kalkwasser?

[jdfenn]

hey reefers

I was wondering, about your kalkwasser habits.
How many tablespoons per gallon in makeup water.
How many gallons of kalkwasser water per gallon of tank water.
How often do you dose kalkwasser.

thanks

jeff

[Ninong]

I mix my Kalkwasser in a 4.5 gallon bucket. I make up three gallons at a time and I use two tablespoons of dry Kalk (calcium hydroxide). Kalkwasser (limewater) is saturated at two teaspoons per gallon. I drip limewater every night to make up evaporation. My evaporation runs about 1.7 - 2.1 gallons per day with my 120 gallon tank. I let the Kalkwasser solution settle for several hours before pouring off just the top 2 - 2.5 gallons of clear solution. I discard the leftover precipitate in the bucket.

Usually I drip limewater every night but sometimes I will skip a night if I overdid it the night before. Last night I dripped about 2.1 gallons of it and if I do drip any tonight it would only be about 1.3 gallons or so. Looks like my evaporation is running closer to about 1.7 gallons/day right now.

My calcium and alkalinity levels have remained stable within the range that I have set as my goal: 425-450 ppm calcium and 10-12 dKH alkalinity. Yesterday I measured calcium as 454 ppm and alkalinity as 10.6 dKH.

Later on I might consider adding vinegar to my Kalkwasser solution so that I can use more than 2 teaspoons/gallon but right now I do not have any trouble keeping up with my calcium demands with just regular strength Kalkwasser. http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/a...io/default.asp