Test on Breefcase's Kalk, bye bye drip

[Anonymous]

I have been testing breefcase's way of adding Kalkwasser (I use Pickling lime) mixing it in 20ml of white vinager. then mixing in one gallon of water.

Tested the solutions PH raised from 8.3 to 8.6 not bad added straight to tank. Poured in slowly to sump and tested water Up from 8.3 to 8.5, it could have been 8.4. One gallon to 65 gallons, not bad, not bad at all.

Kids do not try this at home without an adult present

Thanks Breefcase, your worthless posts are never appreciated

BTW it also severly helps to disolve the Kalk.

 

[kjb]

OK, I'm somewhat of a newbie and don't understand...
How much lime do you add?
I don't even really understand the readings you are talking about and hope that you are not being sarcastic. This is good stuff???

 

[kjb]

OK, I'm somewhat of a newbie and don't understand...
How much lime do you add?
I don't even really understand the readings you are talking about and hope that you are not being sarcastic. This is good stuff???

 

[Anonymous]

Read this
postBreefcase is the man

You use 2 teaspoons of pickling lime per gallon.

I would not suggest the use of any supplements without understanding the test proceedures for monitoring the changes you will effect.

In this case you are trying to raise calcium levels so you should have a good calcium test and monitor your Ph and Alk.

Good luck.

 

[kjb]

Whoops! Not only did I somehow double post my silly question, but I just did a search and found the great thread that you refer to.
Uh, Thanks man...

 

[mgk65]

Fishaholic:

In reading the breefcase posts, he NEVER advocated pouring the mixture into the tank at once.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

OddBall -- Any reasonable drip setup will work. Just make sure air can get in at the top as liquid drips out the bottom, otherwise a vacuum forms inside and collapses your jug. Pickling Lime is the same as Kalk with a little water already complexed to the Calcium Hydroxide. Measure and use it just like Kalk powder. Let stand until any precipitate formed settles out, or drip the whole mess into the tank as you prefer. I run a quart into the tank in about an hour. The idea behind dripping at night is that the alkaline Kalk solution helps support your tank's pH during darkness when pH might otherwise fall a bit. I don't bother -- I'll drip whenever. I've frankly never found a reactor or other similar reef gizmoid processors to be needed or worth the trouble, although many reefers on the board obviously enjoy tinkering with them for tinkering's sake as a sort of hobby-within-a-hobby, and do derive some benefits from them.

mgk

 

[jdeets]

I second mgk65's post. An immediate increase in pH of 0.2 is VERY stressful to your livestock. Did you know that for humans, our acceptable blood pH is confined to a range of 0.1? Too much change too fast (i.e., hyperventilating or holding your breath) and you pass out. Well, the same goes for your livestock. They can't tolerate rapid pH shifts.

Here's an article from Bob Fenner's web site that explains pH and the importance of pH stability. Basically, you should avoid changes in excess of 0.2 over a period of 24 hours!

So, needless to say, I was a little disturbed about the initial post on this thread. Dumping in kalk and causing such rapid pH shifts can only harm your livestock. Don't be lazy and take the easy way out at the expense of your livestock.

Hopefully anyone who has read the first post will continue reading down this far...

[ September 05, 2001: Message edited by: jdeets ]

 

[liquid]

I really don't see what's so "new" or "exciting" about this approach. Dr. Bingman was the first to propose this methodology as a way to increase kalkwasser additions to a reeftank over 2 years ago in his Aquarium Frontiers article:

http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/oct/bio/default.asp

Myself, I've been doing this and have had excellent results with it.

Also, I concur with mgk65 and jdeets that no where in that thread did BReefCase advocate pouring the stuff into the sump. He dripped his (quote from his first post in that thread you mentioned):

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

15 ml is more Vinegar than some people are comfortable with, but I use it constantly with no problems. There should be no sediment in the mixture, or just a little bit at most. You can let the sediment settle out if you don't like the white flakes in your tank. I just drip the liquid and the sediment both into my tank.

If you pour it in you are just looking for trouble IMHO.

I do have some reservations about dripping in the powder as well, but that's just me.

Here's my methodology of adding kalkwasser to my tank and I only have to deal with it every 2 weeks now: http://liquidreef.freeservers.com/ , click on the Equipment link and then scroll down to the "Calcium/Alkalinity supplementation" section. It's under #4 and the link is labeled "DIY Kalkwasser Auto-Topoff System". Works like a charm: Ca=420 ppm, alk = 10 dKH (rock solid since inception 4 months ago).

liquid

 

[Anonymous]

Ya'll are absolutely right. I re-read the post and he does say "you do not have to worry aout dripping to fast"

Big difference. Drip jug is back on top of the sump. You know this (dripping kalk) is like laundry, it's not difficult but it just gets tiresome.

 

[jdeets]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fishaholic:
<STRONG>Ya'll are absolutely right. I re-read the post and he does say "you do not have to worry aout dripping to fast"

Big difference. Drip jug is back on top of the sump. You know this (dripping kalk) is like laundry, it's not difficult but it just gets tiresome.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


LOL, Fishaholic. Glad you posted and we were able to help you avoid a disaster!

Two words: Calcium Reactor!!!