KALKWASSER DOSING - Looking for real information

[DarthChaos]

Afternoon,

Ok - I'm looking for some definitive information.

Kalkwasser dosing - HOW MUCH do you use?

I want saturated.....but Im seeing information ranging from 350ml of powder to 3 gallons of water........TO 1 teaspoon per gallon.

Now....maybe I'm dumb, but that's a ***** of a difference!

I "was" dosing the slurry (350mls) - mixing with powerhead constantly and was dosing upwards of 500mls/day. Ph....wasn't moving.

Now, I've said ok...and hit the reset button. Went to 1 teaspoon per gallon (3g of water again - so, 3 teaspoons) - mixed for 15mins and left it. Dosing 200 mls/day.....and nothing.

I want the most potent mix I can get (obviously). I'm in Canada and am running the airline off my skimmer. During the warmer months...this was bringing my pH up. Now that it's colder - pH has stalled out. Kalk dosing....isnt doing squat for me.

What am I missing?

I've read quite a few posts on here - theres YouTube videos - but information again, varies. Which is it?!?!

It can be 3 tablespoons to 3 gallons & 350mls to 3 gallons....that just makes zero sense.

Any input? Advice?!?!
...

 

[DarthChaos]

During summer - windows are open and more fresh air. Obviously making a bigger impact to Ph. Not running scrubber...and even my skimmer airline - not seeing as much bubbling.

Gonna clean skimmer and check airline for any clogs/salt creep. Maybe got a blockage, thus effecting pH too.

 

[Garf]

Afternoon,

Ok - I'm looking for some definitive information.

Kalkwasser dosing - HOW MUCH do you use?

I want saturated.....but Im seeing information ranging from 350ml of powder to 3 gallons of water........TO 1 teaspoon per gallon.

Now....maybe I'm dumb, but that's a ***** of a difference!

I "was" dosing the slurry (350mls) - mixing with powerhead constantly and was dosing upwards of 500mls/day. Ph....wasn't moving.

Now, I've said ok...and hit the reset button. Went to 1 teaspoon per gallon (3g of water again - so, 3 teaspoons) - mixed for 15mins and left it. Dosing 200 mls/day.....and nothing.

I want the most potent mix I can get (obviously). I'm in Canada and am running the airline off my skimmer. During the warmer months...this was bringing my pH up. Now that it's colder - pH has stalled out. Kalk dosing....isnt doing squat for me.

What am I missing?

I've read quite a few posts on here - theres YouTube videos - but information again, varies. Which is it?!?!

It can be 3 tablespoons to 3 gallons & 350mls to 3 gallons....that just makes zero sense.

Any input? Advice?!?!
...

Is your Alkalinity climbing?

 

[markwayts]

Afternoon,

Ok - I'm looking for some definitive information.

Kalkwasser dosing - HOW MUCH do you use?

I want saturated.....but Im seeing information ranging from 350ml of powder to 3 gallons of water........TO 1 teaspoon per gallon.

Now....maybe I'm dumb, but that's a ***** of a difference!

I "was" dosing the slurry (350mls) - mixing with powerhead constantly and was dosing upwards of 500mls/day. Ph....wasn't moving.

Now, I've said ok...and hit the reset button. Went to 1 teaspoon per gallon (3g of water again - so, 3 teaspoons) - mixed for 15mins and left it. Dosing 200 mls/day.....and nothing.

I want the most potent mix I can get (obviously). I'm in Canada and am running the airline off my skimmer. During the warmer months...this was bringing my pH up. Now that it's colder - pH has stalled out. Kalk dosing....isnt doing squat for me.

What am I missing?

I've read quite a few posts on here - theres YouTube videos - but information again, varies. Which is it?!?!

It can be 3 tablespoons to 3 gallons & 350mls to 3 gallons....that just makes zero sense.

Any input? Advice?!?!
...

How big is your tank. My stocked 55 takes almost 4 liters of kalwasser at 2 tsp per gallon a day to keep up with alk demand. Ph certainly goes up at those levels. Since that vastly outpaces evap I dose 2000ml a day kalk and 40 ml a day carbocalcium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well, you can to the correct forum for chemical information.

There's an exact weight amount of calcium hydroxide (1.5 g/L) or calcium oxide (1.14 g/L) that will dissolve in water at a fixed temperature, but for most purposes, 2 teaspoons of calcium hydroxide per gallon of fresh water is about the solubility limit at 25 deg C.

Kalkwasser cannot necessarily override high CO2 in your home air. It, and other measures, can help, but are not a panacea.

Adding 1.25% of the tank volume in saturated limewater all at once will boost pH by about 0.6 to 0.7 pH units, but sprea d it out and the boost is much lower because the tank pulls in CO2.

This calculator will shows the alk and calcium from any given volume of saturated limewater (kalkwasser):

Reef Chemistry Calculator

And these have all the chemistry you'd ever want to know about limewater/kalkwasser:

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

The Degradation of Limewater in Air - Reefkeeping.com

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Metals In Limewater

This article expands on the basis of the claim that limewater may be able to deliver lower quantities of some metals compared to calcium reactors and it also provides some experimental data that demonstrates this claim.

reefs.com

Aquarium Chemistry: Magnesium And Strontium In Limewater

Because of a potential imbalance between the amount of magnesium and strontium used by corals, and the amount delivered by limewater, using limewater can potentially lead to depletion of both ions in aquaria.

reefs.com

 

[DarthChaos]

How big is your tank. My stocked 55 takes almost 4 liters of kalwasser at 2 tsp per gallon a day to keep up with alk demand. Ph certainly goes up at those levels. Since that vastly outpaces evap I dose 2000ml a day kalk and 40 ml a day carbocalcium.

