Calcium ?

[Beverly]

You're welcome, Marcus

Here is the link for the RC thread on washing soda ("baked" baking soda) and baking soda. It contains a link to one of Randy's articles

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...shing+soda+mix

[danny zubot]

Just a note, turbo calcium will raise chloride levels also. Not recommended for Ca maintenance

This is true. I've spoken to the technical guys at Kent about it and although they recognize the potential danger in adding chloride ions to a tank, they assured me that they haven't had a case of a tank failing because of using their product. they said natural sea water contains up to 20,000 ppm of chloride ions, but they didn't tell me what the concentration is in Kent Turbo Calcium.

I have recently begun using a regiment of combined Turbo Calcium and Kalk to buffer my tank. Its taken a while but my levels are slowly but steadily increasing from the 310ppm mark up to 360 as of yesterday. Its a lot cheeper than liquid suppliments.

[ron101]

My cheap dosing routine:
- Food grade Calcium Hydroxide (Kalk) for all topoff
- Arm and Hammer baking soda for buffer
- Bulk Calcium Chloride from swimming pool supply store (tip courtesy of Chin Lee)

I make up liquid solutions in advance for easy dispensing.

[danny zubot]

I was actually wondering about adding baking soda to the kalk water after mixing it, to nutralize the ph a bit. Are there any ill effects from doing this in your experience?

[ron101]

Originally Posted by danny zubot

I was actually wondering about adding baking soda to the kalk water after mixing it, to nutralize the ph a bit. Are there any ill effects from doing this in your experience?

Never tried it - never had a reason to. I would guess that since baking soda will supply carbon (as carbonate) that the combination would lead to calcium carbonate precipitation, which would render the kalk useless.

From my experience systems tend to run lower than pH 8.2-8.3 and kalk can be beneficial in raising it.

Unless you have identified an 'abnormal' pH level as the cause of a problem I would'nt get too creative in trying to obtain textbook levels. Often it can do more harm than good. If you have to lower your pH due to Kalk use then I suggest adding vinegar to the kalk mixture POST mixing.

[danny zubot]

Good to know. I have added vinegar in the past but I am always hesitant because, well, its vinegar. Thanks!

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by danny zubot

Good to know. I have added vinegar in the past but I am always hesitant because, well, its vinegar. Thanks!

Danny,

You've got to read the links I provide The following quote is from:

High pH: Causes and Cures:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.htm

Addition of vinegar via limewater. Commercial distilled white vinegar can be used to reduce tank pH by adding it to limewater that is subsequently added to the aquarium. Do not use wine vinegars as they may contain undesirable organics in addition to the acetic acid. A reasonable dose to start with is 45 ml of vinegar per gallon of limewater.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Beverly

Both "baked" baking soda and baking soda raise alk levels. "Baked" baking soda raises pH while baking soda lowers pH.

it is also important to remember that the raw baking soda's effect of lowering PH is only temporary. I have never used Baked baking soda so I don't know about its ability to permantly raise PH but I fine after a couple hours my PH is back to normal and it doesn't get lowered that much at all for the amount of baking soda I use.

Steve

[BT05]

Vinegar is great for lowering ph of kalk, just use the same brand pictured in that article; "Heinz pure white vinegar" or any other distilled brand. In addition to this, it also helps dissolve kalk mix more readily even the "kalk" sludge in the bottom of your kalk bucket/container. (I think this info is in one of the articles listed by Beverly as well.) If you follow the suggestion of 45ml vinegar/gallon using a 2tsp/gallon (10mg/gallon) kalk mix, you'll get a fairly "safe" solution to add to your tank once everything settles. You can add it all at once considering you have a larger tank (100+ gallons); use a drip line anyway but open it fully. Should take about an hour to empty 5 gallons of kalk mix this way.

Although vinegar does reduce alkalinity, the effect is negligible in Calgary as our water is REALLY hard from 122-248 mg/L or ppm (6.8-13.8 dKH). Your exact range depends on what reservoir your water is drawn from whether it be from the Glenmore in the South (very hard water) or Bearspaw reservoir in the North (not as hard as the south).

Hopefully this puts your mind at ease next time you consider adding vinegar.