Dosing Calcium Chloride

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PickledFish

DONT MESS WITH TEXAS!
Joined
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Hey all-

What are the best ways to dose calcium chloride and how much should I use for
a tank with total water volume of aprox 70 gal?

Thanks for the help in advance.....

Kurt
 
Is this turbo CA? If so approx 1/4 tsp to start with. How much to dose overall will depend on how stocked the tank is. I would not use it long term it can cause problems with long term use.
 
Ya, Charlie this is Kurt (Red Hair). Was at Kevins shop on Sat.

Brendon- Its not turbo CA, I purchased it from gregwatson.com when i purchased my plant fertilizers!
 
I thought so, but I wasn't sure, my memory isn't what it used to be:D :D :D
On another subject, did you talk to Tracy??


I have a PM in to someone at another place on CaCl, just waiting to hear back on long term effects. Do you have a ca. test kit?
 
No more than 20 ppm / day Calcium. Slow flow into sump with no other additives its a good way. With the calculator above look for Calcium Dihyrate on the drop down menu.
 
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No a very good idea at all. Things need to be balanced. Can one kinda do it ? Yes, if you play with jd's calculator you can work it backwards to raising the Calcium . Say 20 ppm Calcium is needed/day. If you plug that in and choose the Calcium form you are going to use it will show you how much you will need and the balanced Alk in meq / l . Now, go to the Alk calculator and find the buffer you are using and work it in for 1 meq / l . It will tell how much you will need.

Long term effect ? If you do 30 % or more WC / month a plotted graph will be flat, no worry. And this includes two-parts :eek: If below this 30 % the graph will climb. At 0 WC it will be step. Calcium chloride will plot a more flat graph, if compared to Epsom salt, as the sulfate increases at a greater rate than the chloride. Only reactors or kalk plot flat graphs, especially kalk no matter what.

Randy did a mathematical model on this as did Craig and wrote articles about it.


In short, unbalanced additives cause ionic imbalances and such imbalances make it difficult to maintain various wanted water parameters. One must remember that things like Sodium, Sulfates and Chloride are not used but very, very, very little.
 
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Charlie- i have a CA test kit, im at about 410 ppm, which is fine, i just got the calicum chloride as a precaution becasue im starting to get really good sps growth. BTW thanks for helping me pick out the clam, I luve the yellow rim!

MMkeeper- thanks for the link :)

Boomer- My head hurts. I've been adding Reef carbonate made by seachem 3 times a week as my alk falls from 9-6 every 2-3 days. my calcium is still holding steady at 410, but with the increased sps growth and lots of lps growth im sure it will fall.
 
Brenden said:
Is this turbo CA? If so approx 1/4 tsp to start with. How much to dose overall will depend on how stocked the tank is. I would not use it long term it can cause problems with long term use.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with using turbo calcium? I had been using liquid seeferts calcium. The lfs suggested I switch to the kent turbo pellets. So I have.:confused: That and turbo buffer.
 
Fishead77 said:
What's wrong with using turbo calcium? I had been using liquid seeferts calcium. The lfs suggested I switch to the kent turbo pellets. So I have.:confused: That and turbo buffer.
Click to expand...

Theres nothing wrong with using ca chloride as long as your doing regular waterchanges.

Don
 
What's wrong with using turbo calcium?

It is not a balanced additive. When you sup Calcium it is suppose to be balanced with a buffer. Adding Calcium chloride is so be a one time addition. Meaning, if the calcium is low you bump it one time to the desired level, STOP using it and then sup the tank with a balanced additives, i.e., reactor, 2-part sups, Kalk. These deliver equal proportions of Calcium and buffer. When you dump in Calcium Chloride and a buffer you are guessing or maybe putting the Calcium and Alk where YOU want it. That is a no-no and BAD reef keeping. Water chemistry could care less want you want. It does not obey you :D

Your LFS guy does not know what he/she is talking about. For each 20 ppm of Calcium lost or gained there will be a shift in the alk of 1 meq / l. Meaning, if you need to increase the Calcium 20 ppm there should increase the Alk by 1 meq / l. Similarly if the tank looses 20 ppm Calcium there will be a loss of 1 meq / l Alk.

