Here are some good links to read through as this will give you a better understanding of water chemistry in aquariums: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=19425

Also, I'm not sure why you are dosing Kalk if there is nothing but cycling rock in the tank...

Kalkwasser is a very basic solution that will raise pH. The solution itself has a pH of around 12 or so. You drip it at night because the pH of the water in the aquarium drops at night due to respiration of the corals and other photosynthetic organisms in the tank. So to create a more stable pH (in the 8.0-8.2 zone) you drip a high pH solution into the lowered pH solution to bring it back up.

first of all, that is a great link... second of all, i wasnt dripping into my new tank, i was dripping into my 20 gallon. BTW your explaination about what it does was great! it really helped me out with the understanding of this additive!!! Thanks

well, its a slow process but there is now about 80G in my tank!!! i will post pics tomorow when im done!

heres a question, how often should i drip the 1/2 tablespoon of pickling lime into my 20 gallon???

anyone??? please??? lol. im at school right now but the tank is full! i will post pics tonight after work!

You normally drip depending on your evaporation rate. It varies from tank to tank. It also depends on how what your calcium levels are at and what you want them to be at and adjust accordingly to those.

ok. tonight was SUPPOSED to be a good night but when the sump was full and the tank was at the right level, we started the syphon on the drains and the return pump and it ran good for about 2 min. then we heard somthing coming from the sump, when we got there, we found this.
http://www.freewebs.com/eriksnanoree...HHHHHHHHHH.jpg
the return pump is sucking the sump dry. its like the water isnt making it around the baffles quick enough.....we had to restrict the flow on the pump to almost nill to keep it somewhat full.... what the hell did i do wrong??? here is another shot. a little closer
http://www.freewebs.com/eriksnanoree...20AHHHHHHH.jpg
PLEASE help me ASAP

Can't you just add more water? Won't that work?

did you get a pump that will somewhat match your bulkhead rating?

no, the power of the pump is well past cut in half and i want it pretty much full power. if i add more water it will just shoot it into the main tank and overflow it.

my mom actually baught the pump for me for christmas and she talked to a guy at J&L and he said that for the 2 1"(i think) overflows a mag 18 would work good. HELP