kalkwasser Mrs Wages pickling lime Question

I bought some Mrs Wages and am planning to drip it in my sump to provide all the benefits like kalkwasser does. I have read on various posts and old threads that it is beneficial to add 2 tablespoons per gallon of water and to barely mix it inorder to limit the CO2 that enters it. Then let it settle and only use the clear portion on top of any remaining sediment.

Two questions: 1) Does this sound correct. 2) Currently I don't have an RO/DI unit. Am I better to mix the Mrs wages to treated tap water or do I just use water out of my sump that is already treated to add to the doser and then mix the Mrs wages in it? (Or does it even matter????)

Thanks in advance!

 

treated tap water not saltwater

 

A good rule of thumb is to never put tap water into your tank. Rinsing sponges or cleaning a skimmer with tap water is ok.
Also, you'll want to use sterile ro/di water for any type of dosing so don't use your tank water. This should not be a problem because your already using ro/di water. Right?

 

not using RO/DI water yet.....just treating tap water. The RO/DI unit is next on my list to buy.....unfotunetly have to take a break on the spending after the purchase of the MH fixture and the Skimmer.

Planning on buying an RO/DI from bulk reef by the end of the month.

 

Depending on the content of your tap water you may get some excess precipitation when you mix it up so it's hard to say how well it's going to work, some of the calcium/alkalinity might precipitate out beforehand and be unuseable in the tank.
Also the amount you want to mix in is going to vary with how much your tank needs on a daily basis. 2 tablespoons is close to fully saturated but your tank might not need that much, of course it depends how much of the water you drip in every day as well.

Here is some more info on using Kalkwasser.
What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Kalkwasser-Instructions

 

Otty, Can you explain why you cant scoop out some existing water and use it? I dip a cup into my sump, add buffer for PH and pour it back in. If you use that water for kalk drip, you are not adding salt. Just wondering!

 

AFAIK (someone correct me if I misunderstand it) you may be losing some of your calcium/alkalinity due to precipitation from the amount of calcium/alkalinity that are in the cup of water as well as the lack of available CO2 in the cup of water to react with properly.

It's probably not a lot since you're using such a small water volume and for such a short period of time but that's generally why you wouldn't want to do it I think. In RO water it's just a solution and no chemical reaction is taking place. It probably isn't a big deal but I personally wouldn't do it, but I'm picky about these things.

Oh and another article discussing it if anyone's interested in more info.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm