How to use Kalkwasser

[clowntrigger]

Hi guys

I am trying to use the Kalk and would like to have a pro and cons of it. Also please point out how to prepare it and what is the best time to dose it. Can I used it as top up for my tank? I heard you should not dump a whole lot of the top up with Kalk into the tank, so I believe even when you use a auto top up, you are actually putting about 20-50ml of water into the tank when your sump is wide and long, does that conside as dumping? Sorry if my question does not make sense I am learning mah.

[Achilles Tang]

Follow the instructions on the bottle... you won't go wrong. Basically mix tapwater with kalkwasser powder.

So its good for water top-up plus you put in the calcium and stuff.

There are a lot of pros vs cons.

Pros

1. It boosts calcium

2. It boosts PH and KH

3. It precipates out phosphate

4. Concentrated slurry injected on top of aiptasia kills them quickly!

Cons

1. Causes a snowstorm if the kalk isn't mixed well and slowly and poured directly into your tank. Those flakes are caustic and can burn corals.

2. Time consuming to prepare... a little!

[clowntrigger]

AT, thanks for the answer, so it means that I will no longer need to have the Reef builder, Reef buffer and Calcium, wow, that is killing 3 birds with one stone . BTW I heard to mix Kalk, you need to see that there is some white residue when you mix the power to water, then only use the top part of the water without the residue, right? The snowstorm that you refer to, these are the so call residue that causes it? I heard that in order for Kalk to work efficiently, the tank water need to be about 28 degree and below, is that true?

[Norvin Ng]

I am using Coral life Kalk and bought the big bottle from 110 LCK at $20 (after a 20% discount). Will last a long time. It comes added with some additives that's said to be good for the corals. Its quite easy to prepare as the instruction is clear. Just make sure the whitish stuff don't get into the tank itself. It should be dripped slowly over a few hours and preferably at night, as it affect the PH level as well (PH somehow goes down during the night, as I understand).

[Tanzy]

I use one tablespoon of Kalk to 2 litres of water. Leave for one hour in a covered container to settle. Decant into dripping container leaving white precipitate/residue behind. Drip at one drop per second. If possible, submerge the drip tube in the water. I find that when I drip in the air, calcium will build up in the tube and clog it.

[Achilles Tang]

AT, thanks for the answer, so it means that I will no longer need to have the Reef builder, Reef buffer and Calcium, wow, that is killing 3 birds with one stone   . BTW I heard to mix Kalk, you need to see that there is some white residue when you mix the power to water, then only use the top part of the water without the residue, right? The snowstorm that you refer to, these are the so call residue that causes it? I heard that in order for Kalk to work efficiently, the tank water need to be about 28 degree and below, is that true?

Kalk can be dosed differently.

The safest way to let the residue settle and slowly drip the clearer part of the water into the tank.

Anthony Calfo (one of the US experts) simply scoops a bit of kalk, mix with cold water and pour the whole mix into his sump.

I use a combination of both.... as my tank was newly setup... I simply dumped in the whole mix.... no corals or inhabitants to worry about.

The snow is actually much bigger flakes that only forms when mixed with air improperly and reacts to the water to form flakes. Much bigger than the residue powder.

Happened to me once when I mixed salt mix and dumped kalk in there right away.... stupid mistake.

Some aquarists in the US mentioned no harm with pouring the whole milky slurry into the tank... some say no way and the clearer portion of water is better.

[Tanzy]

Other than Calfo, Sprung also does that! The flow is important! If there is good mixing, it will disperse the high pH solution and prevent precipitation of calcium carbonate. The last time I tried, my sand clumped up! I'll choose to be careful.

[clowntrigger]

thanks guy, so how about the temperature? Does it have to be 28 degree and below then you can fully utilitized the Kalk?

[Tanzy]

Don't worry too much about temperature, as long as it is within normal reef limits, it will be fine.

[bgrking]

Hi,

Must the tapwater be anti-chlorined before adding Kalkwasser?

Cheers,

bgrking