[djskott]

What is this stuff?
skott

[alf3482]

i'm no chemist but it is basicly calcium hydroxide. It is used for replacment of evap. water to stabalize CA. and Alk.

[Biomanjcs72]

Kalkwasser is German (I believe ) for "Lime Water". And yes, it is a solution of CaOH or Calcium Hydroxide. Bases and salts (this is a base) dissociate into their respective Ions in solution. This provides a source of "Free Calcium" to the corals and algae that need it. Just so you know, the reason folks slow drip into their tanks is because at the concentration aquarists use, it has a pH of about 12, which is VERY BASIC, and actually caustic (eyes, nose linings, etc, do not react well to getting this stuff around them). So, drip it in SLOWLY, and try not to get too much CaOH dust flying around in the air when mixing it.
HTH

[MarkS]

Yup. Kalkwasser is German for Lime Water. Basically, water with hydrated lime mixed in. You can find large cans of this stuff in your grocer's canning section. Just make sure it says 100% lime. The ingredients should read: Hydrated lime. Absolutly nothing else! You'll find this to be about 1/30th the price of the same stuff for aquariums.

HTH,
Mark

[Ninong]

Kalkwasser is a German word meaning chalk-water. It is a saturated solution of either calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide. It is used to maintain calcium and carbonate in a reef tank. You mix one to two teaspoons per gallon of freshwater (preferably RO/DI) and slow drip this into your tank or sump (preferably at night) to replace evaporated water--or, you get yourself a calcium reactor instead. Or you could use a two-part additive like B-Ionic instead.

You can purchase Kalkwasser (calcium hydroxide powder) for about $10/lb at your LFS or you can purchase Mrs. Wages' Pickling Lime or Ball's Pickling Lime at the grocery store for about $1/lb. All are pure calcium hydroxide. Kalkwasser is lab grade and Pickling Lime is USDA approved food grade. The corals cannot tell the difference.

Ninong

[djskott]

ahh cool
right now i dose the ESV B-ionic to the tank right now (7-10ML a day)
just curious about the Kalk stuff.

I only have Mush and some Star Polyps in the tank right now, no Hard shell corals yet..

I have my eye on a 65 gal Show tank at the LFS that we can get at good price and I plan on havin a sump/Refuge in the stand. so Im thinking thats when i am going to want to invest in some Kalk.

After seeing some of those Japanese style tanks man, they are so beautiful im thinking i might wanna try that out with the new Tank. I dunno i guess if you do it right i can look natural i mean not parts of a reef and just a wall of rock, there are some nice ledges and breaks between walls that would be beautiful with the right corals and rock.

thanks for the Input guys
skott