DIY salt idea v2

[zachtos]

Reposting an old idea of mine in the chemistry forum.

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artificial seawater recipe posted by randy
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23.98 g sodium chloride
5.029 g magnesium chloride
4.01 g sodium sulfate
1.14 g calcium chloride
0.699 g potassium chloride
0.172 g sodium bicarbonate
0.100 g potassium bromide
0.0254 g boric acid
0.0143 g strontium chloride
0.0029 g sodium fluoride
Water to 1 kg total weight.

I would think this can be done
99.9% pure softner salt = salt
Dowflake = calcium
Baking/Washing Soda = alkalinity/bicarbonate
magflake = magnesium
Epsom salts = magnesium
*Trace supplements in a bottle = iodine, pottasium, borate, strontium etc etc etc for the small stuff.

I've also seen potasium chloride driveway salts and have seen sodium sulfate for sale before as well. I mean why not? I am dropping obscene amounts of money on salt mix when I could just order a few years supply of minor ingredients and pick up water softner salt locally and add 50lbs of salt to a bucket w/ my 'pre fab' additive mix.

At a minimum, you would think we could do 50:50 DIY:storebought.

Also, question, what is to stop a FO tank user from using only softner salt and baking soda since the other chemicals are not necessary (or are they for fish/bacteria)?

 

[bertoni]

I wouldn't trust softener salt to be pure enough, although it could be tried. Dow Flake has a lot of bromide and thus might not be appropriate for this use.

I don't think fish would survive long in a NaCl-only solution.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree. If you were not picky about purity, or you are totally cost conscious (like a coral farm might be), then perhaps you can make do. If so, you can possibly skip the bottom 4 ingredients. I personally think it more trouble than it is worth for most people.