Jeff- a semi popular product manufactured by Marc Weiss and available in most stores.

Adam

I looked for pickling lime in several stores (trying to kill aptasia) and didn't find it at WalMart or Smiths or Fred Myer.  It was in stock at the local Harmon's.  In the isle with Mason Jars and things for canning.

I can't wait for Jon Finch to see this thread.  He's gonna post something at least 5 paragraphs long!  (Just kidding, Jon!) 

One thing I think Jon would mention is that you want a balance with your calcium & your alkalinity.  So you might want to keep that in mind before you dump in a ton of kalkwasser.  Your alkalinity would crash, your corals would get sad, and the calcium present in your tank would not be use-able calcium (because the alkalinity is too low).  Jon explains this really well.

what is it used for and how do i use it?

It's mixed with water and you soak cucumbers in it before pickling them.  It keep the pickles crisp...

Jeff,  I've got to run (my answers are always too long and I don't have time )  and I'll be away most of the evening, but I'll answer and write up what ever isn't covered by eveyone that replies to this...

Come on everyone, help Jeff out.

gotta run, I'll check back later tonight...

I swear there was a thread on this about a month ago (maybe longer) on which Jon had a 6 paragraph answer.  Search for Pickling Lime and you'll probably find it. 

I'm not sure if Jon's 6 paragraph answer was something most of us could understand, but it may have been.

From a post by Mark:

I'll give it a go, and Jon can straighten me out.

Calcium (Ca) is necessary for coral, clams, fish bones, feather duster, coralline algae and halimeda growth.

Hydroxide (OH) makes sure the Calcium can be assimilated by organic life forms.

Kalkwasser provides both. It is also very caustic (base not acid) having a pH of something around 30 in a solution, so it must NOT be added quickly NOR in large quantities.

Most people drip the kalkwasser solution slowly at night to replace evaporated water. Nightime is best because that is when tankwater pH tends to be lower, especially in older tanks and those without RDP Refugia.

I've found that it's safe to add kalkwasser equal to 5% of total system volume over the course of a couple hours. Any faster than this compromises tank health by hyper-raising pH.

Now, How to mix it.

Add a couple tablespoons of Lime to a gallon of purified water. Stir it and let it sit for a day. Pour off the top clear liquid into the dispensing container. This can be a bucket which gravity feeds (syphon) an IV dripper or an airline hose with a clothespin. Or it can be a fancy dosing pump. Be sure the drops don't fall into tankwater current which immediately passes by a coral or other animal. Place the drip line somewhere that gives the drops a chance to mix with tank water a little before hitting the living stuff.

Going back to the mixing container with the leftover lime, you will notice that the Lime lost it's pure white color. This is because some of the Calcium bonded with impurities in the water and dropped out of solution. Refill this container of day old Lime, with new purified water. Use this water the second night but then for the third night discard the dirty residue and restart with clean white Lime.

Lime can actually purify tap water. One-half tablespoon of Lime to a gallon of tapwater can make it good but not great for reef aquariums. I've done this with no problems. Of course I also have been known to grow a great reef topped off with what JFinch called "liquid rock" (North Salt Lake tap water straight up)

From a post by me:

Although, I still like my cucumber soaking line too .

Also, I've heard through the grapevine that Balls brand pickling lime has been discontinued... Looks like Mrs. Swages is the only cheap source now.

IV dripper get clogged so quickly!

 What if you used flexible tubing piped into a milk jug, controlled with one of those little plasic gang valve things?

 Or just added turbo calcium and buffer once a week?

Hi Suzy,

I actually spent 97 cents at Walmart and purchased one of those 2 gallon water dispensers that you put in your fridge to dispense cold water, they come with a valve on them and a short stem.

I simply sat the dispenser on top of my tank leaning it backwards slightly resting against my wall.

I worked, but still clogged.  However, cleaning it once a week or so was plenty.  I only dosed Kalk at night, starting when my lights turned off and stopping when the actinics turned on.

It's so cheap, I didn't lose anything trying it out.  I liked using gravity too, that made it easy.

Aaron

I am not currently using the dispensert, because I don't have stony corals, and my calcium doesn't get used up very fast, so I don't need to add much calcium to my tank to keep it within the desired range.  In fact my calcium is usually 5-600. I mostly add buffer or reef builder by SeaChem.

However, if I needed to add more calcium to maintain levels, I would use it regularly.  And when my calcium does get low I do pull it out.

I can say that when I started dosing Kalk I did see a visual slowing in the growth of my mermaid hair. I top off with tap water that contains nitrates and phosphates and the Kalk helped dissipate them so that the mermaid hair grew slower.

My mermaid hair attributed to PH swings at night, so I dosed Kalk to balance the PH swing and it worked.

However, I need to get a lower dosage to avoid increasing calcium levels in my soft coral reef tank (75 gallon).

Whew...I can ramble

Transam wrote: I have a friend that is a nurse and she hooked me up with the IV. I have not had any issues with clogging but I clean it out every week. Works just fine and real cheap. T/A

I use an IV bag as well, my biggest problem with it is the 1 liter bag is too small.  If I remember to refill it every day it works great.

I am, please tell more.  I assume that by extending the spout of the glug jug to the water surface, the water doesn't flow, but as soon as the water surface drops below the spout, oxygen enters the glug and water releases until the water level is back where it's supposed to be?

Is that what you are thinking Mark?

thanks for the suggestion

Aaron

I never clean the IV bag, I just use a syringe connected to a ball valve to force through anything that gets stuck in the sediment filter. It literally only takes 10 seconds and I only have to do it once a week or so.

I like the kalk glug glug jug idea, I would just be worried about adding too much kalk at once or not adding enough if I had to use less powder.