Calcium Hydroxide

[macpegg]

Just says Kalkwasser. lol. im not at home at the moment otheriwise i could tell you exactly what it says.. prob would help also . At the bottom where the powder sits if u stir the mixture it does easily lift and swirl, so what i might try and do is use the mix above the laying of the mix and then add more r/o and see if then it does disolve, as then i could actualy see that there is just too much powder going in for the water given.

The water isn`t actually clear though, more milky??



Thats a good link... Im gonna buy some distilled white vinega.. and try mixing it that way.. thx for the help Donya

 

[steelhealr]

This may sound stupid, but, I like to think of all this like marbles in a jar. There is only so much room to add calcium before things start to precipitate out. There is a balance to maintain. Calcium is important in the balance of alkalinity in a marine tank, and, the type that is used. EG:

1) some people use the quick fix liquid calcium solutions. Many of these contain calcium chloride. Over time, the chloride ion will build up and, similar to saline solutions in humans, can act as an acid and end up causing pH problems

2) continued buffering with NaHCO3 may deplete calcium stores over time

3) use of 2 part systems over time is much more expensive than using Kalkwasser

When used judiciously and with care, adding Kalk is one of the best ways to restore calcium levels and maintain good pH and alkalinity levels. SH

 

[Opcn]

For you chemistry boneheads this is Ca(OH)2 not CaO while it seem the Ca(OH)2 plus CO2 might not make CaCO3 you need to take into account the H+ and OH- ions. CO2 desolves in the water as carbonic acid, a diprotic acid (two H+'s) this is why our pH drops at night. CO2 + H2O => H2CO3 and the H+'s disosiate off and then bump into the OH-'s that disociate off of Ca(OH)2 which leaves behind Ca++, CO3-- and 2H2O, if concentrations of Ca++ and CO3-- are high enought then they will form CaCO3 which breaks down slowly, you can add it to your tank, it will not hurt anything, however you may be better off siphoning out the particulate percipitate and tossing it into your Ubersoft DI or distilled top up water and maybe even heating it up a bit to increse solubility.

Good luck

Also, there is no difference really between maintaining calcium and raising calcium,when you maintain you are just raising to previous levels.

 

[superman]

Also, there is no difference really between maintaining calcium and raising calcium,when you maintain you are just raising to previous levels.

When you are trying to bump up your calcium levels from very low levels it is much easier on the system to just dose an additive like Turbo Calcium (Calcium Chloride) and then maintain even levels of alkalinity and calcium with Kalwasser on a drip or in a fresh water that top off system.

 

[Opcn]

No matter how you do it if you shoot calcium up really fast it will cause stress, Kalkwasser works fairly quickly, and you arent adding anything to the system that you don't have too, you just need to pace yourself and try to add things at night rather than the during the day when a pH rise is a bad thing.

 

[superman]

No matter how you do it if you shoot calcium up really fast it will cause stress, Kalkwasser works fairly quickly, and you arent adding anything to the system that you don't have too, you just need to pace yourself and try to add things at night rather than the during the day when a pH rise is a bad thing.

Raising ph during the night is a bad thing? Please explain your theory.

 

[macpegg]

Am I ok if I add the kalkwasser to white distilled vinega in moderation obviously, but as I`ve read the vinega provides all the co2 needed to set off the chemical reaction so that the reef benefits?

 

[Opcn]

Reread what I wrote, "you just need to pace yourself and try to add things at night rather than the during the day when a pH rise is a bad thing".

pH rising durring the day is a bad thing.

Vinegar is CH3COOH and a weak monoprotic orgaiic acid, while it may look as if it would provide CO2 from the COOH par the reality is that the onlything coming off anythime soon is the H+ leaving an acitate ion, while this will keep your pH from changing it will not provide CO2, luckily at night all of your critters and algea are doing that in the form of carbonic acid.

Thge reason CO2 bubbles off when you pour Vinegar onto calcium carbonate live rock is that the vinecarloses its H+ to the carbonate which is at that point carbonic acid and the concntration of the carbonic acid causes it to disosiate into constituent water and carbondioxide. Just use it at night, use up that CO2, do it slowly and don't worry your tank can get more.

 

[macpegg]

If the tank does not have enough co2, am i able to add co2 to the tank?
how do i know that there isn`t enough co2 to begin with?

 

[superman]

If the tank does not have enough co2, am i able to add co2 to the tank?
how do i know that there isn`t enough co2 to begin with?

What is your tank's ph during the day and and what is it at night? huge fluctuations of ph that doesn't climb over 8.0-81 CAN be indicative of too much CO2 in the tank. You'll probably have to do some aeration tests in order to make an accurate assumption.

Keep in mind folks, when dosing calcium Hydroxide you are not only affecting Calcium levels but alkalinity and ph as well. Calcium Chloride has little to no effect on ph or alkalinity. So make sure you are dosing the correct calcium additive in regards to what you are trying to raise.

Example 1-Johny just tested his aquarium's PH, alkalinity, and calcium. All of the above were low, so Johny should use calcium hydroxide to boost his calcium, PH and alkalinity.

Example 2-Susie just tested her aquarium's PH, alkalilnit, and calcium. Her calcium was the only thing that was low. Susie should use calcium chloride to raise her calcium levels.

Example 3- Joe just tested his aquarium's PH, Alkalinity and calcium. His alkalinity was the only thing that was low. Joe should dose baking soda during the DAY to rasie his alkalinity.

Example 4- Beth just tested her aquarium's PH, alkalinity and calcium. Her alkalinity and PH were the only things that were low. Beth should put baking soda in the oven on a baking sheet and bake it at 300 degrees F for one hour, then dose accordingly to raise her PH and alkalinity.

I hope that these BASIC examples will help others in the direction of correct ways of dosing additives to correct low ph, calcium, and alkalinity.

 

[Ed4567]

Reread what I wrote, "you just need to pace yourself and try to add things at night rather than the during the day when a pH rise is a bad thing".

pH rising durring the day is a bad thing.

Vinegar is CH3COOH and a weak monoprotic orgaiic acid, while it may look as if it would provide CO2 from the COOH par the reality is that the onlything coming off anythime soon is the H+ leaving an acitate ion, while this will keep your pH from changing it will not provide CO2, luckily at night all of your critters and algea are doing that in the form of carbonic acid.

Thge reason CO2 bubbles off when you pour Vinegar onto calcium carbonate live rock is that the vinecarloses its H+ to the carbonate which is at that point carbonic acid and the concntration of the carbonic acid causes it to disosiate into constituent water and carbondioxide. Just use it at night, use up that CO2, do it slowly and don't worry your tank can get more.

The acetate ions will be metabolised by bacteria releasing carbon dioxide. Additionally the H+ from the dissociation of vinegar will combine with OH- from kalk, reducing the concentration of OH- and allowing more kalk to dissolve (solubility product etc.). The OH- will later be re-released as acetate ions are metabolised.