best drip rate for kalkwasser

[bemyself]

Dear all,
I has a 80 gallon and a 60 gallon sump. As advise by my LFS,I believe there's a neccessity for me to increase my calcium level (presently only 220).
My LFS recommended kalkwasser as a way to raise calcium but did not recommend how to dose. So the question is how I'm going to dose the kalkwasser thru a dripper. What will be the drip per minute considering the size of my tank.
If there's anybody have a better recommendation other than kalkwasser, please advise. Really appreciate all of your help.

[mogurnda]

That's not simple, I'm afraid. I would go for saturated kalk, at a rate that equals your rate of evaporation. Kalkwasser is great, but it may not be enough to make up for all of your Ca deficit. You may need to resort to something like a two-part (Ca+Alkalinity) supplement. This thread (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14709) will help, plus, I would read this article (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm) before starting any dosing program.

What I have learned from trying to maintain stable dosing systems is that you make changes slowly, and monitor the effects over several days or a week. Each tweak will take time to come to equilibrium. One thing that will help you is to know your evaporation rate. Do you know how much freshwater you need to add every week? You can set a drip rate to equal this rate. There is even a seconds/drip value that will tell you how many milliliters/day you will add. I have the numbers conveniently at home where I can't get them right now. You can also set a drip at a certain rate and come back to measure how much has accumulated.

Take it slowly. Your livestock will be a lot happier if conditions are relatively stable rather than bouncing all around. HTH.

[bemyself]

hi mogurnda,
thanks alot for your advice and recommendation. maybe i'll do both (i.e. dose kalkwasser and adding the 2 parts additive) to help increase my calcium. by the way, do you have any reliable brand for a 2 parts additive that you would like to recommend?
once again appreciate your help

[mogurnda]

The additives are all pretty much one part CaCl2 and one part NaHCO3, and they will all do the trick. I have used ESV B-Ionic, and it has been great. I got it Premium Aquatics (http://premiumaquatics.com) if you can't find it locally.

[bemyself]

hi mogurnda,
thanks for the info. really appreciate your help. thanks once again

[mogurnda]

Good luck!
I just noticed that you're in Thailand, so I guess Premium Aquatics isn't really an option. Oops.