Pickling lime from HEB????

[DeletedAccount]

Pickling lime from HEB???? Who uses this and with what success????

[reeffanatic]

i have used it with limited success...
it is less pure than kalkwasser mix,,but for the price you cant beat it..
i have used it with vinegar as well,,,but i still let it set for a few hours so the sediments can accumulate in the bottom of the conainer..

[captexas]

I haven't used it yet, but know several people that do. I picked 2 cans of it up today and will try it soon. If you live near a SuperKMart, they carry it also and as they are going out of business, it's even cheaper :D

Chris

[TexasState]

Hehe, did you neighbor told you about the pickling lime today?
What brand did you pick up from HEB? I've been using Ball's Lime (off and on) since August. After it's been mixed, the water look grayish. This could be due to impurity. I'm going to switch over to a reef specific kalk brand.

Using the pickling lime, I don't have any red slime, or micro algae problem in the main tank. I do have a little light covering of diatom on the sand bed once in awhile. But then, I do overfeed by tank. According the the chemistry moderator on RC, don't use vinegar with the pickling lime.

[dow]

I use the Ball brand. Since I've started using it, I've had increased coraline growth, and the stonies I got from the Jan. meeting are doing well.

[DeletedAccount]

Thanks. Yes, Vihn, djdubdub mentioned it, so I thought I'd ask y'all. Sounded to cheap and easy to be true. Come on, what in this hobby is ever cheap??? Mistakes.... Thought I should ask before I buy.

So, Ca... I cannot get my Ca to go anywhere? I want a clam. Must have Ca. What works well other than a reactor?????

[TexasState]

What works well other than a reactor?????

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code =T3155.000&Category_Code=Dosers

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code =ESV102&Category_Code=ESV

At some point, you will need to use both the Kalk & a reactor to keep up with your calcium.

[djdubdub]

Hey Vihn... I got the Ball... They didnt have Mama Whoever...

Anyway, I asked MATh if she heard of using it... She said that was a touchy subject with her (she can't get it up -- Ca that is)...

I just want some coral-line algae... Thought I'd give it a try... Thanks for the tip...

[Tim Marvin]

Kalk maintains the levels much better than raising it. You will still need some turbo calcium or something to raise it. Don't go higher than 525ppm or you risk precipitating it out of your water. FAST. I run mine in the high 400's

[RedDragon]

hey if you need a kalkwasser reactor I think JimD was selling some (Price Unknown) looks like a good reactor 8)

[captexas]

Misty -
If you try the pickling lime, add it in small amounts at a time and test your PH after each dose. I just tried it with what I figured was a small amount and my PH went crazy, all the way up to 9.3! :shock: I've been doing several small water changes to bring it back down to normal. Hopefully everything will be alright. :oops:

[newtosa]

MAThueson -

Josh is right on here. Use a balanced Ca additive - Kent, bio, ESV, take your pick - to get the Ca up to desired level*. Then begin KW maintenance dosing right away, and your Ca levels should hold.

Tim's advice - use Turbo Calcium to increase the Ca level, then immediately begin KW dosing - is ok too. Both will probably get you there. Turbo Calcium (or any other Ca additive that is "chelated," "calcium glutonate," or "calcium chloride") is not a good maintenance additive, because it will pull your alkalinity down if used for more than a week or so (and in smaller tank volumes, could do so earlier). But for a bump, it's probably fine.

This post is probably a little against the grain. But here goes....
From what I know about your tank (only from the frag meeting, when you were just entertaining the idea of getting into stony corals), there is nothing that stands out to me as needing more Ca than you can deliver with KW for evaporation makeup (assuming you need 3-5 gallons of makeup water per week). I have maintained 325 Ca levels for several years in my 75 gallon tank with Bio-cal once per week, and KW dripped into the sump** to makeup for evaporation. Never needed anything else (in fact, like Tim, I dose nothing else in my tank), and never had a problem.

Until now. Having said all that, I've added 12 or so frags of SPS corals in the last 2 months. And my tried and true method*** is not working any more. There's just too much demand in the tank (several large old LPS corals, dozens of snails, lots of coralline algae, and an 8" T. derasa). Even so, I don't think your tank is anywhere near this needy, in terms of Ca.

Sorry for the long post (again). I just hate to see anyone get dragged into having some kind of a reactor or buying costly additives when there's just no evidence that you need to do so. If you want to, go for it. We'd all love to learn from your experience and cheer you on. But just in case you'd rather not, I guess I'm saying there's no need.

Thanks,
Dean

* So what should your desired Ca level be?
IMO, 325 *if* maintained is sufficient for a T. derasa or T. squamosa clam. My Ca levels haven't consistently been much higher than this for 10 years, and both have done well under those conditions. Again IMO, consistency at 300-350 is much more important than occasional 450-500.

** So what brand of calcium hydroxide (KalkWasser, pickling lime, whatever) am I using? Mrs. Wage's pickling lime, in the small paper bags from the grocery store. Ball works great too, and it comes in a canister with a plastic lid (good to keep it more dry). I've used the grocery store kind for 10 years. Only bought pet-store KW once, when I couldn't find lime at the store (it is seasonal, so buy $5 - $10 worth at a time).

*** My dosing method:
- 5 gallon plastic gas can (red kind from WalMart works fine)
- 1.5 ft rigid airline tubing
- 1 wooden clothespin
- 3 ft airline tubing
- 1-way airline valve (easier if you get the kind that clamp onto the side wall of your sump).
- Mix the KW (RO water and lime, 3 tsp per gallon) in the gas can. Wooden spoon is better than shaking.
- Rig up the tubing. Rigid tubing into gas can, almost to bottom. Airline tubing next; clothespin holding the rigid tubing to gas can opening. Airline tubing leading to valve, at your sump.
- Elevate the gas can: low water level in can higher than high water level in your sump.
- Begin the siphon. Turn down the valve to a slow drip (you need to tune this: start at 1 drop every 3 or 4 seconds; mark sump level; come back in 24 hours; adjust. Plan to increase drip rate slowly; this will assure that you don't raise the pH too high.
- Do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Jacking with this at night only is no fun. Also, by doing it this way you avoid the reason most people are scared of KW: raising the pH too much because they try to add a gallon at a time, "poured in slowly" of course. There is no such thing as poured in slowly, with KW.

[DeletedAccount]

Thanks everyone for the help. I just got in my light (haven't even opened the box yet) and am on my way to a clam. I know that I need a little Ca in the tank for those guys, so I needed to start working on it. I have been using Seachem (AQSS recommended it) but have seen no movement. Thought it best to try something else!!!!

Thnaks again, y'all!!

[TexasState]

I just tried it with what I figured was a small amount and my PH went crazy, all the way up to 9.3!
Anthony Calfo/Peter Wilkin's Kalk Addition Method:

In his Coral Propagation Book, Anthony Calfo recommend to start off with 1/16teaspoon of Kalkwasser per 100 gallon and "wisking it"(not stirring the heck out of it) in a cup of refrigerated, cold water (aids disolving) and slowly pour it right into the main[/b[ tank at night. [b]You should use a pH monitor to measure how much Kalk your system can handle at one time. If I remember correctly from the book (gave my book away already), he said don't make your pH shift more then .05 after you dose. If your pH hardly move, then increase your Kalk dosage the next night. The pH monitor is your guide to determine the amount of Kalk to dose.

I use about 1/2 teaspoon to dose about 130 gallons of water. My pH hardly changed more then .02

Afterward, Measure your calcium and alkilinity level to make sure that both are in line. I dose Alkalinity about once per week.