Pickling Lime Question

[Tony44]

I have a few cans of Mrs. Wages pickling lime, and I am trying to figure out how to add it to my tank.

I searched for "Mrs. Wages", but my question does not come up anywhere. I would like to mix this stuff in a 35 gallon trash can that holds RO water. If I were to mix the pickling lime into the RO water, would it be ok if I just top off about 5 gallons at a time of the RO with pickling lime in it?

I am losing about 5 or so gallons every two days, so I would probably be looking to add that 5 gallons back every two days ofcourse.

Would it be bad to add so much at once?

 

[roadcrew]

im no expert but i think you should set up a drip system. dumping 5 gallons of lime water would probally do some damage some how. lime water has a ph of like 12 or 14.
as far as mixing a large amount thats fine.

 

[pimpinitup6969]

You cant directly add it like that.. the ph is much higher than your tank water.... you need to either drip it or install an automatic top off kit with a dosing pump!

Here is a great article by randy holmes farley that should get you on the right track!

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[Tony44]

Good article.

So if I were to set this up as a drip, do I just fill up a bucket with a few gallons of Kalkwasser, elevate it, and slowly have it drip into my sump?

 

[NeveSSL]

Yes, that's all you would need to do.

Brandon

 

[THE ROOK]

If don't have an ato setup, I'd do that first. Then you simply add it to your reservior, stir, let settle & your done for the week.

I tried the drip method & it'll get pretty tedious. One tip would be to mix in another large bucket & drain off the clear liquid as needed for fill your drip container.

 

[pimpinitup6969]

i agree with mixing in a seperate bucket then pouring the clear liquid into the drip bucket! the idea is to try and match the amount you drip to the amount of evaporated water in a day! start dripping when the lights go out and your good to go

 

[edgex]

I mix 5 gallons at a time then put half gallon limewater,half gallon rodi water and pour in slowly.It takes about a half hour.I would rather do that then trust something to not overdose.Overdose is probaly the biggest problem people run into.That or mix it half as strong and use straight as topoff.I have a120 gallon tank with that routine and no troubles hope this helps Keep testing untill you find what your tank needs then go from there

 

[pimpinitup6969]

kinda confused on your last post edge? why not just mix half as much of the kalk powder?

 

[Tony44]

I actually do have an auto top off that I could use, I've had it for some time just never decided to set it up.

This is the one that I have: Auto Top Off

I could probably put a 15-30 gallon rubbermaid next to my tank, and just store the kalkwasser in that. Speaking of overdosing, how much kalkwasser would the pump pump into the tank at one time?

 

[WaterKeeper]

I'm not too sure that Mrs. Wages has a marine tank as she is so busy pickling cucumbers.

The easy way, without spending a bunch, is just to add a couple of tablespoonsful into your topoff water and mix it for an hour or so. Then let it settle till it clears and use the supernatant to topoff your tank. Do avoid adding the solids into the tank as they can play havoc with your tank's pH.

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

Kalk needs to be added slowly to keep pH in acceptable ranges. Mix up as much as you can store in one container at a time, let it settle if you like, and set the feed line for whatever you're using to top off near but not at the bottom of that container. I use a 55 gallon Brute trash can in another room -- it's a nice size because a single can of Mrs. Wages makes 88 gallons of fully saturated kalk. I dump in a can every other fill, fill to about 45 gallons, let the rest settle for the next mix.

 

[THE ROOK]

That ato will work great. I believe there is an adjustment that will allow the float to activate with only an 1/8" drop in water level. That would be the setting you want. You want to add small amounts many times a day.

If you can keep the reservoir next to the tank then the Aqualifter pump is a good choice. It's only $15, dead silent & can run dry. Mine is actually mounted on the wall next to the brute can.

When you do start with the kalk, go very easy. A saturated mix is about 2tsp per gallon. I'd start with a 1/2tsp per gallon. I learned the hard way & spiked my Alk to over 17 within a week.