Kalkwasser - Dose Slurry or clear supernatant (top solution)?

[JCOLE]

I mixed up my kalk with 100ml of vinegar like I used to in the past. After a minute I dump into a 5 gallon bucket and mix with RODI. I did this last night and it looks like this now. It seems to have settled some since last night and probably would be clear by tomorrow or Tuesday.

Thinking of just hooking it up now and go slow. What do you think?

 

[BCSreef]

Perfect. Do you seal the top off after mixing over leave it exposed for a couple hours? When I put a lid on my 5 gallon bucket it takes 2-3 days for it settle to the bottom and run clear at the top. Is yours completely clear before dosing?

I cover the Brute right away. I add an excess of kalk to my RO/Di, so it never really gets totally clear. I just wait and hour or so for the heavy precipitate to settle. I do have to clean out the Brute every 6 months or so.

 

[las]

When I mix up a new batch of kalkwasser, I add more kalk to the tank (without cleaning), pump in RO?DI water and then wait 1-2 hours for the sediment (Ca precipitated by CO2 from the air) to settle. If you use before settling, it doesn't seem to hurt anything, but does make the tank cloudy for hours.

 

[las]

I'll never ever not use kalk. Has to be one of the best supplements to an aquarium.

Wether it's cycling a tank or full stoneys. The benefits like precipitating phosphate and stable ph are well worth the time into kalk dosing. I use two part kalk and calcium reactor. Always started with kalk until I was capped.

And dang- you sure know how to get corals to color up. Amazing colors bud!

 

[Dinukb]

I'll never ever not use kalk. Has to be one of the best supplements to an aquarium.

Wether it's cycling a tank or full stoneys. The benefits like precipitating phosphate and stable ph are well worth the time into kalk dosing. I use two part kalk and calcium reactor. Always started with kalk until I was capped.

Beautiful Tank. How is your Low and High PH with Kalk dosing?

 

[Sabellafella]

Beautiful Tank. How is your Low and High PH with Kalk dosing?

7.9 to 8.4

 

[Midrats]

I add the kalk to the nearly empty reservoir, pump water in to fill/mix it, throw on the lid, and let it settle for a few hours before I switch back on the Litermeter. I never clean the reservoir. It's been working for me like this for close to thirty years. I never understand when people say kalkwasser is such a chore.

 

[JCOLE]

I add the kalk to the nearly empty reservoir, pump water in to fill/mix it, throw on the lid, and let it settle for a few hours before I switch back on the Litermeter. I never clean the reservoir. It's been working for me like this for close to thirty years. I never understand when people say kalkwasser is such a chore.

Yep! Been using it again on a 50ml a min BRS doser over the last 1.5 weeks and loving it so far. I wish i would have never stopped using it.

 

[drawman]

Yep! Been using it again on a 50ml a min BRS doser over the last 1.5 weeks and loving it so far. I wish i would have never stopped using it.

I know it's early but I'll be curious if you notice any changes like acros perking up or an increase in alk demand.

 

[JCOLE]

I know it's early but I'll be curious if you notice any changes like acros perking up or an increase in alk demand.

Absolutely! I have noticed a big difference. For one I can notice daily growth and that matches up with increased alk consumption. I have already had to bump my kalk doser up 4 times and will do again when I return from vacation. The second is I am getting great polyp extension. I usually get great PE anyways but when my pieces like pinky the bear are nice and stringy then I know something is going right!

I have done other things as well over the last couple weeks so I can't contribute it all to kalk but the added buffering and pH increase seems to have a very positive effect.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I ordered a CO2 scrubber and it'll be here this week. I am thinking the same thing as well since I ran it outside. When I dosed Kalk before my pH was higher. The issue I had is I used to use it with my ATO and my alk and calcium wasn't as consistent as it is now. I was just thinking of putting it on my BRS 1.1ml doser and dose 5ml an hour and bump up from there. I don't mind backing off 2 part if I get the results I am looking for.

Just curious on the slurry versus the clear top solution.

BRS has an open box kalk stirrer for sale. I have an avast marine kalk stirrer and I love it

 

[RobB'z Reef]

@JCOLE if you want to dose slurry for big pH gains you will need a container with a pump that is constantly stirring the slurry keeping it suspended. You will also want a doser that doses at a certain rate (ie not too slow but can't remember the flow rate). I would recommend checking out telegraham and mahina_corals on insta. If not, I would just do saturated.

I've been working with that group on slurry dosing. I came up with a method that allows you to dose at low to medium rates (2ml/min and higher). I've documented some of it here, most of us are documenting that journey on IG and YouTube.

