pH question

I wished my ph would hold that well. Right now I'm going between 7.95 and 8.3. Going to start dosing kalk tonight to try and stabilize it.

Edited by bugzme - July 09 2010 at 4:42pm

I wouldn't mess with your pH at all.  Most would love to have those numbers.  Way to go!

Yes it does! good Job

Like Mrs. wages that you can buy in stores in the canning section. Same thing as kalk except cheaper

thats cool thx for the info

downhill_biker wrote: pH of limewater is actually 12.4, or at least that is what you want. At this pH it has calcium of 900ppm, and if the pH drops to 12.2, only 0.2 pts, it has a pH of 300ppm. Trust me you want the highest pH possible. Kalk definitely helps with pH, keeping it high and stable, as long as it is dosed properly. I had one overdose that resulted in a snow storm and a loss of several corals. The main thing to remember if this ever happens is that pH of 9.0 is the magic number. Corals can pretty readily handle this, and it is better to let it come down naturally from 9.0 or below. If the pH is above 9.0 you should use CO2 or Carbonated Water to bring it down to 9.0 and then let it drop naturally. I was told this by Randy Holmes-Farley, and nobody can dispute that he is the ultimate reef chemistry guru.

Good to know.  Tks.

Yes, many people add lime to their auto top-off.
Even better is to have the automatic system top off only at night. This helps keep pH up during the dark when it naturally falls due to the loss of photosynthesis.

I have used a dosing pump on a timer to add during the night, just the right amount of Kalkwasser to top off daily evaporation. I had to tune it for the season, but since I was watching the system daily, farming coral, it was not a problem. The dosing pump took Kalkwasser from a few inches off the bottom of a 7 gal bucket of RO water with a cup of Lime. When the bucket was near empty, I would fill it with RO water which again dissolved some Lime in the bottom of the bucket. I would discard the residue of undissolved Lime after about 3 or 4 refills.

Be sure to place the dosing line in a spot in the tank where the water moves fast and not near any coral.

If I had wanted to make it more automatic, a solenoid could have been added after the timer to allow the dosing pump to run only until the tank was topped off to the right level.  


Edited by Mark Peterson - July 12 2010 at 5:24pm

sterling18 wrote: Mark,   What about connecting a dosing pump connected to ato system.  That should work.  It supplies power to the dosing pump until the float switch is switched back from open to close.

Yes, you can do this. As far as I know this is what everyone has already been suggesting. It is a great way to dose kalk, in small doses throughout the day. Stability is key in a reef tank, and this is a great way to help with that.

P.Kapp wrote: if you add the pickling lime to a top off resevoir, will it settle on the bottom, or top? or does it mix in completely? i dont have one set up yet, but i was planning on having a 30 to 40 gal top off resevoir, and this sounds like a good idea.

If it were me I would use a reactor over a tank. The reactor will allow it to better mix and take less maintenance. I had a 55g drum for kalk for a while and it was difficult to mix and keep the ambient air/CO2 out, which drops the pH and the amount of calcium it adds. But yes, you add it to the topoff, it gets stirred up and the sediment settles to the bottom. What you are left with is a clear saturated limewater. Honestly you should not dose kalk without more research. It can EASILY nuke your tank, so make sure you have educated yourself before you attempt it.

I would not even consider kalk without reading this entire article and having a firm understanding of it. If you have questions about the article feel free to ask and we will try to help.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php