kalkwasser and vinegar

[reefnut]

i was just reading an articles on reefscapes about dissolving your kalk in vinegar first.Anybody doing this?from what i rad sounds like a good idea.would like to get opinions from ppl who have both used with vinegar and without and tell me how it worked out for them.

[trilinearmipmap]

I did it for a few weeks, I did not see any difference, however I was not very religious about measuring my kH/Ca levels so the real answer is I don't know. And I don't understand the chemistry behind it either.

[Aquattro]

I've done this for years now. I find it allows the dissolution of more CaOH which is at the very least more efficient. The theory behind it is to have the vinegar act as the carbon source in the reaction of CaOH to CaCO3. It's hard for a hobbyist to be able to notice whether this provides more Ca and alkalinity over straight kalk, but I do have less "sludge" when my top off container is empty.

[Willow]

i did it for awhile but never saw any benifit. i have a reactor now that im setting up so the days of cleaning the kalk bucket out are over.. now it's just cleaning out the 3 foot kalk tower :razz: