So about a year ago i happened to be at an aquaintance’s house and saw his beautiful 75 gal bow front reef tank up in boston. He was filling me in on what he did to keep it as great as it looked and he mentioned one thing in particular that I’d like to get some ideas on. He told me about Mrs. Wage’s pickeling lime which he dissolved in water and dosed the tank with to restore calc and maintain proper alk and how much money it saved him by taking this route rather than buying the stuff designed specifically for fish tanks. But up until last week, I haven’t felt my tank was to the point where it really needed it, as water changes and kent’s reef essentials seemed to handle my levels just fine. However, due to several recent additions to my tank, the amount of coral i have is causing me to be a little more concerned about maintaining my calc levels. So what i’d like to know is, is there anyone in the club that is familiar with the process and can validate its usefulness? From the research i’ve done, i’ve discovered that it’s about a gallon of water for every tablespoon to one and a half tablespoons of lime, dripped into the tank or added to the ATO water, in order to prevent nuking the tank. I believe he said he dosed it for an hour in the am and an hour at night, but can’t seem to find a consistent answer on drip rate. Anyone have any success (or horror) stories/advice they’d like to share about this?
I’ve been using it for years. My evaporation rate is 2 gal. per day, so I just add two teaspoons to my top off water every day. Mrs. Wages seems to dissolve better than other brands of Kalkwasser I’ve tried, including BRS, which is what I’m using right now. It will help to maintain your Ca and Alk levels, but will not increase them. I use some two part to get the levels where they should be and then rely on the Kalk to keep them there. You’ll need to watch your pH, since it can elevate it. You can moderate that if you add a little vinegar to the water.
[quote=“alexzobi, post:4, topic:5583”]
not a fan of the drip method? only reason i ask is because i worry about adding too much at a time with my ATO system.[/quote]
I don’t drip, at 1 tsp. per gallon, I just pour it in. But, I’m not using the concentration that Bill is. However, I mix it the day before I use it, and shake it a few times, so I have very little sediment left in the container.
I have used some from time to time. Ive done it plain in water or like bill with vinegar to disolve more. the vinegar also acts as a carbon source for bacteria to lower phosphate and nitrates. like bio pellets or dosing vodka. 2 teaspoons per gallon is as much as you can disolve in RO water. the rest falls to the bottom. the vinagar allows you to disolve more per gallon as Calcium acetate.,
Dosing definitely helps boost the PH level. which is good for coral growth. I get mine at Walmart, in their canning section near the kitchen stuff. theirs comes in green ziplock bags. they only stock it now during summer gardening season. some of the Food Lion stores carry it year round in the old one pound jars.
you can make a batch and dose as you prefer. then test for PH and Ca and DKH to gauge the effect. if its too much for your tank, just add less lime per gallon to your dosing water. its best to let it settle an hour before dosing only the clear solution . not the mud at the bottom. and if you mix a big batch, a bucket full, be sure to cover with a tight lid. the CO2 in the air will react with it and consume the limewater by making a crust of carbonate or chalk.
Coincidental that I was reading stuff about this recently and from what most people say to those who are inexperienced like me is start off slow. Its easy to add more, hard to fix a screw up.
Great John, Randy chemistry articles are always a good read. and like he says in that one if you bump your PH too high, you can always drip a little vinegar to the sump to bring it down. just a little. or also add carbonated soda water from the grocery store. only the straight carbonated water without quinine, phosphoric acid, sugar or flavors. just water with bubbly CO2 added. its carbonic acid and will reduce the PH safely.
now yous guys did it. i just mixed a new bucket of straight lime water, Mrs. Wages, 4 level tablespoons into an IO 6 gallon bucket of RO water, stir, and cover and let it settle. I’ll dose 2 liters per tank(75g) tonight. i think my PH has been low. dripping after lights out compensates for the PH increase a little. at night, corals and algaes switch from expiration to inspiration. and make CO2, like soda water, and reduce some PH.
The article was great, thanks. It gave me a lot more confidence to give this a try soon. I may check out the local Food Lion or Wal Mart to find some. Does it cloud the water if dosed slowly & do you guys do it at night to help with ph drop when the lights are not on? I might look for an inexpensive dosing pump to do this on a regular basis with a little more control. Any suggestions on what dosing pumps to use or not use? There are some Chinese ones much cheaper, but I am a little worried since failure could be catastrophic.
it wont cloud if you drip it slow into a high flow sump to mix. I use a couple of those 2 liter bottle brine shrimp hatchers with an airline off the bottom fitting and a plastic air valve at the end of the tube. I just set it on top of my tank hood and hang the tube and valve over the sump below. and let er drip. actuaqlly im faster. i drip about 2 liters of kalwasser in 5 or 10 minutes. thats plenty slow.
