limewater

supertech99

supertech99

New member
Upon suggestion of many club members I have started dripping limewater at night. Besides the cal and alk bennifits I have heard that It can bind to phosphates and help remove them from the water collum (chemestry forum). What I can't really get an answer to is if I drip the limewater and my alk and cal are already within acceptable levels (mostly softies and 2 lps does not suck out much cal) will it raise those levels or will it percipitate out? I have recently become obsessed with my water quality!
 
I recently started the same based on Bill's suggestion. I have not noticed any spikes even though my tank demand is pretty low. May be too soon to tell though. I probably only do it every other night on average since I am too lazy to always get ti setup. Once I finish other projects I will do a new setup which allows me to do it easier with less daily work. Something similar to what Bill recently posted on.
 
NSW will only hold x amount of solids and then It will percipitate out of solution. This Is a simple explaination and there Is much more to It though!
 
I have noticed improved color however I have made a lot of small changes latley so I cannot be sure to attribute it soley to the limewater. Bill do you suppliment mag with the limewater? could i mix it directly into the limewater or is that not adviseable?
MVLK, I just mixed it in a small drinking water pitcher for the fridge (square shape with a spigot) and set it on a board above my sump and adjust the drip and let it run for about 10 min. while i am feeding or cleaning, then shut it off. I only add a small amount beacuse I do not have a continous PH monitor and the stuff is far from netural!
 
I mix a 4 gallon batch in a water container from the critter with 4 teaspoons. I let it drip all night. Probably less than 3 gallons actually make it in over 12-14 hours. I have not seen an issue with pH.

My prob is setting up the next days batch and letting it settle in time fot the next night... just laziness/time management on my part.
 
Sean, if you're just pouring some in for 10 minutes at a time, you're probably going to stress your tank out. ;) That junk is POTENT.

The best idea by far is to drip it constantly or connect it to a slow (IE, AquaLifter) auto top off. :)

Brandon
 
Brandon, I am dripping it in for 10-15 min, for example I have been doing it for just under a month and used 1/4 of 1 gallon (approx 1 drip per sec). I know the ph is like 12 so I have been going slow. I dont want to add it to my rodi top off to avoid possible disasters of salinity and ph if it got stuck on! My 75 does not evaporate high amounts of water so far. My 55 was about 1/3gal per day but I was keeping that at a higher temp. I also plan to ramp it up a bit over time but want everyone to get used to the additions slowly.

MVLK, the guy who wroe the article in reefkeeping mag about limewater stated that once the solution is saturated the particulate will settle but that does not mean that it is all impurities, it could be lime yet to dissolve. I am not sure how worried we need to be about any extra "stuff" in the limewater since its foodgrade? He even said you could add it as a slurry except for the Ph issue. Do you put vinegar in yours when you mix it?
 
I have not been adventurous enough yet to try the Vinegar mix. Have read it is far superior. Since my demands are so low now, have been going slow. All I have read and been told by Bill, it is best to drip overnight. There are I am sure a million ways to do it like all things in this hobby, but so far my pH has remained steady at ~8.2.
 
The vinegar Increases the effectiveness of the kalk, Not so much that It's superior. The reason to drip at night Is that your PH naturally drops at night and the kalk helps It to stay stable and not have that drop at night, This In turn keeps your tank more stable. Stability= success IMO.
Sean, If you replace all your evaporation with kalk you will be In a safe range That should not harm, But help your WQ
 
The only downside to the vinegar is that by using it, you risk having a bacteria bloom in your kalk. This may or may not matter for you since you mix and drip, but for me I can't risk it because my reactor stays full 24/7/365... maybe 363. :)

Brandon
 
BTW I do not use Vinegar In my kalk, But have now went to a 90% Vodka/ 10% vinegar Dosing regimen that has so far shown no ill effects. Reason being a variety of bacteria Is believed to be beneficial and may also add sugar to the mix but will go oh so slowly.
 
hmmmmm, so if i drip like a 1/2 gallon of limewater everynight it wont raise my ph too high? I was thinking that if i put too much in and my corals didnt use it up that my ph would keep going up. I am confused now. how much should i use?
 
Brandon Is right, How fast you add It Is key. Just put In as much as your tank evaporates In a day. If It's a 1/2 gal then every night slowly drip 1/2 gal, Your water changes will remove any excessive buildup If that occured but I've dosed every day for over 2yrs and It's never happened to me. And I drip at least 2-4 gal a night.
 
Even though it is unlikely you still have to monitor ph. There is a possibility that it could get too high. But the speed you raise and lower is important.
 
No prob on the link... ;)


Brandon~ Our Frag Swap avatars were taken down because they had our website URL on them... I fixed them, just hadn't made time to put it back up... For now I'm going with Kiffin... :thumbsup:
 
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