How to drip kalkwasser

[shaohui75]

I really need valuable feedback from experts here for my 4feet FOWLR.

Found that my PH is going lower and lower ~ 7.8. All other parameters seem ok.

Existing fish are alright but whenever i add new LS, they die.

Decide maybe adding kalkwasser may solve my problem.

Currently, i have a 2feet fresh water top up tank, i intend to mix my kalkwasser into the fresh water top up tank. Not sure is that ok? How much kalk to add?

Heard that kalk should not be expose to air, but my 2feet fresh water tank does not have cover, is that ok?

[taylapong]

shaohui- from what i know about kalkwasser, and it's not alot, only the kalwasser solution cannot be exposed to air because it will react with the CO2 in the air and precipitate calcium carbonate, which is useless in the aquarium. But, if you drip the solution INTO the aqurium, and it's already in solution, then it should be fine. THe main thing is not to leave the kalkwasser mixture in hte open, ie. stoe your mixed kalkwasser in an airtight container. Better yet, mix it every few days. the other option is to get a calcium reactor.

word of caution on using kalkwasser: DRIP it into the tank. THis might be a little hard to calibrate, but if you don't, the extremely high pH levels of kalkwasser might wipe out your tank.

Apparently, pH, KH and something else are all in some sort of balance with each other... gotta go read up more!

For the experts: I wanted to ask, if kalkwasser is really just calcium hydroxide, would it be cheaper to just get that from chemical companies instead of paying more for branded kalkwasser out there? It's essentially hte same right? And where can i get it?

[May&Bruce]

Shaohui, there are a couple of recent threads regarding this in the DIY section.

[madmac]

shaohui,

I don't believe the new fish deaths is due to pH of 7.8. A daily fluctuation of btw 7.8(dark time) to 8.3(light time)is ok. If you had tested in the day and found it at 7.8, then maybe there will be problems... but not to the extend that results in fish deaths. It very likely something else.

As for your Kalk drips, unless you have a dedicated Kalk reactor, don't use your 2' tank as a kalk replenisher. Jus DIY a small 1 or 1.5 liter bottle with kalk mix and drip it in. Its more controlable that way. If you drip 1 drop/sec of conc kalk, you can bring your pH up by 0.2 pts in less than 15 mins, thats how fast pH rises. However the rise it temporary only once your drips stops, your pH will swing back to equilibrium with atmospheric / water CO2.

Try buffering your water with some alkalinity suppliment, bring your dKH to about 9 first then see if your pH is still at 7.8 day time. If your dkh is 9 and you can't bring up pH to above 8, then the problems lies elsewhere, either to a very stuffy room, (airing the room will help) or your have a tank producing acids(found esp in sandbeds)

[madmac]

... It's essentially hte same right? And where can i get it?

at the grocery store... : ) : What your grandmother never told you abt...

Its jus the very high grade that you're paying, not to say that food grade stuff are bad, only not so pure, you're giving the best to your tank thats all. Besides how much do you use anyway, its tied to your evaporation, 1 kg can last you forever.

[taylapong]

Haha... what a funny title! but very informative... i'll go supermarts and look around... thanks!

[Dazza]

go for the better grade made-for-aquarium ones lah. not really that exp.. just a few bucks thats all..... Just be very careful as mentioned to not pour too much into yr tank at once.... even using dripping, will push up ph pretty quickly... so adjust accordingly lah...

[gift05]

hmm how come i always stumble upon useful threads AFTER damage is already done

loaded a small lil pail full of kalk and mixed with distilled water.... then dumped the whole thing into the tank. PH shot to 9+++++++ and i can see pure conc kalk solution blastin thru the returns into the main tank. whole tank turned cloudy for awhile. Suprisingly, my cleaner shrimp, survived! and ph slowly but steadily returned back to around 8.2.

now and then PH drops so i dose a lil bit more... much lesser than the previous time that is

i needa raise my dKH cuz its around 7. anyone has any ideas? i tried bakin soda but dKH drops after a few days. i'm using seachem's marine buffer to maintain it at 8.3. its doing the job but i've yet to measure KH.