Most walmarts have Mrs. Wages right now. they pack it away after summer so if you want some, stock up now. not all food lions had it on the shelf. but the Beaver Brook food lion near me on Rte 13 still has 7 one pound jars on the shelf. old stock.
I’ve never found it in the stores around me, so I used to order it through Ace Hardware, and would come in a box of six one pound packages. Free shipping if you send it to one of your local stores.
[quote=“kaptken, post:11, topic:5583”]
I use a couple of those 2 liter bottle brine shrimp hatchers with an airline off the bottom fitting and a plastic air valve at the end of the tube. I just set it on top of my tank hood and hang the tube and valve over the sump below. and let er drip. actuaqlly im faster. i drip about 2 liters of kalwasser in 5 or 10 minutes. thats plenty slow.[/quote]
Oh, good. I have one of those. Do you put a small hole in the bottle for air to get in? I would think so.
No… you cut the bottom of the bottle clean off, so that when you screw it into the base, it stands upside down with the bottom open. like for hatching brine shrimp eggs. so just pour a couple liters of kalwasser in.
One huge take home point I think has been mentioned but not stressed enough.
[quote=“alexzobi, post:1, topic:5583”]
I haven’t felt my tank was to the point where it really needed it,… causing me to be a little more concerned about maintaining my calc levels.[/quote]
This really shouldn’t be a gut feeling type move. If what you are doing maintenance wise results in the Ca, Alk, Mg, and healthy looking corals you want… don’t change anything just yet. If the levels have been normal and you trust your kits, but don’t have the healthy looking corals you want look elsewhere to make improvement.
If the levels are dropping or you want a little more automated less expensive way to maintain things, Kalkwasser can be a great way to go about it. I use Kalk on the big reef systems I work on with the top off.(though often a calcium reactor or dosing is needed in addition as kalk can only do so much)
Tip, once you have reached the point you can not add enough kalk in your top off to replace what your corals are using you can try increasing your evaporation rate. Pointing fans across the surface water is a great way to do so especially in the summer.
All treatments should be in response to regular parameter measurements. and then, Adjustments made to reach required levels. The choice of additives to achieve the disired levels of ALKALINITY AND CALCIUM is diverse. Baking soda, washing soda, Kalwasser(calcium hydroxide) or calcium chloride can all be added to achieve the desired levels. and CALCIUM REACTORS TOO.
All just need to be applied in regulated measures to sustain the desired parameters.
How much will this increase my ph?i haven’t had any problems with alk2.62,kh7.3or cal 500 i have been noticing my ph is almost always around 7.7-7.8, checking in the middle of the day with API test kit.with this help keep ph stable if I add it to my ato?
[quote=“beadlocked450r, post:18, topic:5583”]
How much will this increase my ph?i haven’t had any problems with alk2.62,kh7.3or cal 500 i have been noticing my ph is almost always around 7.7-7.8, checking in the middle of the day with API test kit.with this help keep ph stable if I add it to my ato?[/quote]
Your pH would be best if kept around 8.0 with a variation of no more that .3 throughout the day. Your best bet for measuing pH, if you don’t have a controller, would be with a pinpoint or hanna meter with a calibrated probe. Short of that, I’d say to stick with either an Elos or Salifert kit.
I think the first thing I’d do if I were you, is to invest in a better brand of test kit. I have tested the new Red Sea Coral Foundation Pro kit against the Salifert, and found the accuracy to be comparable, and the Red Sea kit more affordable.
Here is an article about Kalkwasser, and how you can mitigate the potential of too much increase in pH as a result of its use. Keep in mind that if you go the vinegar route, that it is a carbon source too, and if you start to see the bacteria “snotties”, just cut back on its use.
I dose Kalk daily in my top off. My evap rate is about 2 gal. per day, so I add two teaspoon’s of Kalk to my two gallon top off water, shake it up, seal it and use it the following day. The use of Kalk is not a good method of raising your Ca or Alk, so use some sort of two part to get the readings you are looking for and then start to use the Kalkwasser, which will help to maintain it.
Agreed, you’re wasting your time with a cheap chemical pH test kit. It can be off by 4-5 tenths in either direction which is very significant when we are talking about marine life.
Kalk may help with pH a little bit, but CO2 is most often the root cause of low pH in aquariums.(and our worlds oceans despite what some corrupt politicians would have you believe) Ventilate the room the aquarium is in and you’ll be surprised how much the pH will increase. If you own your home and are able to run the air line tubing from the air intake of your skimmer to outside it will help a bit. A CO2 scrubber on the air intake will help as well.
8.2-8.3 is ideal, but odds are you won’t get there and you don’t need to get there. Hovering around pH 7.8 (real 7.8 not just what some inaccurate test kit says) will significant decrease the ability to deposit calcium carbonate skeletons in stony corals and other calcifying animals. You can have a beautiful healthy reef aquarium with a pH of 8.0 - 8.1.
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