One of the biggest problems in this hobby is not keeping the water balanced, which creates problems of keeping pH, Calcium, Magnesium and Alk where they are suppose to be. One of the biggest problems with an unbalanced tank is not being able in keeping parameters. This leads to questions like " How come I can not keep my calcium up. It was 380 I raised it to 410 and the next day it was back to 380. Why ?"....... "I can not keep my Alk up. I raised it and it just fell right back where it was. What's wrong ? "

These are the rules to follow

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

Calcium and Alkalinity Balance Issues
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/index.htm

Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm

A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php


At the bottom it explains more on how sulfate and chloride ions accumulate over time vs water changes
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php
 
So... what do you think of this? It's cheap! I want an easier way to take care of my tanks, especially so I can go on vacation or do my weeklong migraine binges without having to worry about my animals so much.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200009122338
I just OD'd calcium carbonate yesterday according to this thread. I had let things get out of control and tried to correct it. Like as in my calcium was 250 on a reef tank. Ouch!
Thanks,
Kate
 
Personally, I have found Calcium chloride to be most handy as a way to make adjustments to the desired level in new salt water prior to adding to the tank, or to make periodic adjustments in the tank water itself, not as a daily suppliment. I drip kalk, which is already balanced, but it does not meet the daily Ca uptake in my tank long term, so I adjust periodically with calcium chloride. As Boomer and others have pointed out, it's important to make sure you calculate what you need, and adjust the alkalinity at the same time, or you may end up with an ionic imbalance in your tank. Just like kalk or any other calcium and/or alkalinity additive, it should be added slowly...preferably dripped into the tank.

If you are already experiencing an imbalance in the tank between alk/ca...often the easiest way to fix it is with water changes using balanced saltwater. In addition, it's wise to check your Mg levels...if they are off that will affect balance as well.

As with any additive, it's important to be testing and monitoring levels to make sure you are not exceeding levels or creating ionic imbalances....

MikeS
 
MikeS said:
I drip kalk, which is already balanced, but it does not meet the daily Ca uptake in my tank long term, so I adjust periodically with calcium chloride. As Boomer and others have pointed out, it's important to make sure you calculate what you need, and adjust the alkalinity at the same time, or you may end up with an ionic imbalance in your tank. Just like kalk or any other calcium and/or alkalinity additive, it should be added slowly...preferably dripped into the tank.

If you are already experiencing an imbalance in the tank between alk/ca...often the easiest way to fix it is with water changes using balanced saltwater. In addition, it's wise to check your Mg levels...if they are off that will affect balance as well.

As with any additive, it's important to be testing and monitoring levels to make sure you are not exceeding levels or creating ionic imbalances....

MikeS
Click to expand...
Mike please talk more about the kalk drip. I've heard of this but don't know much about it. Can you just buy kalk ready to go? How do you 'drip' it in your tank? How do you know how much to drip? Thank for the info., Brian.
 
Fishead77 said:
Mike please talk more about the kalk drip. I've heard of this but don't know much about it. Can you just buy kalk ready to go? How do you 'drip' it in your tank? How do you know how much to drip? Thank for the info., Brian.
Click to expand...


Sure thing...

"Kalk" or kalkwasser mix is simply calcium hydroxide in a powder form. You can buy it from any online marine aquarium store, and most LFS's carry it (although more expensive usually). Dosing is fairly simple, most mix it to max saturation (2 tsp per gallon dosing water...that's water going into the tank, mind you, not aquarium gallons...;) ) let the slurry settle, and then drip the clear liquid into the tank using a doser. As for dosers, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, I made mine out of a rubbermaid juice container (the kind with a screw on lid), some airline, a plastic airline nipple and a plastic t-valve. I start the drip in the morning before I go to work, when the pH of the tank is lowest, as the pH of saturated kalkwasser is around 12. I replace all evaporated water in my tank with kalkwasser, or about 1 gallon a day in my 55. Still, this does not keep up with my Ca/alk demand, it slowly falls, as does Mg. So I periodically use a magnesium suppliment, calcium chloride and baking soda to adjust these levels back to where they need to be. If you decide to use kalk, you'll just have to play with dosage and concentration to figure out how much your tank needs.

some more reading on the subject....

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

The Self Purification of Limewater (Kalkwasser)
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2003/chem.htm

The Degradation of Limewater (Kalkwasser) in Air
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-...ature/index.htm

Magnesium and Strontium in Limewater
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/chem.htm

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

hope this helps

MikeS
 
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