Thread 'Kalkwasser Slurry dosing Manifold available for testing' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/kalkwasser-slurry-dosing-manifold-available-for-testing.873606/

 

[Midrats]

Yep! Been using it again on a 50ml a min BRS doser over the last 1.5 weeks and loving it so far. I wish i would have never stopped using it.

I've stopped using it a few times over the years, but always come back to it. I was experimenting with Tropic Marin AFR on my current tank, and while it works well, I need the pH boost kalkwasser provides, especially now that the house is closed up tight for the Winter. I also know Peter Wilkens is looking down and I want to make him proud! Once demand outpaces the kalk I'll supplement with AFR.

 

[drawman]

Absolutely! I have noticed a big difference. For one I can notice daily growth and that matches up with increased alk consumption. I have already had to bump my kalk doser up 4 times and will do again when I return from vacation. The second is I am getting great polyp extension. I usually get great PE anyways but when my pieces like pinky the bear are nice and stringy then I know something is going right!

I have done other things as well over the last couple weeks so I can't contribute it all to kalk but the added buffering and pH increase seems to have a very positive effect.

That's awesome to hear for such a short time. I've been slacking on implementing mine but maybe I can get it going with xmas break coming up.

I've been working with that group on slurry dosing. I came up with a method that allows you to dose at low to medium rates (2ml/min and higher). I've documented some of it here, most of us are documenting that journey on IG and YouTube.

Thread 'Kalkwasser Slurry dosing Manifold available for testing' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/kalkwasser-slurry-dosing-manifold-available-for-testing.873606/

I've been following some of the slurry dosing so I'll have to check it out!

 

[rhostam]

I came here to ponder the same things. I was having slightly different problems. Came across this article that I think you might find interesting (Kalkwasser).

 

[Mr_Knightley]

This thread is making me want to try Kalkwasser! I've run all of my tanks over the years on 2-part from varying brands, with mixed results that were hard to track right. But when I get an ATO set up I may take the plunge and try out Kalk. I'm dosing AFR right now with pretty good results, but costs add up fast with that stuff lol

I had a thought recently. I wonder if a Kalk-like product could be formulated that saturates to normal tank parameters? So, the supplement would saturate in-solution to 8.0 dkh, 45 ppm cal, etc. That way the media could be run in a reactor through the tank, where it would replenish parameters as they were depleted. I don't know if that would be scientifically plausible or cost-effective, but it could be a neat field to explore for any drygoods companies who may be reading this.

 

[JCOLE]

This thread is making me want to try Kalkwasser! I've run all of my tanks over the years on 2-part from varying brands, with mixed results that were hard to track right. But when I get an ATO set up I may take the plunge and try out Kalk. I'm dosing AFR right now with pretty good results, but costs add up fast with that stuff lol

I had a thought recently. I wonder if a Kalk-like product could be formulated that saturates to normal tank parameters? So, the supplement would saturate in-solution to 8.0 dkh, 45 ppm cal, etc. That way the media could be run in a reactor through the tank, where it would replenish parameters as they were depleted. I don't know if that would be scientifically plausible or cost-effective, but it could be a neat field to explore for any drygoods companies who may be reading this.

I say GO FOR IT! Go slow at first and bump up as needed. My tank looked its best when I was running Kalk 24/7 in my ATO. I started back up from a year break and now on a Doser. Tank is responding very well so far. I expect the tank to get back to it's previous glory in no time. I personally think that tanks with a heavy stony bioload benefit greatly from kalk.

 

[JCOLE]

I came here to ponder the same things. I was having slightly different problems. Came across this article that I think you might find interesting (Kalkwasser).

Thanks. Yes, that article is how I started Kalk years ago and continue to use it this way to this day. I always mix it with vinegar first then mix it with my RODI water. It's a win/win.

 

[JCOLE]

That's awesome to hear for such a short time. I've been slacking on implementing mine but maybe I can get it going with xmas break coming up.

 

[JCOLE]

I've stopped using it a few times over the years, but always come back to it. I was experimenting with Tropic Marin AFR on my current tank, and while it works well, I need the pH boost kalkwasser provides, especially now that the house is closed up tight for the Winter. I also know Peter Wilkens is looking down and I want to make him proud! Once demand outpaces the kalk I'll supplement with AFR.

The added pH boost is a huge win for me. My pH probe was off and when I recalibrated it, it was reading very low. My pH is looking much better now. Also thinking of switching from Reef Fusion alk to Soda Ash for the extra pH benefits.