Kalkwasser article

#2
If you mix the amounts of vinegar and kalk in the proper stoichiometric ratio then you will be fine. The caution here, is using too much vinegar which is an acid and could possibly lower pH in the tank. That being said, I have never heard about anything being affected negatively by acetate ions in the water. The bacteria will consume the acetate ions. So if your tank requires the addition of gobs of calcium, you might want to make this a slower transition so as to avoid a possible cycling event.
 

Wicked Color

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
In addition this is close to a method used in bacterial driven systems, with ultra low nutrient levels, ie vodka dosing and vinegar dosing,
the thought is the vinegar will make more of the kalk soluble and bio available, any excess vinegar would drop the PH and become bacteria food. (as mentioned).
I like the PH, Alk, and calcium swings in my system, in small measures.
 
#4
Thanks guys... I plan on picking up some pickling lime today and giving this a try. I would hate to throw the system out of whack so going slowly will be key. But my question to that end is, how slow should I go and how to increase in increments?
 
#5
More information about your system would be needed to assess that.
How much calcium do you add curently per day/week?
How many gal is the system?
Remember that when you use vinegar to dissolve CaCO3 you are in making a very very concentrated calcium solution so less, is in effect, more.
Do dose all at once or do you have a drip set up?
 
#6
I do not dose ca at all right now. The tank is 46 gal tank only...no sump, yet. I currently dose nothing but do a 25% water change every month, or more often when it seems the tank needs it, or as is the case recently when my clams began to act strangely, and so I did a 75% water change over the course of three days.

The tank has been established for years but under my care since this past Feb. It has two clowns, a blenny and a six line. Two cleaner shrimp, a ton of snails and a porcelain crab and two hermits.

It is filtered by a protein skimmer and an HOB filter that simply has a filter sock with carbon in it. The carbon is changed monthly or as needed.
 
#9
Ok using the article posted above, I got m e some pickling lime and some vinegar and I mixed it...looks gross, like someone threw a piece of chalk into my container..smells funny too...actually I was hoping it would be fun to mix the lime and vinegar...was hoping for some sort of neat reaction... I terms of chemical reactions, this one was pretty lame.

I diluted it with a liter of water and then shook it up really well..still really cloudy stuff.

I'm totally freaked to dose my tank so instead of dosing directly into the tank, I have added a cup of this liter solution into my ATO. I will wait a day or two and add another cup and so on. My tank doesn't blow threw too much ATO water in a days time...maybe 4 to 5 gallons a week.

Test kits are at the ready!
 
#10
Less than a liter of kalkwasser has dripped into my tank over a ten hour period and it is still going. It drips every three seconds. I have tested the ph throughout the day and haven't noticed much of a change besides the normal daily rise and fall with the lights. No precipitation in the tank, corals are happy, clams, at least one, is open and the inverts are cruising the tank as usual. Fish are feeding and active. So far so good. I will begin adding the kalkwasser to the ATO from now on instead of messing with this drip thing...lame.

Ca and alk haven't really changed appreciably... So is it possible the animals et al are using it up as it drips in? Maybe it is so slow to drip that it isn't really adding much. I mean a liter vs 46 gallons isn't much, especially dripped over half a day.
 

aztecdreams

Bat Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
The way I remember it, kalk drip is to maintain the calcium and not raise it. You get the CA and ALK to where u want it with additives then maintain it with the kalk drip
 
Top