Kalkwasser

A

acwilson

New member
I've been wondering something about Kalkwasser mix... what is the best way to seperate the clear liquid solution from the white layer on the bottom of the bucket after the Kalkwasser has been prepared?
I have been just dumping the water into a dripper until the white layer gets to the edge of the bucket, but this leaves quite a bit of the clear solution wasted... is there a better way?
 
The two will separate pretty quickly by just letting it sit. You can buy a cheap sterilite tub (tones of sizes available) at Kmart or some other box store. Drill a hole about an inch or so above the bottom of the container. The diameter should be just a hair bigger than a piece of rigid 1/8" airline tubing (comes in 3' sections at lfs). About an inch is all you need. Put a small section of silicone tubing onto the rigid tubing, and force the end with the silicone tubing into the hole you drilled in the container. You can connect a cheap airline retsricter to the end that now comes out of the container to adjust the drip. I think Petsolutions sells tiny plastic ball valves that you can use here too. Not to sophisticated, but cheap and it's a start. This also keeps you from having to mix it in a separate container.
 
bump...so when you add vinegar to your kalk what is the mix ratio:

I have a 5 gallon drip container...how much kalk & how much vinegar should I use??? also do I just mix it in a 5 gallon bucket then put it in the container???
 
What good does vinegar do? Sure it dissolves the kalk entirely, but the acidity of the vinegar offsets the extra kalk used. Unless you get the concentration of vinegar to be just perfect so it dissolves all the kalk without excess vineger, you'll be adding acid to the water, effectively lowering the pH. This is exactly OPPOSITE of the point of adding kalk, which is to maintain pH and add buffer. The added acid will decrease the alkalinity of the tank, possibly to a dangerous point, and may also lower pH. It defeats the whole point. The chemistry just doesn't seem to make sense.

I'm not trying to be mean, but the logic here just doesn't hold water, IMO.
 
Just use less kalk. All the viniger is doing is nutrelizing the kalk so in reality its just a waste of kalk.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8268792#post8268792 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChinChek787
Just use less kalk. All the viniger is doing is nutrelizing the kalk so in reality its just a waste of kalk.
Click to expand...
That's only true for the pH of the solution.
Using vinegar with your kalk will raise the Ca level higher than using just kalk alone.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8268737#post8268737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrSpiffy
What good does vinegar do? Sure it dissolves the kalk entirely, but the acidity of the vinegar offsets the extra kalk used. Unless you get the concentration of vinegar to be just perfect so it dissolves all the kalk without excess vineger, you'll be adding acid to the water, effectively lowering the pH. This is exactly OPPOSITE of the point of adding kalk, which is to maintain pH and add buffer. The added acid will decrease the alkalinity of the tank, possibly to a dangerous point, and may also lower pH. It defeats the whole point. The chemistry just doesn't seem to make sense.

I'm not trying to be mean, but the logic here just doesn't hold water, IMO.
Click to expand...

Read the link. It gives the chemistry behind it.

My topoff reservoir is about 4 gallons. I mix about 50 mL of vinegar with about 2 tablespoons of kalk powder. I mix it up and then dump it in the reservoir full of RO. The pH hits 10 with half the reagent added and the calcium is around 1000.
 
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ok, well putting the vinegar aside for a moment... when I mix the kalkwasser there is a layer of white stuff on the bottom of the bucket, and to the best of my knowledge this shouldn't go into the tank... what I wanted to know was whats the best way to get the usable Kalkwasser out of the bucket, leaving the white layer inside the bucket?
 
You can stick a hose in and siphon it off, you can use a jar and bail it out (taking care not to disturb the bottom) or you can mix it with vinegar and not worry about it because it won't be there. :D

But seriously, do a google search using "kalkwasser" and "vinegar" and you'll find tons of links on how to use it.
 
ok thanks... now back to the vinegar... what kind do you use? Just plain old white vinegar? And how long do you let it sit before you add it to the water? By the way, I know I could google this to find out, but I'm asking you because you seem to be having success with this method and I'd just like to hear what exactly you, personally, do.
 
I have a 2 cup plastic measuring cup. I put in 50 mL of white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of kalk powder. Stir it up until it's all disolved then dump it into the topoff container (about 4 gallon size) and stir it around so it's all mixed up. Then it just drips into the sump.
 
I mix kalkwasser in a 5g bucket, wait for it to settle, then use the same container to supply my autotopoff. I just make sure I'm not taking in kalkwasser from the very bottom...if I stay about an inch off the bottom, it's a non-issue.

When the 5g bucket needs refilling, I just add more RO/DI water & more kalk. I don't dump out the existing kalk slurry. That can be reused effectively for many months. There is a maximum saturation level that kalk will reach, so it makes sense to reuse the leftover as there's still kalk available to saturate.

Adding vinegar effectively raises the maximum saturation point, so the kalkwasser mix is more potent. It also effectively reduces the rise in pH. IMO, using vinegar is a case by case basis. You might be able to maximize the potency to the point where Ca and Alk stay in balance w/o additional additives. Or, you may not be able to if your tank's demand is too high for just kalkwasser alone. If the latter and you end up dosing Ca and Alk additives anyways, it's less of a benefit IMO to use vinegar w/Kalk. Also, I dose kalkwasser as a method of keeping pH close to 8.3. Using vinegar would lessen this effect.

Here is another article that speaks to these points:

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php#6

hth,
rob
 
isnt whats on the bottom more then just undisolved kalk? I think kalk precipitates any impurities that might have been in your water or holding container etc. I fill up my resovoir (trash can) add kalk and mix. After its settled theres stuff left on the bottom. Next time i mix my kalk up i leave it there and mix up a new batch. Randy has said you dont need to take it out unless it turns discolored or maybe once a year or 6 months or something. Any extra kalk that does precipatate will just be reabsorbed into the water if its not saturated the next time.

Randys articles
What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser)
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm

List of other articles
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605

Posted as i was typing, i agree with the above lol ;)
 
I agree with last two posters. I'm relatively new but read up in Randy's forum. I have two containers for Kalkwasser that I switch. I use a hard plastic tube and the ATO flexible tube goes inside that. I have a plastic "doohickey" on the flexible tube so the hard plastic tube holds it about 1" off the bottom. When one container gets nearly empty I swap in the full one and refill the other one with RO/DI and 2 tsp per gal of lime.

I've been using Kalkwasser only a few months now. I found my Alk and Ca did drop and so I am still adding some 2 part. Maybe I should try the vinegar but I'm not ready to experiment.

With regards to the vinegar and high Ph -- if anything too high a Ph can be a risk with Kalkwasser -- as I've had some issue with the ATO system (losing syphon, float switch coming loose, etc.) I've had some pretty big swings which fortunately hasn't seemed to stress anything too badly yet.

This is my major concern with Kalkwasser, not the chemistry but the equipment. Anybody feel they have a really reliable dosing system they like?
 
thanks a lot for the replies everyone... I have one more question for you. When you mix the kalkwasser, do you actually stir it or do you let it just dissolve on its own?
 
Alex: as far as autotopoff dosing solutions...I am using a setup I ordered from autotopoff.com. The one thing I really like about their setup is no suction cups for mounting the float switch. It uses a bracket, so I feel 99% sure it's not going anywhere. I'm using it in conjunction with an aquadoser pump, so losing syphon is not an issue for me. I've only been using this setup for a short time, but so far so good ;)

AC: I mix up the kalk when I make a new batch. It settles on its own, and from there on I try to not mix or disturb the slurry on the bottom.

hth,
rob
 
I just got a litermeter3 been using it to dose my kalk, I love it so much control over how much to dose and it can be ran dry!
 
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