I am new to kalk and was about to use for my first time tonight. I got a 3 quart container and mixed a half a teaspoon of kents kalk and shook up the bottle. After a few seconds there was a a lot of it still on the bottom of the bottle. Is this normal? I am a little worried about dripping this stuff if its all at the bottom. I have been readin a lot about this stuff and thought I was ready maybe I am not lol. Am I doing something wrong?
Mixing Kalk
- Thread starter Dave12678
- Start date
jon99
New member
Don't shake it up. Stir it gently. The more air gets to it the more it reacts and you end up with the white stuff at the bottom. It is normal for some of the percipitants to form and it is ok if they get in the water. I drip my kalk so some water it always left at the bottom of the drip bottle and that's where most of the percipitants end up and get rinsed out the next day. But if they happen to get in it's no big deal. I use about 1/2 teaspoon for my 55 gallon once a day. I have even poured it all in at once with no problems. This can be done safley only if you have a good (digital) pH meter. As long as the pH doesn't raise more then .2 after the kalk slurry is poured in, your critters will be safe. You plan on dripping it, so this is even safer. A solution of 1/2 a teaspoon is about right for my 55 gallon. It raises the pH by exactly .2 You could probably do even more since you are dripping it over a longer period of time. Just test the calium and pH before and after to figure out how much you should be adding. Doesn;t soud like you are doing anything wrong to me.
jon99
New member
That should work but make sure it drips all the way. If i set mine at too low of a drip, it slows down as there is less and less water in the drip bottle and eventually stops with about 1/3 of the kalk solution still in the bottle. Your's may not do this. I mix mine in a 1 gallon jug and drip about 1 or 2 drops per second.
I tested my PH b4 I started and it was 8.2 at night and I know its 8.3 during the day. I want to drip as slow as I can so it wont raise to much. I have the tube down about half way. I will stay up and check on it. I hope I don't crash my tank but I have been wanting to do this for a long time to control my ca/alk swings.
Randall_James
Premium Member
you can usually dose about 2% of your total tank volume in kalk every 24 hours. Most get away with using it for 100% of topoff water.
Mixing is not a big deal, you can shake, stir or any other agitation method works fine. Let the mixture stand after mixing and excess lime will fall out of suspension and lay on the bottom. On top, there will be a thin crust and just leave it be, it will seal the rest of the kalk from air. You can just add water and more lime to the container when more is needed. As long as the residue on the bottom stays white, there is nothing wrong with it. Often you can just add water and mix the residue back into water. If the stuff on the bottom changes color, dump it out
Mixing is not a big deal, you can shake, stir or any other agitation method works fine. Let the mixture stand after mixing and excess lime will fall out of suspension and lay on the bottom. On top, there will be a thin crust and just leave it be, it will seal the rest of the kalk from air. You can just add water and more lime to the container when more is needed. As long as the residue on the bottom stays white, there is nothing wrong with it. Often you can just add water and mix the residue back into water. If the stuff on the bottom changes color, dump it out
jon99
New member
1/2 a teaspoon in your 54 gallon won't crash it. even if you poured it all in at once (not IME anyway). Kalk was kinda scarry for me at first too because of all the stories I read. Just don't go crazy with dumping too much in there and make sure your calcium doesn't get too high and nothing bad will happen.
jon99
New member
In my 55 gallon 1/2 a teapoon caused pH to go up by .2 It is usually best dripped at night when pH drops to help maintain a steady pH though both day and night, but if for some reason you need to drip it during the day it should be fine too. A slow drip will raise it from 8.3 to 8.5 over the course of several hours (or how ever long your drip lasts). This shouldn't be a problem. A fast increase of more then .2 pH is what you are trying to avoide.
