FlipFlops24/7
I'd tap that glass
cmcgehee01 said:
I think it more depends on your tanks capacity, and your drip rate (if you are dripping the kalk). I have a 29 gallon and if I used 3 tsps/gal my PH would jump past 8.4 in a few hours!
Pickling lime
- Thread starter nellie54914
- Start date
I think it more depends on your tanks capacity, and your drip rate (if you are dripping the kalk). I have a 29 gallon and if I used 3 tsps/gal my PH would jump past 8.4 in a few hours!
aberg12012
New member
It all depends on what you want to do, and how much your tank uses through calcification in corals. You can either saturate the solution (add more than 2 tsps per gallon) and even oversaturate it by adding vinigar. Any extra above the saturation level just settles to the bottom, and resaturates when you add fresh water. Then you can adjust by only replacing, say 50% of your reef's evaporation with it, and using an auto top off system as well. This is what I do. The other option is like Debaser said. Figure out how much less lime you need below the saturation to just keep up with your reef's demands.
aberg12012
New member
Allen...
Is there any particular reason you discard the sediment? It's actually benificial, as it can be re-disolved. And it also has properties that are believed to precipitate phosphates and other undesireables from your top off water. This, according to Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley. He's got a TON of info on dripping lime water, and I would highly suggest browsing his topics. It will answer alot of these questions with out having to listen to a moron like me try to babble about something I only pretend to know anything about!
Is there any particular reason you discard the sediment? It's actually benificial, as it can be re-disolved. And it also has properties that are believed to precipitate phosphates and other undesireables from your top off water. This, according to Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley. He's got a TON of info on dripping lime water, and I would highly suggest browsing his topics. It will answer alot of these questions with out having to listen to a moron like me try to babble about something I only pretend to know anything about!
FlipFlops24/7
I'd tap that glass
by sediments, do you mean the nasty leftover stuff in the bottom of my kalk dripping bottle? So I shouldnt dump that crap out?
aberg12012 said:
I never said I DID discard the sediment. I don't even mix it that way. I dump a whole pound into my 50 gal barrel and keep remixing it with each new batch of water until it will not produce limewater with conductivity over about 8 (about 80% saturated).
I was responding to debaser's way of dosing, and raising the question of how much lime it takes to produce a gal of saturated limewater. He said if he added 3 tsp per gallon it would be too much. If 2 tsp will saturate the water (although I don't believe it will- not with Mrs Wage's anyway) and you mix yours a batch at a time then adding 3tsp will not produce limewater any stronger than adding 2 tsp and it will leave alot of wasted lime solids on the bottom.
So, how much lime DOES it take to saturate limewater? I added 3 level tsp (6.6g) of Mrs Wage's to a gal of RO water and it still didn't quite saturate the water, although it left alot of undissolved solids behind.
Allen
aberg12012
New member
Here's some articles to get some better answers, by Dr. Holmes-Farley. There are alot of myths I think he clears up quite well. And I'm pretty sure he states some were in his articles that 2tsp of lime in a gallon of water is saturated. Anything more settles out as undisolved solids. But I couldn't find where he states the actual saturation point just looking through them quick. It's all good reading though.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm
Metals in Limewater:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm
Relationship of Calcium/Alk:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/chem.htm
Solving calcium/alk problems:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm
Metals in Limewater:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm
Relationship of Calcium/Alk:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/chem.htm
Solving calcium/alk problems:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
aberg12012
New member
Here's the one I really was looking for... This should also answer a lot of questions.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm
And another on the relationship of Calcium/Alk
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm
And another on the relationship of Calcium/Alk
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm
Last edited:
aberg,
I read all those articles when they came out and reviewed several of them recently. None of them answered my specific question, or if they did I could not find the information on skimming the articles.
It doesn't seem like a difficult question-"how much lime/kalk does it take to saturate the water?"
I am planning on picking up a small container of Kent's kw mix and doing some testing of it and Mrs Wage's to see how much it takes.
Allen
I read all those articles when they came out and reviewed several of them recently. None of them answered my specific question, or if they did I could not find the information on skimming the articles.
It doesn't seem like a difficult question-"how much lime/kalk does it take to saturate the water?"
I am planning on picking up a small container of Kent's kw mix and doing some testing of it and Mrs Wage's to see how much it takes.
Allen
aberg12012
New member
Allen,
I too am having the same problem. I have been scanning them and found nothing as to that question either. I've been wondering the same, as he (Dr. Homels-Farley) had once told me in a thread but I'm not for sure what the answer was. I'm fairly certain it was 2 tsp per gallon of pure water at room temp, but cannot verify that. I'll see if I can go back and find a thread he posted the answer in.
I too am having the same problem. I have been scanning them and found nothing as to that question either. I've been wondering the same, as he (Dr. Homels-Farley) had once told me in a thread but I'm not for sure what the answer was. I'm fairly certain it was 2 tsp per gallon of pure water at room temp, but cannot verify that. I'll see if I can go back and find a thread he posted the answer in.
I did a little experiment myself and found that it takes about 7g of kalk powder to make 1 saturated gal of limewater. That is about 2.8 level teaspoons. Level tsp are alot more reproducible than heaping. I would guess though that 2 heaping tsp would be about right.
Allen
Allen
nellie54914
New member
So is that with the regular "marine" kalkwasser or with the Mrs. Wages pickling lime? Is one more concentrated than the other?
aberg12012
New member
They should all be the same thing... hydrated lime.
There was another discussion about pickling lime where I posted a comparison of Kent's kalkwasser and Mrs Wage's pickling lime. It would be possible that they could be considerably different due to differences in purity. I found however that they are in fact identical in strength with only some very minor differences apparent.nellie54914 said:
Allen
nellie54914
New member
reviving an old thread...
In case anybody is interested, I saw pickling lime at Woodmans when I was there last week. I think it was $2.29 for the 16oz container, not positive about that. But it was there!
In case anybody is interested, I saw pickling lime at Woodmans when I was there last week. I think it was $2.29 for the 16oz container, not positive about that. But it was there!
I recently bought lime at Fleet Farm in 2 lb bags at about half the price of pickling lime. The bags were called "garden lime" and ingredients were labeled as calcium hydroxide. I suspect it is no longer available this year though as FF was putting away all their garden supplies.
aberg12012
New member
wow... thats a good deal. Thanks Al for the info.
nellie54914
New member
Reviving an old thread yet again, it's that time of year!! 
I was at WalMart in Appleton (West side) yesterday and saw 1 lb canisters of Mrs. Wage's pickling lime on clearance for $1.00. There weren't a ton of them, probably about a dozen. They were by the canning stuff, near the small appliances (not in the grocery area). If it's on clearance there maybe it's on clearance at other locations as well. Just thought I'd post about it in case anybody needs some.
I was at WalMart in Appleton (West side) yesterday and saw 1 lb canisters of Mrs. Wage's pickling lime on clearance for $1.00. There weren't a ton of them, probably about a dozen. They were by the canning stuff, near the small appliances (not in the grocery area). If it's on clearance there maybe it's on clearance at other locations as well. Just thought I'd post about it in case anybody needs some.
aberg12012
New member
Speaking of which... I have some if anyone needs it. Included free with purchase of my entire system. lol If anyone needs some, let me know. I think I have 2 7lb bags and one sealed 1lb Mrs. Wage's container. The 7 lb bags are the stuff that Dr. Allen mentioned finding at a garden shop, it's packaged for garden use, but still the same stuff. (Just not in nice little 1 lb containers.)