Sorry....should have mentioned that.

I'm on a Red Sea 350 (90g system). I have a fellow reefer....identical tank - how I came to the slurry at 350ml for 3g a RO.

 

[DarthChaos]

Is your Alkalinity climbing?

Initially, yes.

The slurry shot my Alk sky high...lol.

I cut the pH dosing and Alk - till levels came back down.

Now - I'm stable....I was increasing pH dosing slowly. I was testing every 2 days - Alk & pH - neither rose, as I increased pH dosing.

 

[DarthChaos]

I feel like I'm all over the dang map.

My skimmer....I think was part of issue. It has a stupid controller and I think I changed it to a "wave" pattern. Thus...messing up the air pull.

So, instead of pulling air in constantly from the outside to help with pH (which did work!) - it wasn't working way it should have.

Now....I'm at 200 mls of Kalk (not slurry) - mixed 3 teaspoons into 3g. And I feel like I'm back to square one.

Ugh....some days.

 

[DarthChaos]

My biggest question is....what's the difference in the amounts?

The teaspoons VS the mls?

Is meant for ATO and one for dosing? I feel as dosing is the better option - more control and dosing is more reliable. ATO changes a lot based on seasons.

 

[Garf]

My biggest question is....what's the difference in the amounts?

The teaspoons VS the mls?

Is meant for ATO and one for dosing? I feel as dosing is the better option - more control and dosing is more reliable. ATO changes a lot based on seasons.

Never heard of the mls bit. I just use 4 gigantically heaped tablespoons in a 25 liter container and shake the hell out of it. There’s always stuff settle at the bottom, so full potency in my book. I’m currently using 1300mls a day in a 60g cube, basically my full evaporation quota.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I used to dose kalk separately from my ATO. Initially I dosed it from a separate container. Eventually, I used the dosing pump to pull water from my ATO storage vessel and run it through a kalk reactor to the sump. The ATO made up any additional evaporation regardless of the season.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

My biggest question is....what's the difference in the amounts?

The teaspoons VS the mls?

Is meant for ATO and one for dosing? I feel as dosing is the better option - more control and dosing is more reliable. ATO changes a lot based on seasons.

I am not sure where you saw the 350 ml (or why it is in ml and not g), but just ignore that. Read the articles and use the link Randy posted. This is an other good one Kalk Contribution Calculator.

To help deal with the PH issue, I suggest getting a CO2 monitor. That way you can tell when the CO2 in your home is elevated. One of the usual pieces of advice is increase aeration, but if the air around the tank is super high in CO2, that actually lowers your PH. So a monitor can help you to determine if you are wining or losing the battle.

This being Canada (where you and I are), the best way of fixing PH is to install an ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator). That will solve the (possible) elevated CO2 and low PH. If you own your home, they are a great investment to improve your indoor air quality.

Dennis

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My biggest question is....what's the difference in the amounts?

The teaspoons VS the mls?

Is meant for ATO and one for dosing? I feel as dosing is the better option - more control and dosing is more reliable. ATO changes a lot based on seasons.

I gave the exact recipe for saturated limewater. One teaspoon is 5 mL.

Anything else you read is either wrong, or you misunderstood what they meant.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Now....I'm at 200 mls of Kalk (not slurry) - mixed 3 teaspoons into 3g. And I feel like I'm back to square one.

That's a very small amount of limewater in that volume.

It is only half saturated, and is adding less than 0.1 dKH per day.

 

[Jmcg89]

I run kalk in my top off at 3 tablespoons per 5 gallons which I belive is just about saturated, it leaves a good amount of sludge on the bottom of the barrels but the outlet is raised a couple inches so it hasn't been an issue. I clean the barrels maybe every 6 months and remove the sludge

 

[DarthChaos]

I think I've solved it.

My skimmer was weak (actually died on me yesterday). I went to back up - which is smaller....but the pump is strong enough to still pull the fresh air, from my outside line.

I mixed up a slurry - 350mls to 3 gallons of water, constant stirring. Dosing 300 mls, spread out over 24hrs.

pH has risen nicely and seems to be sitting at a nice level. Tested Alk and Calc and no rises

From what I can see - the skimmer/airline trick and Kalk dosing seem to give you a little boost each. Together though......BOOM - success.

Now...I'll leave it for a few weeks and see what swings. But for me...I think I have success - for now

 

[Cybernation]

You can pm a fellow Canadian here. I’ve had quite a ride on the slurry train. (I’m still using it)

 

[dstockwell]

l did a 20% water change yesterday and today PH is 7.4 . So I mixed up a gallon with 1 tsp, and dosed 120 ounces for 3 hours, is that extreme.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

l did a 20% water change yesterday and today PH is 7.4 . So I mixed up a gallon with 1 tsp, and dosed 120 ounces for 3 hours, is that extreme.

That pH wasn’t likely to be accurate, but whether the dose was extreme obviously depends on the size aquarium, which you did not say.

Stop dosing anything until you verify the pH.

 

[dstockwell]

Sorry, 55. I now have Dinos. System is three months old, have 4 fish one small coral that can on live rock, only 10 lbs, and maybe 40 dry. Carib Sea sand, 50 lbs.

Ammonia 0
PH 7.4
Phophate .10, have phosgard in reactor
Nitrate 0
Calcium 500
KH 10
Salinity 1.025

And yes I’m using API, except for KH, I have Salifert.