moonlightdriver
New member
Who's using what for dosing?
Anyone have an advantage of one over the other?
Anyone have an advantage of one over the other?
Kalkwasser VS. 2 Part Mix for Dosing
- Thread starter moonlightdriver
- Start date
GMaquarium
New member
Not exactly comparing apples to apples here. Kalk is best used to help maintain or smooth out drops. Two part is better to boost. You can also use both. Run kalk with top off water and dose two part according to test results.
Paradiddle7
New member
I use two part only through my Auquatronica controller with dosing pump. I have a 90g tank with about 20 gallons in the sump. I go through about a gallon of alk and ca about every 4-5 weeks. For me, this is the best method because of the control I have over the levels. I do have a 5g bucket of Calkwasser mix and a brand new Koralin calcium reactor that I haven't touched. If I go to a bigger tank, I'll no doubt move up to the Ca reactor with Kalk topoff and use the two part to adjust levels.
moonlightdriver
New member
I am currently using 2 part as well... I am having trouble with my alk part settling... I currently have a powerhead in the container with the alk mixing it (or at least trying to)...
It does seem to get plugged though...
It does seem to get plugged though...
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
something is odd here
something is odd here
a liquid alkalinity supplement shouldn't require a powerhead to keep it in suspension.
something is odd here
a liquid alkalinity supplement shouldn't require a powerhead to keep it in suspension.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
right on!
Use kalkwasser (limewater) as replacement for evaporated water.
Use liquid two parts to balance, boost, "tweak" levels of Ca and alk independently
reefboarder
Intelligent Donkey
Sounds like maybe added to much soda ash to the mix and your getting precipitate in the container or just added too much at once and got clumps in the bottom. if its getting hard clumps try putting the container in a pot with warm water and shaking vigorously and/or smashing the clumps with something to help loosen them.
cardiffgiant
Active member
I had that happen with a batch once. I think that my case was a combination of not baking the baking soda for long enough and not mixing it into the RODI slowly enough. I dumped it and made a new batch.
I generally bake a box of arm and hammer at 400 for 1.5-2 hrs, then slowly add it to half a container of RODI. Shake vigorously, fill the container the rest of the way, shake vigorously.
Henry Colf
New member
That's how I roll...:lolspin:
moonlightdriver
New member
thanks for the tips 
I use fully saturated kalk for top off from a still reservoir dosed over a 24 hr time period. I tweak rarely with baking soda and anhydrous calcium chloride( some old Prestone driveway heat).
Two part is calcium chloride and carbonate alkalinity( baking soda/ soda ash).Some commercial products contain some magnesium as well.Balanced dosing entails 20ppm calcium for 50ppm carbonate/bicarbonate which is the ratio used when calcium carbonate is made by calcifying organisms. You can dose them independently to tweak one or the other but it is generally best to maintain balanced dosing. You can also dose more alk at one time than you can with kalk which raises ph. You are adding extra chloride but not enough to worry about particularly when water changes are done regularly or when magnesium sulfate supplements are used.
Kalk is one part ( calcium hydroxide). The calcium breaks away when it hits the water and the oxide binds with CO2 and some H+ along the way creating carbonate( CO3) and bicarbonate(HCO3). Calcifying organisms then take up the bicarbonate and calcium and join them to form calcium carbonate as skeletal mass. As the OH(oxide) reduces CO2 and adds CO3 it raises ph. Fully saturated kalk water has a ph of about 12.4 The amount you can dose at one time is limited to avoid ph spikes and consequent precipitation. It's best to spread it out as top off over a long time period ( not less than 5 hours ) as possible. It is easy to use consistently from a still reservoir, with a dosing pump or drip device, inexpensive, self purifying and may precipitate some PO4 as an added bonus.
Two part is calcium chloride and carbonate alkalinity( baking soda/ soda ash).Some commercial products contain some magnesium as well.Balanced dosing entails 20ppm calcium for 50ppm carbonate/bicarbonate which is the ratio used when calcium carbonate is made by calcifying organisms. You can dose them independently to tweak one or the other but it is generally best to maintain balanced dosing. You can also dose more alk at one time than you can with kalk which raises ph. You are adding extra chloride but not enough to worry about particularly when water changes are done regularly or when magnesium sulfate supplements are used.
Kalk is one part ( calcium hydroxide). The calcium breaks away when it hits the water and the oxide binds with CO2 and some H+ along the way creating carbonate( CO3) and bicarbonate(HCO3). Calcifying organisms then take up the bicarbonate and calcium and join them to form calcium carbonate as skeletal mass. As the OH(oxide) reduces CO2 and adds CO3 it raises ph. Fully saturated kalk water has a ph of about 12.4 The amount you can dose at one time is limited to avoid ph spikes and consequent precipitation. It's best to spread it out as top off over a long time period ( not less than 5 hours ) as possible. It is easy to use consistently from a still reservoir, with a dosing pump or drip device, inexpensive, self purifying and may precipitate some PO4 as an added bonus.
