I have a 5 gallon bucket of this stuff. Noticed my fluid in my dosing tank is low today.... Went to go mix a new batch and found that the lid on the bucket is opened and there's water inside. The calcium's turned to a solid block.. Arrrrrggghhhhh!!!!! :headwalls: Not sure what happened or who did this but I've placed an order for some more... the thing is, I won't receive it in time... I'm going to run out in a day or two.... My tank consumes about 150ml of this stuff a day... Not sure how the other formulas in the store measure up to this so I don't want to temporarily use the other brands... So... Anyone have 2.5 cups of BRS Calcium Chloride powder they can sell me???
HELP!!! Anyone have 2.5cup BRS 2 part Calcium powder they can sell me???
- Thread starter bimmer88
- Start date
psykobowler
New member
I have it. Will you be at the meeting tonight? I don't use it at all.
psykobowler
New member
If you want to get it ASAP you can also go to sierra chemical in west Sacramento and get it there for like a dollar a pound. I would not get cacl at brs. Sierra chemical carries cacl, mgcl and kalk. FYI, that is where aqualife get their chemicals too.
psykobowler
New member
7 pm. Nope, I used the one from Sierra chemical. It is the same circular pellets that brs is selling. A 50 pound bag cost $39 so it is actually less than a dollar a pound. I buy carbon, gfo and rodi filters at brs. I source magnesium, kalk, calcium and baking soda locally because it is cheaper and you can get it sooner. Good luck.
psykobowler
New member
Check out your reef. John sells calcium chloride. FYI, brs sold pellets and powdered ones. It really doesn't make a difference. They all dissolve in water. Sierra sells the powdered one now. Check johns. He carries cacl.
robert s b.
Active member
Where is Sierra Chemicals?
psykobowler
New member
Here you go Robert. As you know I am running over 700 gallons in my system so buying chemicals from lfs isn't economical. You can get calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, sodium bicarbonate, kalkwasser (calcium hydroxide) and potassium chloride at sierra. They used to sell gfo and I think carbon. I get my mgcl there but I find it cheaper to get the mgso4 (epson salt) at cvs pharmacy with coupons. The sodium bicarbonate I simply go to walmart for their 99 cent arm and hammer baking soda.
http://www.sierrachemicalcompany.com
788 Northport Dr.
W. Sacramento, CA 95691
Phone: 916-371-5943
http://www.sierrachemicalcompany.com
788 Northport Dr.
W. Sacramento, CA 95691
Phone: 916-371-5943
Tweakes182
New member
I still hadnt tried out there Potassium Cholride but I will now. Do you have a good recipe or dosing amount?
And that is funny that cvs and walmart on sell can still beat 50lbs bag bulk price. I knew it was close in price but didnt know it would beat Sierra.
psykobowler
New member
I don't have a recipe for potassium chloride. Although BRS have some kind of calculation or guide to go by on certain chemicals I know it is not an exact science. Potassium is not a trace element in seawater but it gets depleted more in bacteria/carbon driven system. Since I weened my tank of alcohol last summer I no longer add potassium chloride in my system. Just lugol weekly. Yeah, there are certain chemicals that are cheaper to get elsewhere. I still get the bucket of lignite carbon and gfo from BRS because I cannot get it cheaper elsewhere.
robert s b.
Active member
Going there for sure, if anyone has the recipe forS odium Carbonate, Mag and Calc from them would be great.
Tweakes182
New member
This is the recipe I use http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php. I have learned alot from reading the articles on http://reefkeeping.com and http://www.advancedaquarist.com about chemistry do it yourself recipes and more.
My personal opinion If you have a relatively small tank I personally think that more frequent water changes are the best option. But as tank size grows cost increase of water changes so if you want to delay time between water changes and maintain chemistry dosing is pretty much a neccessity. And for any smaller or medium size tank I would recommend buying the prepackaged chemicals from LFS such as YourReef. He actually buys from LA I think a slightly higher lab grade of the same chemicals that Sierra Chemicals sells. It would make since why it is in powder form not pellet or flake.
I would recommend YourReef or a LFS over Sierra unless you are going to buy bulk or have a large system or multiple like 300+ gallons in your house. It took me months to go through 10lbs when I had a smaller tank. And it is a lot more stuff you have to store around the house both your extra dry chemical and you mixed jugs of chemicals. Also CaCl needs to be kept way from moisture sealed somehow. The NaCO3 you have to bake for an hour in the oven before mixing(or at least you should). I now store all the chemicals in 5 gallon buckets since I bought 50lbs bags. Also the other big reason is the cost saving you need to buy bulk to really save.
Example...
MgCl
1lbs cost $6.25
50lbs cost $55.00 = $1.10/lb
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