I shall think on my reply. Have some some thoughts.
I shall think on my reply. Have some some thoughts.
Something wrong there, maybe? My pH stays very stable. I have a probe to measure and a graph to over time to inspect it.
Ok, just to let you know that Ivan (and I mean NO disrespect), is not the only "guru" on this forum. There are many, not mentioned or contributed to this thread, that have years of knowledge and experience and have some SOLID input. All you need to do is ask specific questions for specific answers.
@NO3, I was always using the kalkwasser in a reactor with my ATO, so not really possible to "lower" kalk levels.
Have you ever tested ph in your tank after adding kalk... It literally skyrockets for about an hour afterwards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_softeningadding lime in the form of limewater
This action causes calcium carbonate to precipitate due to exceeding the solubility product. Additionally, magnesium can be precipitated as magnesium hydroxide in a double displacement reaction.
It is certain, however, that all modifications of
basic magnesium carbonate are much more soluble than magnesium
hydroxide, and in water softening, sufficient lime water is added to
precipitate all the magnesium in the latter form, i. e., as MgO2H2.......
......
Magnesium
hydroxide is a colloidal precipitate, which requires a long time
to settle, and tends to pass through filter paper. Therefore the
results may be somewhat in excess of the true value.....
....
The solubility of magnesium hydrate, as determined by direct
experiment, was found to be 12 parts per million. By the precipitation
experiments with lime it was found to be IO parts per million,
which is probably more nearly correct, and which may be taken as
the most probable value.
It is interesting to note that relative to calcium, magnesium is greatly underrepresented compared to that in the starting quicklime. The reason for this result is the well known insolubility of magnesium hydroxide. Any magnesium ions released into the solution rapidly combine with hydroxide to form insoluble magnesium hydroxide that precipitates.
And Randy's Comment:
It won't work.
Here's my comment on kalk+2 from another thread:
Unfortunately, it is a very poorly designed product that won't work. It has very little magnesium in it, but even that will precipitate out in limewater as magnesium hydroxide.
Really, this is a pitiful product. Not enough magnesium to be useful even if it worked, and it won't work.
It is a marketing gimmick.
I show in the article linked below that bulk supplied calcium oxide and hydroxide have that amount of magnesium or more already in it.
Strontium overdosing just scares the shit out of me anyways. As I understand it's toxic above 8ppm?
There have been relatively few studies on the toxicity of elevated strontium to most marine organisms. In most studies, researchers have found strontium to not be very toxic at levels that might be attained in a reef aquarium. In one study, researchers looked at developing mussel embryos ( Mytilus californianus ) for effects from barium and strontium. For strontium, they concluded that there were no effects at environmentally relevant levels, although barium was quite toxic at even fairly low levels......
......The most sensitive organism in table 3 appears to be a crab, with 38 ppm strontium reported to be lethal. If that experiment is valid, then aquarists would be cautioned to keep strontium from rising much above natural levels.
The incorporation of Sr2+ versus external Sr2+ concentration was also linear up to 3.42 mM (i.e. a concentration 37.5 times higher than normal seawater concentration). However, the uptake of Sr2+ at high concentrations (>1 mM) decreased with an increase in Ca2+ concentration in the seawater. Moreover, Verapamil, a Ca2+ channel inhibitor, also inhibits the incorporation of Sr2+ with the same Ic50 (12 µM) as for Ca2+. Incorporation of Sr2+ is therefore inversely correlated to the rate of calcification, suggesting interactions between these 2 ions, which should be taken into account during paleoclimatic studies.
Thanks @NO3 for the compliment, but as Carlos said, I am not the only one with valuable input….. @Midnight Reefer, corrected my answer, regarding the sir part, I think we’ll leave that for those who wears ties and or have beards……
Would love for SIR @Nemos Janitor to elaborate on the brittle skeletons and especially the skeletal breathing issues suspected…… The documentation is out there.
Not going to ramble too much about kalkwasser, there is way to much information on good old google….
ust to elaborate a bit for the newbies (as mentioned, there seems to be a lack of understanding / knowledge of this potentially wonderful / deadly white powder).
Essentially what Kalkwasser is, is a solution of Calcium Hydroxide in water(usually RO), with an extremely high pH, used by aquarists to increase pH, and add Calcium and alkalinity in a balanced (i.o.w. as used in calcification) fashion. Further benefits include precipitation of metals such as copper PO4 and other harmful substances.
The powder is not very soluble in fresh water, and only about half a teaspoon will dissolve in fresh water, yielding a pH close to 12!!! Yes, this stuff is caustic and aquarists should wear protective clothes and not breathe in the powder…..
An overdose in your tank will increase pH and will most likely wipe out most, if not all, of your livestock….. Sounds scary……
That being said, it is still a very useful way of supplementing alkalinity and calcium, raising pH and doing its bit to make PO4 les available to nuisance algae.
The most important thing to note with kalkwasser addition is simply to do it slowly, No more than ½ liter per hour of saturated kalk per 200 litres of tank volume is what I would consider the max or, when using the slurry method (google it) to do so cautiously and use a pH pen!
I use it in my top up reservoir as follows, simply judge the amount of water I added to my reservoir, and add two tsp per litre of kalk powder, stir and let it settle. I add more than needed, due to the nature of kalk to react with CO2 in the water and precipitate in the useless form of calciumcarbonate. To avoid excessive amounts being added by my atu, I have the following fail safes in place:
I turn off the atu for a few hours after mixing in kalk powder. This gives the solution time to settle nd avoids addition of undissolved powder to the aquarium.
My atu is on a timer, 15min on and 30 min off.
A tap on the airline coming from my atu ensures a slow drip rate.
As great a supplement as this powder is, it is important to also remember the following:
It does not add a lot of calcium and alkalinity, so in a tank with heavy calcification rates (read sps dominated) it is unlikely to keep up with demand. There are ways to increase its effectiveness such as increasing evaporation rates and adding vinegar to the solution( 3ml per litre)…. Again, google it.
Kalkwasser does help a great deal with biologically available Ca and Alk, which encourages calcification, yet it does not add Mg and Sr, and a system solely reliant on kalkwasser will eventually become depleted in other elements taken up by calcification. Perhaps this is what SIR @Nemos Janitor was pointing towards?
Regarding the addition of SR an Mg in Kalkwasser, another post shortly.