dosing kalk and having a calc reactor?

[Troylee]

Ha that's only half of it!!!! I got a whole shalue "spelling" inside my cabinet next to the tank... I love to buy bulk but I buy all my chemicals from md. Since I only use the brightwells line of products... I'm trying all the new atb stuff as we speak and will let you guys know what I think of it soon... So far the atb pellets kick butt!!!! I can't say there better than any other since I have only tried this brand but my pe has never been so intense since a week after kicking the pellets into action....1smile1

 

[skinz78]

I may have to give the Brightwell Kalk +2 a try when I run out here soon.

 

[btkrausen]

Yeah, I think I might try it as well once I run out of my gallon of BRS. haha. I'm actually close to the bottom. How much does a thing of Brightwell run?

 

[Troylee]

It's like a 11$ I think for a 225g or .50 lbs which is really good I think... My lfs charges like 19.99$ so I just buy everything from marine depot.... Ahahahahah lol.

 

[btkrausen]

Nice. I can get the 450g one for $8.70, and the 100mg one for $4.29

 

[gar732]

Nope I just dump a bunch in my resivior which is 10gal and me ATo does the rest.... No need to stir or anything.... I have to fill my resivor every other day so it gets turned almost daily but has been working like a charm!!!!!! Kalk is old school and hands down the best way to add calcium to your tank straight up IMHO....... Cheap, easy, and reliable...1smile1

How do you get your top off water completely saturated if you don't mix, doesn't the kalk just settle to the bottom?

 

[Troylee]

Sure it does but when I pour the water in it stirs the pot good enough to do what it is suppose to IMHO... The water stays cloudy for a few hours and the useless powder sinks to the bottom... It's the same principal as a reactor it soaks up as much as possible then it just sits there untill the new batch of water arrives... Like I said thou I fill my top off every day or every
Other day... It's not sitting for days or weeks... dunno all the science behind it but it works fine for me....

 

[gar732]

That's interesting, I think I'll try that before I go out and buy a reactor. Although in my case ten gallons would last me over week.

 

[Reggie]

I find that Kalk+2 product interesting. I thought kalk and magnesium shouldn't be combined in long periods of time (in a reactor) as kalk will use up magnesium to form magnesium hydroxide and magnesium carbonate. Most of the Magnesium will probably not even make it out the reactor. Also, magnesium hydroxide, once it forms will never redissolve.

EDIT: Found the article: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm

 

[Big Country]

I used to use the ESV kalk but it caked up bad in the bottom of my reactor, switched to the BRS kalk a couple of years ago and really like it. Haven't tried the Brightwell Kalk +2. I add about 1/3 cup of kalk powder to my reactor every weekend and clean out the reactor once a month to start fresh on a 180g system.