank then.

Another question about kalk..
Im Using esv b ionic nitrate supplement (calcium nitrate) right now in my fourth doser which will be kalk soon. Can I combine nitrate solution and kalkwasser saturated solution with no I'll effects ? ( what about phosphate supplement or acropower too, and all these combined?).

Thanks

 

[Bo.]

Personally, I don't combine anything unless the manufacturer explicitly states to because I am not anywhere close to a chemist... despite what my kids say when it's water testing day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok, im making room for a kalk tank then.

Another question about kalk..
Im Using esv b ionic nitrate supplement (calcium nitrate) right now in my fourth doser which will be kalk soon. Can I combine nitrate solution and kalkwasser saturated solution with no I'll effects ? ( what about phosphate supplement or acropower too, and all these combined?).

Thanks

The nitrate itself is no concern, and sodium nitrate would be fine. But calcium of any type will depress the solubility of the calcium hydroxide.

Thus, if you are making a saturated solution, it will be a little less potent. But you wouldn't be adding much, and the effect won't be large, especially since the nitrate dosing will add alk anyway.

Phosphate cannot be put into calcium solutions. Calcium phosphate will precipitate.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Personally, I don't combine anything unless the manufacturer explicitly states to because I am not anywhere close to a chemist... despite what my kids say when it's water testing day.

lol

If a manufacturer tells us what is in a product, we can make such determinations. Unfortunately, some leave their products as a secret recipe.

 

[GSnake]

lol

If a manufacturer tells us what is in a product, we can make such determinations. Unfortunately, some leave their products as a secret recipe.

That is the reason I bought aquaforest amino and aquaforest vitality (vitamin mix) this week. Because they gave full disclosure. I asked red sea earlier this week about reef energy ingredients and it's a secret lol. They also indicate you can mix their trace mix with alk/cal/mg solutions which is convenient.

So if I mixed a little of the nitrate solution with a half saturated mix of kalk.. it should not interfere with the solubility much I imagine.
(These instructions say 1-2 tsp per gallon, therefore I can use just one and should be ok...not to be wasteful)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So if I mixed a little of the nitrate solution with a half saturated mix of kalk.. it should not interfere with the solubility much I imagine.
(These instructions say 1-2 tsp per gallon, therefore I can use just one and should be ok...not to be wasteful)

That's correct.