Kalk and a cloudy tank

C

Critter9905

I need some help.....again.
for my top-off I'm using BRS kalk. I started out with the stand 1 Tbsp per gallon, then increased to almost 2 Tbsp per gallon just to keep my parameters up. I maybe go through 5 gallons a week, at most.
The problem I'm having is it make my tank cloudy. When I just dose for alkalinity and calcium, my tank is clear, as I'm just using ro/di for top-off.
Am I doing something wrong with my kalk? should I use a different brand? Should I quit and just dose? ...that's so time consuming!

Again, any help is appreciated.
 
Is your pump that is in your ATO sitting on the bottom, or is it elevated off the bottom a little bit?
 
I use an aqualifter pump.
My top-off water is in a 5 gallon bucket with a Koralia in it to keep the water moving.
The tubing in the bucket sits about 3 inches from the bottom of the bucket
 
2 teaspoons of kalk in a gallon of water is a saturated solution, so a tablespoon is more than will mix in with the water. Secondly, you only want to add the clear solution off of the mix to your tank. I mix mine by shaking the dosing jug, then let it settle for a few hours, or more, before dripping it in to my tank. In a few hours the particles have gone to the bottom of the jug, leaving clear solution to drip. In 2 hours it is pretty clear.
 
So instead of mixing my kalk in a bit of water, then adding to my top off bucket, you're saying mix with a gallon of ro/di in a separate container, let it settle, THEN add only the clear liquid to the top off bucket???
 
@Critter9905 wrote:
So instead of mixing my kalk in a bit of water said:
Yes, you don't want the sediment in your tank. There are some impurities in that. You only add the clear liquid.

Here's a good article by a chemist called "What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime".

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/
Click to expand...
 
I think that if you don't have enough magnesium in the water, when you add the clear lime water, it will cloud the water also.
 
I am using kalk in my 5 gallon auto also I just let it settle on the bottom and it doesn't make my water cloudy I also don't use a koralia so that might be your problem its mixing yours up probably and when you use up all your water just rinse and do it again
 
I agree with the BRS powder and I would agree with not using the Koralia to stir up the kalk. Allow the sludge to settle to the bottom and make sure you elevate the ATO pump so it can't pull the sludge off the bottom and pump it into your tank. Something like this....[attachment=0]image.jpg[/attachment]
 
Ok. I tried to do this, and my tanks cloudy again. I mixed a gallon at a time, and let it settle. The water wasn't clear, even at the top, AFTER sitting for several hours....
What am I doing wrong??????
 
I use a calk reactor now, but I used to dose Kalk many years ago with an iv drip. I would think that a teaspoon to 1 gal would be enough to start with and see if it clears with your RO water. Do you have allot of SPS or clams in your aquarium?
 
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