dosing pickling lime

[skriz]

Are there any guidlines to dosing Mrs. Wages pickling lime?

I was going to start dosing this stuff, but didn't really find much info on it (I think I need a lesson on searching...effective ways to search the boards...)

How much should I mix and how should I drip it (what rate?)?

Thanks!

 

[ouling]

<2 tablespoon (10ml) max per gallon to be saturated/little bit supersaturated. It should be dosed with a small pump in the container to keep it from settling. You should only use RO/DI water in this case due to the carbonate content of the tap water.

2.4 gallon of saturated limewater will raise the calcium by 20ppm for a 100 gallon system. (bit less than 3 tsp)

It is a "balanced" additive so you should not have to worry about alk or calcium if your system is already balanced.

Drip it at a max of 3 gallon per 100g of water when the lights are off.

Pickling Lime is also know as Ca(OH)2, or Kalking Wasser. It will somewhat raise the pH, but the buffering system of your tank will make it stable at 8.4 if you don't dose crazy.

Make sure you're magnesium is above 1300ppm+ The high pH of the Kalking Wasser pulls out Mg and bonds it with CO3 as it touches the water.
Mg is the limiting reagent for ionic calcium, 1200ppm magnesium will have a 400ppm calcium max before calcium starts to turn into marble. (3Mg-1Ca ratio, that is the supersaturation point of Ca in system under normal pH and temp)

GL

 

[cgill311]

Tom Wyatt (speaker from the calcium talk earlier this year) recommended a concentration of 1 tablespoon Ca(OH)2 per gallon of fresh RODI water. This can be used as the top off water for your tank.

 

[megadeth]

better yet setup a neilson reactor with a top off float switch (with saftey float too!)

then you only have to worry about kalk once a month, and never have to deal with topping off the sump

 

[flyingarmy]

I use a DIY Kalk Reactor. All the parts for the reactor can be bought at Lowes/Home Depot. Here is a picture of mine. I recently switched from Kalk to ARGAMAX (crushed argamite) and I like the difference in my calcium. Only issue is that is doesn't help with keeping my PH up like the kalk. There are several DIY sites that have this set up and great instructions on building one. LMK if you have any questions. I also switched out the brass fittings(just in case) but not needed since this is just RO/DI water.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>

>

class="gc-images" title="Doser.JPG_Thumbnail1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

>

class="gc-images" title="Kalk2.JPG_Thumbnail1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

>

class="gc-images" title="Kalk6.JPG_Thumbnail1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[megadeth]

neat little reactor, how does it stir the kalk?

 

[skriz]

Mark- that looks sweet! looks easy too, and small...wasy to squeeze in anywhere.

how does it work?

 

[flyingarmy]

The pump pressure squirts out the bottom of the center tube through 8 small openings that I drilled, stirring the kalk. I have mine on a digital timer that comes on for 1 minute at a time several times during the day (dependant on how much TO RO/DI is needed). This agitation allows the kalk to mix but doesn't cause the white residue to be pumped into the sump, causing the dreaded "snow storm". Only the clear kalk satuated water is pumped into the sump during the 1 minute. I use a 340 GPH pump sitting in my TO container fed by my RO/DI with a Kent Float Valve.

 

[george]

If you have never dosed limewater/kalkwasser to your aquarium before, please, please read up on it and understand what you're putting into the tank. I love the results that it gets even in small amounts, but it has probably been responsible for a significant share of tank disasters over the years for hobbyists.

As with anything new, proceed slowly and ramp it up over time. Kalkwasser has a pH of 12 which means it can destroy your tank pretty quickly if overdosed or dosed too quickly. Never dose undissolved kalk. Saturated kalkwasser is clear. If the water is cloudy, there is kalk in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_%28chemistry%29">suspension</a>, but not in [IMG]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solution">solution</a>. Those two concepts are key to not giving your tank the dreaded "snowstorm".

Here is some good reading: [IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php</a>

 

[megadeth]

I cemented all my pipes on the last tank with my calcium reactor, mag was out of wack

I'll post a picture tonight, I pulled some of the plumbing, half of it is still on my tank, it was insane how much calcium buildup there was

 

[megadeth]

flyingarmy;76169 wrote: The pump pressure squirts out the bottom of the center tube through 8 small openings that I drilled, stirring the kalk. I have mine on a digital timer that comes on for 1 minute at a time several times during the day (dependant on how much TO RO/DI is needed). This agitation allows the kalk to mix but doesn't cause the white residue to be pumped into the sump, causing the dreaded "snow storm". Only the clear kalk satuated water is pumped into the sump during the 1 minute. I use a 340 GPH pump sitting in my TO container fed by my RO/DI with a Kent Float Valve.

what are you using to time it? I have a magnet stir neilson reactor setup, but I've not found a cheap timer to turn on the magnet every few hours

 

[flyingarmy]

I am not for sure the brand of timer. I either picked it up from Walmart or Lowes. It's a digital appliance timer that can be turned on from 1 minute to 23:99 hours. I'll check tonight and get back to you on which one it is for sure.

 

[skriz]

George;76180 wrote:

Here is some good reading: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php</a>[/QUOTE]


Great article! Thanks:thumbs:

 

[megadeth]

this is what my plumbing looked like, these pipes are about 4 years old

I just installed a sea swirl, my overflow could no longer keep up, Had to pull most of this out and soak it in muratic acid to clean it all off


http://freddy.geekopolis.com/gallery2/main.php/d/6541-2/DSC_1485.JPG" alt="" />


[IMG]http://freddy.geekopolis.com/gallery2/main.php/d/6547-1/DSC_1484.JPG" alt="" />