Dosing calcium?

kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
#1
So I dose soda ash to keep my alk up and am noticing that I'm starting to get a decline in calcium between water changes. I was thinking about doing ice melt for the calcium and was curious what ice melt brands would be the best. Or on the flip side if that would be a bad idea, and what other products you all would recommend. Due to space and size of tank a calcium reactor isn't a possibility. So I will have to manually dose. I bake my own baking soda for the soda ash. Open to possible better suggestions here as well.
 
DyM

DyM

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
#3
Just know, Dow use to be a lot better on impurities, and back a few years ago there was quite the stir on it - some forums have actual chemists that are reefers and did some tests. I don't think it's a show stopper, just worth looking into. In the past I use to use buy buckets from Costco, and it was just fine. BRS did a video on different calc mixes, brands and I found the pink hugh in the holding container water (you're mixing the calc into) to be true from my experience. To avoid it, just make up a batch, and let the impurities settle to the bottom, then transfer the calc to another container. I didn't bother, and was just fine.

Now, for convience, I buy buckets of Calc (& Mag) from BRS or Fosters and Smith. A bucket lasts 5 or so years so who cares about a few bucks - they do all the testing and it's good as it gets. I always buy bulk things like this including ROX carbon, dry food, etc during black friday specials. Reef on!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dr.DiSilicate

Dr.DiSilicate

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
MASC Vice-President
#4
#4
I’d go the BRS route for 2 part. They have a trusted source and for a small tank it’s it going to break the bank. Hand dosing daily works fine until you start to have a high demand.


Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#5
#5
Dr.DiSilicate said:
I’d go the BRS route for 2 part. They have a trusted source and for a small tank it’s it going to break the bank. Hand dosing daily works fine until you start to have a high demand.
Click to expand...
I second this...

The BRS "brand" is also one of the things they heavily discount on Black Friday. So if you buy a small batch now just to get you through, you could stock up then.
 
TheRealChrisBrown

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#7
#7
I may have some I'm not using since I hooked up the CaRx. It's the new lab grade stuff. I just want to have some handy in case I need to make minor adjustments up or down.
 
SynDen

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
#8
#8
Can't find it now, but recently there was a review of all the ice melters vs the other calc options we have available. They mixed each up to a certain concentration and then ran full spectral analysis on each one. They found that all of the ice melters came back with surprising amount of impurities in them, including copper, lead, arsenic and a bunch of other potential toxins. Some did better then other but they all had at least some toxic stuff in them, where as the CA additives meant for fish had none.
I know a lot of people in the past have used the ice melters to good effect, but after seeing the results of those tests I would not use them at all.
 
kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
#9
SynDen said:
Can't find it now, but recently there was a review of all the ice melters vs the other calc options we have available. They mixed each up to a certain concentration and then ran full spectral analysis on each one. They found that all of the ice melters came back with surprising amount of impurities in them, including copper, lead, arsenic and a bunch of other potential toxins. Some did better then other but they all had at least some toxic stuff in them, where as the CA additives meant for fish had none.
I know a lot of people in the past have used the ice melters to good effect, but after seeing the results of those tests I would not use them at all.
Click to expand...
That's good to know. Thank you for that info. I think I'll go with the 2 part from BRS I just need to get some ordered.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
#11
Prestone driveway heat in the Calcium Chloride - they also have Mag Chloride, so read the label. DowFlake is fine.

I would not trust any study about ice melters that came from BRS or any other supplier - they are a little self serving to me. Dr. Holmes-Farley did some research and the stuff is plenty good... there are more impurities in Kalkwasser. In any case, if you skim and change water, then impurities have never been any kind of an issue. You are going to get just as many impurities from most salt mixes, but nobody worries about these.
 
neil82

neil82

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
#14
I have the half gallon BRS jugs (their old formula) and they are about 1/3 full. That would mix up a one gallon batch and then some which should get you through a couple months. I have the alk and mag too if you want them. It's yours if you want it. You could lend me a bone cutter for the weekend if you have one.
 
kchristensen8064

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
#15
neil82 said:
I have the half gallon BRS jugs (their old formula) and they are about 1/3 full. That would mix up a one gallon batch and then some which should get you through a couple months. I have the alk and mag too if you want them. It's yours if you want it. You could lend me a bone cutter for the weekend if you have one.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I don't have one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top