Kalk saturation

I have been running an ATO with kalk for a few weeks now and things have been going great. However I know that once it it stirred up the clear kalk water should be up top but this is not the case with me. It is all milky looking. I am only adding .5 teaspoons ok kalk per gallon so I dont think i'm over saturating it. I have been using the kalk+2 by Brightwell. I know I've ready that it doesn't really do what it says with the mag but I can get it pretty cheap by me so I dont care to much. any ideas?

 

That's odd. How often is it being stirred?

 

i use this product threw my ato also. and it looks clear after it settles. i mix it right in the ato container. i have 2 layers of eggcrate at the bottom for the kalk to fall threw and settle. a dosing pump (3000 aqua medic) to add the water to my sump. my ato water looks clear. i use 2 teaspoons per 2.4 gallons of water.

here is how i add to the ato water. its sounds odd but works great. i have a 100ml sock in a sock holder in my ato water container, i put the 2 teaspoons into the sock and pour the 2.4 gallons of water threw the sock. it mixes it right up, the water clouds, than settles pretty fast and has been working great. oh i also pour a little clean ro water into my sump. just enough to be sure the ato doesnt come on for at least an hour.

im not sure if you mean your adding 5 teaspoons? or 1/2 teaspoon?

 

How long are you letting it settle? It can take many hours to go completely clear. Although, it seems to be somewhat common to still be a bit cloudy even then. If you let it settle overnight I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I meant 1/2 teaspoon. But my lid is very tight for my ATO. Could it just be something as simple as me shaking it a little when opening it up and making it more cloudy? I usually try to shake it every few days but it usually gets used up in 4 days. How often should I clean it? Could the left over kalk be over saturating it?

 

With regular kalk, you can mix as much as you want, and the rest, as well as most impurities will settle out of solution. So, cleaning the bucket and such really doesn't really matter. It has also been shown, that saturated limewater does not loose potency over time. So, you do not need to remix if you are not adding more water.

However, Brightwell has other stuff in it, so I'm not sure how that will effect it. The magnesium will definitely settle out of solution, so this isn't an issue. I am not sure about the strontium though. You don't really want to overdose strontium, so if using this product I would be careful. Definitely clean out excess and test your tank for strontium periodically. It is not used fast and is high in many salt mixes to begin with.

Does it claim to have anything else in it?

about strontium
Aquarium Chemistry: Strontium and the Reef Aquarium — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

 

Once it hit's saturation, the remainder falls out of solution. It's like when you make a supersaturation with sugar and water, at a certain point it cannot remain supersaturated and the remainder precipitates.

 

you mix it once, you shouldnt be shaking it up every few days.
kalk is a mix it once thing. let it settle and use it. if your mixing it no wonder its staying cloudy. when i look at mine it looks cloudy but when i put my finger in the skim on top i can see the waters clear. the skim on top is actually a good thing, from all i have read. it helps to keep air from reacting with the kalk water.