How to mix kalkwasser

[zxcv123]

I bought the kent marine kalkwasser mix. I got 1 gallon of ro water and added the reccommended ammount of powder. I stirred it up with a spoon. Now, do I just have to wait for that stuff to form on the bottom and then I can siphon out the clear water on top?

[funi42]

just taggin along, im curious what exactly people do when mixing kalk

[Viv]

I run mine from a doser bottle. I usually let the stuff settle at the bottom then open the clamp to let out the concentrated kalk, after a minute or so I get the clear kalk water flowing. But if you do it this way you have to be sure to catch it at the end cause the last bit usually is concentrated again...I also drip it in a high flow area to further dilute it while its going in the tank. My pump got clogged with calcium, this is easily cleaned out with vinegar if ever you find calcium deposits. You just gotta be sure to rinse afterwards...Delbeek and Sprung suggest that using white vinegar will increase the amount of calcium and alk that goes into the aquarium. They suggest using 3ml of vinegar per quart of kalkwasser. I think there's probably lots of ways to do this-hopefully others will let you know their way too!

[skeety]

I made my own drip, and made the output nozzle about an inch from the bottom. This allows settling BELOW where water is dripped out. So I just mix..mix...wait until it settles, then open the valve. You can see what I mean here:



If you do not have that ability, then yes...syphon out the water leaving the settled stuff at the bottom.

[rchull69]

I made this in about 15 minutes and under $10. I hook it straight to a float in the sump for top off and PH is stable at 8.2-8.3. Just remember to open the vent cap!!!

[Loverotties]

mine comes from my top-off water.

[abigtroutt]

I use to mix mine in a 1 gal container then let sit over night, but now I still mix it in the 1 gal container then dump it into my DIY top off and it settles on the bottom then I clean it out weekly when I add more water.


http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74832

[ReelFreak]

Uhhhh....double post there.

[ReelFreak]

I mix mine in an old Instant Ocean 5 gal bucket w/ a powerhead for a while.......Then I use rigid airline tubing and flexible tubing to make a siphon run drip container, controlled by a small valve to adjust the drip. I got the idea from ' the talking reef podcast ' where he uses a 1 gal container.... I just used a 5 gal instead. It adds about a drop a second, which is perfect for my evaporation rates.....

From what I understand about it, RO has a saturation point w/ kalk and it will only absorb so much....the excess is what settles. I keep my rigid tubing about an inch or two off the bottom of the bucket to avoid the concentrated lower layer.