Kalkwasser question
- Thread starter Ryan303
- Start date
It has a ph well over 12. A couple of ounces in a 50 gallon tank can raise the pH over 9 instantly. It usually short lived but can cause damage if it happens enough. It drives off all of the co2 on contact.
It will ruin most dosing pumps. If you want to dose it, you need something where the pump is out of the solution. I know that dosing is not your current plan, but we aware if you change your mind.
You can use a dripping bag/container if you mix it, let the precipitate settle and then take the clear solution out of the middle, also leaving the crust on the top. If you do it this way, any impurities will settle at the bottom, which you can discard. Overnight is usually enough. Use a clear container. Those huge glass pickle jars used to be a fan favorite. The precipitate can/will clog up valves and lines, so you have to only use the clear part.
You can use Mrs Wages Pickling Lime. It is no better nor worse than spending more on a reef product. At least Mrs Wages is food safe. IMO, you can forget all claims from any reef manufacturer that theirs is more pure - none of them will tell you how or why they charge 10x as much... and there are like 2 places in the US that source calcium oxide (what calcium hydroxide is made out of).
Although some use it to keep pH higher in their tanks, it is temporary as surface air mixing will add back in co2. The best way to keep pH higher is to air out your home and keep the airborne co2 level lower - like below 600. This is good for the humans and pets too.
It will ruin most dosing pumps. If you want to dose it, you need something where the pump is out of the solution. I know that dosing is not your current plan, but we aware if you change your mind.
You can use a dripping bag/container if you mix it, let the precipitate settle and then take the clear solution out of the middle, also leaving the crust on the top. If you do it this way, any impurities will settle at the bottom, which you can discard. Overnight is usually enough. Use a clear container. Those huge glass pickle jars used to be a fan favorite. The precipitate can/will clog up valves and lines, so you have to only use the clear part.
You can use Mrs Wages Pickling Lime. It is no better nor worse than spending more on a reef product. At least Mrs Wages is food safe. IMO, you can forget all claims from any reef manufacturer that theirs is more pure - none of them will tell you how or why they charge 10x as much... and there are like 2 places in the US that source calcium oxide (what calcium hydroxide is made out of).
Although some use it to keep pH higher in their tanks, it is temporary as surface air mixing will add back in co2. The best way to keep pH higher is to air out your home and keep the airborne co2 level lower - like below 600. This is good for the humans and pets too.
If you do decide to heavily use kalk, get a gallon of Muriatic Acid at the hardware store. You can use it to bring pH down if you ever make a mistake with the kalk. It will lower pH very rapidly by turning alk into co2 (not exactly, but close enough for this). It will deplete your alk, but you can replace that with baking soda... better than a tank crash.
Put a post it on your tank with your formula, but gallons * desired dKh drop *.123 is the number of MLs of Muriatic Acid to use... so figure out how many MLs to use to drop 1 dKh if you ever need it.
Citric acid can do the same thing, but it is not as strong... and I don't know a formula since it is not a uniform strength like Muriatic Acid is.
Put a post it on your tank with your formula, but gallons * desired dKh drop *.123 is the number of MLs of Muriatic Acid to use... so figure out how many MLs to use to drop 1 dKh if you ever need it.
Citric acid can do the same thing, but it is not as strong... and I don't know a formula since it is not a uniform strength like Muriatic Acid is.