Kalk, Vinegar question

One last question. If the stoichiometric amount was wrong. Then I want to make sure the method is right.

I should add 45 ml of vinegar to a 1 galllon vessel then add 3 tsp of kalk and then dilute that in ro/di full to a gallon? ( or equal amounts more to a larger vessel)

 

it depends on what the purpose of your vinegar addition is for

if it is to maximise the potential of the limewater, and create additional calcium/ alkalinity from its use

if its to act as a carbon source in order to reduce nutrients in your system

adding Vinegar to Kalk achieves both of these things

Yes if you wanted to utilise vinegar as your carbon source
you could follow the directions as set out for Vodka and multiply by 8

but if carbon dosing was your aim, I would consider doing that as a seperate practice from the saturated limewater solution
because independently, both are easy to control

when mixed together, messing with ratio's etc, then that is less easy to monitor/ control


if you did follow the Genetics/ Stony Corals dosing plan
it would have you dosing

0.8 mils per 25 gallons on days 1,2 and 3
1.6 mils per 25 gallons on days 4,5,6 and 7
then adding 4 mils of vinegar (irrespective of tank volume ) thus 5.6 mils for following week
then 9.6 mils week after etc etc

which as you can see means doing a bit of math, to work out how much of your saturated Kalk solution you need to use to represent the values above

basically trying to combine the 2 may mean you achieve 1 at the expense of the other

Steve

the math

there are 3785 mils of water in 1 US gallon

therefore 45 divided by 3785 = 0.011
therefore there would be 0.011 mils of Vinegar in every mil of Kalkwasser made in the above manner
thus to achieve 0.8 mils of vinegar , you would need to add just over 70 mils of saturated kalk mix
to achieve 1.6 mils of vinegar you would need to add just over 140 mils Kalkwasser

for each increase of 4 mils - you would have to add about 370 mils of solution

which if done in the manner you suggested could possibly cause your Calcium and Alkalinity to escalate above recomended reef parameters - depending on your demand
in some tanks even this amount of saturated Kalkwasser would not keep up with demand

Steve

 

start with 1 gallon of RODI
add 3 teaspoons of Kalk
Add 45 mils vinegar

Mix well
allow to stand for at least 8 hours

decant the resulting solution ( trying to prevent the sludge on the bottom of the gallon container and the crust on the top, from getting into the storage container/ containers)

 

Get this.. Randy holme farley just told me I could actually dose vinegar saturated in lime without any RO/DI.

That would take one of the variables out. I'm sure my tanks consumption is greater than the saturated kalk when following the carbon dosing rules (My tank is FULL of sps). So I could dose the vinegar like the kalk wasn't there and just use my 2 part to make up the difference. Should make this much easier (at least in my head) The vinegar will guarantee a full reaction so I don't have to worry about the sludge right?


Currently I'm dosing about 185ml a day of cal and 185ml of Alk

 

This post is interesting. Thanks for sharing the info. Very Useful.

 

I have now been dosing a kalk saturated vinegar solution for about 3 months and have been very happy with the results. It is easy to use and cheap!