Can Someone Look at this Thread?

[ostrow]

I thought I asked a fairly straightforward question, but apparently not. Check this out!

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=220962

Anyway, let me try again:

I've got a 5G jug I use exclusively to mix kalk. I add kalk to my tank once every 10 days or so. I mix the night before I'm going to use it, so the jug sits about 14-20 hrs, I add it slowly over about 4 hrs.

Then the jug sits for 10 days with the pasty goop at the bottom.

Am I supposed to clean out the goop before mixing another round of kalk, or is it ok for it to build up in there.

I'm not sure why that thread got so complicated, but to my eyes that question never got answered.

Thanks all!

[makoshark]

Ostrow,

I am by no means an expert on this but I am under the impressoin that you mix the Kalk, let the precip settle and drain off everything but that which settles. You now take your kalkwasser that you drained off and slowly let it replace your evaporated water. This keeps your PH and calcium levels up. Only doing it every two weeks is allowing your PH and salinity to swing in undesireable amounts.

HTH!

[ostrow]

Never heard of draining the mix before adding it. Interesting.

I've had no pH or salinity swings whatsoever, and I'm not sure why Kalk would affect salinity. I don't even have calcium swings that are measurable beyond the margin of error.

Are you saying you do ALL of your top-off with kalk? I've always heard once a week or so is sufficient.

But anyway, sounds like you ditch the settled stuff each time you mix.

[makoshark]

Originally posted by ostrow
Never heard of draining the mix before adding it. Interesting.

I've had no pH or salinity swings whatsoever, and I'm not sure why Kalk would affect salinity. I don't even have calcium swings that are measurable beyond the margin of error.

Are you saying you do ALL of your top-off with kalk? I've always heard once a week or so is sufficient.

But anyway, sounds like you ditch the settled stuff each time you mix.

Yes, I ditch the precipitatoin (settlement) and use the kalkwasser to replace evaporated water(top-off).

This is the suggested method in Dr. Ron Shimek' s book : The Coral Reef Aquarium : An Owner's Guide To A Happy Healthy Fish.

[spfmatt]

You have two choices. 1) remove the sludge at the bottom, or 2) reuse it. It can be reused because water only holds so much calcium, the rest of the calcium that isn't absorbed is the sludge at the bottom of the container. I would only reuse it 2 or 3 times at the most. After that it doesn't mix very well. Good Luck

[ostrow]

Thanks for that clear reply!

I always add another dose of fresh kalk powder, just to be clear, so the sludge does tend to grow. I'll clean it out every 3x or so.

But until I see reason to justify the cost/hassle, I'm not going to do kalk for all my top-off.

Thanks!

[Biodragen]

I have the neilson reactor and it will remix after it has settled.
I would say reuse it as I do with my reactor and many other here who use a reactor.

Brian