Ca buffering in you SPS tank

[kevensquint]

I am a big fan of Randy's 2-part, however recently aquarists not familiar with this method as well as other friends I have in the pharma industary have questioned my usage specifically of the Ca part. I use Prestone Driveway Heat, since it is re-packaged Peladow and it is the only CaCl2 available in quebec. Basically, since this stuff is made to be tossed on the road, it is'nt going to be checked for impurities like food grade products are. This has me wondering about the health of some of my SPS and possible unknown contaminants of the Peladow. In general, some of my SPS are not as colorful or have good P/E lately and I have yet to figure out why. I am curious of your experiences with your Ca buffering. So here's a poll.

 

[10" Red Devil]

Heres the thing do you think the stuff actually marketed for aquarium use is any safer? There are no regulations on any Aquarium products. I agree it is a little scary using something made for throwing on the road though.

 

[lesd]

I'm in a "none of the above" category. I just recently shut off my Ca Reactor and started using Randy's two part. The reactor was just a pain to keep running.

So I'll be interested to see the responses to your poll - maybe I should crank up the reactor again.

- Les

 

[10" Red Devil]

mistake.

 

[Weatherman]

Also, "none of the above".

I use Ca(OH)2 along with a calcium reactor.

 

[REEF-DADDY]

I use/have used Randyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s mix. I am currently setting up a reactor. Why? My demand was just too intense for me to keep up; I could not go a day without adding Ca/Alk. Being a banker I get 31 days off per year, and I need my tank to be self sufficient while I am away from it!

 

[rutz81]

Ise

 

[rutz81]

Ise

 

[gophia]

Seeing that your in the pharma industry, is it possible for you (or a friend) to do an analysis of the Ca your using, i.e. mass spec, and post the results for us?

 

[kevensquint]

Not possible, anyways Randy has done it already in his article purity of CaCl2. It seems that there are alot of impurities in DOW, however according to Randy, they are not too bad. I trust his opinion, but that does'nt mean that one day George is'nt standing on top of a pile of CaCl2 pellets shoveling it into a dirty dump truck. Its the "no quality control" factor that has gotten me concerned. In my new tank that I will be starting off in a week, I'm going to use all new water and start dosing CaCl2 by Seachem to see if any corals react differently.

 

[JMBoehling]

Drip Mrs. Wages 24/7 and my Calc stays around 400 and Alk a steady 3.4 Meq/l..