It’s that time of the season that stores should be selling Calcium Choride (ice melting salt). I’m looking specifically for Dowflakes brand. If any one run into some at any stores please let me know where, so that I can get some. Thank you.
Any body else dose calcium chloride? what brand do you use?
I believe I am using Dow calcium chloride to dose my tank. Just finished my first gallon of it using Randy’s two part method.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php
Is that what you are doing A?
Yes, Matt. That’s my new plan. Since it’s gonna be a larger dosing for the new tank and I would like to save some money doing it.
What are you dosing for alk and mag? are you doing the Randy Farley recipe? 1 or 2?
Tagging along I need some too
havent seen dow flake in years… might check southern states or other places than lowes or depot. many people (myself included) use Cforce. I have a bag that Ive been working on for years. with that said, I have read that the quality has been iffy lately. JMHO, but the next time I need Ca I will probably be ordering from BRS. its just not worth the risk to me at this point, but to each his own… For alk use arm and hammer baking soda, for Mag use magflake and epsom salts. though again, Ive heard that mag flake specifically warns agains using its product for this application. you can get both mg and ca from BRS… arm and hammer and epsom salts are food products and have high purity standards.
I checked my box and it is Cforce as well, use arm and hammer baking soda for alk, and mag haven’t gone the generic rout I have kent tech M. Just finished the first gallon of ca/alk need to figure out how much tech M to use. Hmmmm
Hey A!
I’ve used C-FORCE and Prestone Driveway Heat the past 8-9 years.
I’m working off the last bag of driveway heat now. i saw a place that has MAG FLAKE in stock for about $18 a 50# bag. if anyone is looking. HD and Lowes usually stock the calcium about christmas or just after. unless a big storm looks like its blowing in. no luck yet.
actually, ive got two unopened 50# bags of MAGFLAKE if anyone wants to buy one. like the pic, one is pellets, and one is flake. no difference for the mag flake, just shape. both are hexahydrate salts.
last year i thought i was low on mag flake instead of calcium chloride. so i bought another bag of Mag. when i got home i discovered my memory was wrong. so i need a bag of calcium chloride this year too. still got half a bucket.
Actually, i did try the Dow Flakes first. first thing is their flakes are the hydrated variety of CaCl. Its only about 77% calcium chloride . so you have to use more. the other thing i didnt like about it was it left a pinkish brown sediment in the jug when i mixed it with water for the Randy two part Calcium solution. the other two are anhydrous and about 94% Plus CaCl, . thats why i have used them.
Ken, what is driveway heat? Calcium Choride or Mag? and in your statement, “the other two are anhydrous and about 94% Plus CaCl, . thats why i have used them.” what 2 are you talking about? and where you get the info about what percentage are these CaCl?
Also, I’ll take the Mag Flake not the pellet off your hands if you want. Let me know how much and we can do the exchange at the Christmas dinner meeting. thanks Ken.
Ken do you still get the pinkish sediment with Cforce? I made a batch the other night and got it on top. It seems to be floating to the top of the jug. I’m thinking of skimming it of the top with a turkey baseter.
A I’m doing recipe 1. So far so good. One gallon down. The baking soda is hard to mix without heating it up!
Anyone. I still feel like my pH is around 7.8ish using this recipe. Any ideas? I was thinking about trying mrs wages pickling lime for top off after I use the two part to get the levels up.
-Prestone driveway heat is CaCl2
-all these products are bulk commodity chemicals and vary in purity. they are not generally 100%. what else is in there? who knows.
-most of the products have a rough assay (analysis) on the package. if its hydrated, there is less CaCl2 so you have to use more of it. with the anhydrous (no water) you need to use less.
-my solutions of Cforce turn pink as well. I have not had any issues from dosing my bag though.
-Recpie 1 calls for cooking the baking soda- it is no longer actually baking soda (sodium bicarb, or NaHCO3) it is now wash soda (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3). heating when dissolving is normal and not bad unless you melt your container.
-If your Mg, Ca and Alk are all OK then you will need to explore other PH issues- adding kalk into your top off will help a little, but may not drive it up too much higer. 7.8-8 isnt too bad though.
Yea corals are still growing. Coraline algae a seems to be standing still. I’ve read 1 tsp kalk for every gallon of top off water. Mix with a spoon and let settle? What’s a cheap, safe, maybe homemade way of doseing?
Ive always used a Tom pump to pump over my top off solution. Pump is on a timer for ~20min a day, pumps from top off resovoir over to the sump, with a float as back up to keep it from overflowing. never had any problems with it.
I use a Kent doser for my top off / alk (when I use it). I have the 5g model but they make a 3g as well. It has an IV type turb about an inch up the side and a driop regulator on the hose. I put it on a shelf above my sump, adjust accordingly, and let it drip in. The elevated hose input keeps it from dripping the kalk sludge and ensures you’re only dosing the high PH top off water.
So, the populous are using C-Force for Calcium Chloride. Eric, what are you using for Mg?
I use a mix of epsom(mag sulfate) salts and an old bag of Mag flake(mag chloride). never had a problem with either, but again, if I was buying now I would just buy my mag chlorate from BRS. but with experimentation you could check to see if the bag you get is safe…
Hey “A”. Just like FCB said. both forms of mag flake are hydrated. so no big diff. i prefer the pellets, so no problem , i’ll bring the bag of mag flake, flake to the dinner for you. i think the nominal price is still about $18 for a 50 lb bag. Sound good for you?
Calcium chloride likes to attract and bond with water molecules to satisfy its structure and still remain a crystal. It it hydrophylic which means it bonds with water readily. that process of bonding releases heat energy as it moves to a more stable state. that is why the best CaCl2 ice melt salts are anhydrous, to generate more heat when it hits the ice and snow to melt it. plus lower the freezing point by making a salt solution.
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there are a couple primary industrial processes for making CaCl2. from limestone rock, or the solvay process. I forget which one, but one produces a strong residue of NH3 ammonium that laces the salt. so we need to test a saturated solution of the CaCl2 before using it. for ammonium. we want the one made with the low or no ammonia in the salt. Or else get to like lots of green algae in your tank.
Any way, short story long says, that through the process of making it, and testing and use, both C-FORCE and Prestone Driveway Heat are anhydrous forms of CaCl2 and ammonium free. And good to use.
Yeah, lots of people on Reef CentraL and elswhere have noted the same mysterious pink sludge. But as for what it is and why it’s there??
In the famous words of Captain Ron explaining why diesel engines Loves their lube oil!,
It’s a Mystery! Boss! No body knows!!