Homemade 2-part recipe (B-Ionic ....)

[racer69]

Below is a link to Randy Holmes-Farly's 2-part homemade recipe.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm

This is a great recipe that I have been using for about 2 months. It has keep my ca and alk levels around 450 and 180 ppm respectively. The only problem so far is the availability of Dowflake. Since I couldn't get Dowflake in Pueblo, I started researching other calcium chloride ice melters, and found two readily available locally. They are Excel (I use this) ice melter, and Preston Heat Driveway melter.

Below is the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the two products.

Excel Ice Melter (Scotwood Industries, Inc.)

Calcium Chloride_________________93% Min
Alkali Chlorides___________________5% Max
Magnesium_____________________.02% Max
Other impurities_________________.20% Max


Prestone Heat Driveway Ice Melter (Dow)

Calcium Chloride__________________90-97%
Sodium Chloride____________________1-2%
Potassium Chloride__________________2-3%
Strontium Chloride___________________0-1%
Water

I called Scotwood industries and was told that Excel is 94-97% pure. I also called Dow and was told that Prestone is 90-92% pure.

You can purchase Excel at Sams club for about $17 for 50 lbs, and you can buy Prestone Heat just about anywhere (Home Depot, Walmart, Autozone...) in a gallon jug.

This is a great way to save money when adding the 2-part system, and we have Randy Holmes-Farley to thank for coming up with this recipe.

PS. If you one of the two ice melters above, you should mix it at 82% of Randy recipe using Dowflake.


Todd

 

[Leopard Wrasse]

Thanks Todd,

might try this myself.

 

[calvin415]

Sweet! Thanks Todd!

 

[Crit21]

Here's the cost:

- Excel pure (94% CaCl2) calcium carbonate ice melt: 50# - $16.50 (Sam's Club)
- Arm & Hammer baking soda (for alkalinity mixture): 12# bag - $12.88 (Sam's Club)
- Epsom Salts: 4# - $2.00 (anywhere)

Quantity of each mixture produced:

Mixtures for low (<8.3) pH:
CaCl2 - 54 gallons
Alk mixture - 11 gallons
Magnesium mixture - 1 gallon

High pH (>8.3) mixtures for CaCl2 and Alk are diluted to 50% of the concentrations above. Magnesium sulfate mixture does not change.

Total cost for the mixtures above: $32
CaCl2 mixture is $0.30 per gallon plus RO/DI water cost
Alkalinity mixture is $1.09 per gallon plus RO/DI water cost

Cost for one gallon each of the two B-Ionic (Calcium and Alkalinity) mixtures: about $33

The only question is--Does it work as well as B Ionic?

Dan
Crit21

 

[COreefer]

Dan, do you know where Bi-ionic is made? They make it in a facility that makes stains and varnish. This recipe will work fine.

 

[Crit21]

My point was that there are other contaminants in the Execl CaCl2, and I don't know if the same contaminants, at the same levels, are in the B-Ionic.

Not sure what it has to do with what else is produced in the factory. I buy gas at Safeway--it doesn't mean my gas is contaminated with ice cream.

 

[pgrantz]

I have bought Dowflake at a place in Denver The name of the company is Rio Grande Co. The address is 201 Santa Fe (2nd and Santa Fe), and the phone number is 303-825-2211.

 

[Crit21]

Sam's Club has a ton of it. 50 pound buckets for $17. if you have a membership, it's the place to go. I like Excel because you have a bucket to use when you're done.

 

[racer69]

You will have to make a s*** load of calcium to be able to use that bucket. HAHA

 

[Crit21]

I should see how much I can dissolve into a gallon of water. It would last forever, and I could use proportionately smaller doses. If not, I'll use it on the driveway and deck--an alternative use I discovered.

 

[Crit21]

Oops. I gave the wrong price for baking soda at Sam's. It's $4.88 for 12 pounds, not $12.88. That means the baking soda will make 11 gallons of alk mixture for $0.44 per gallon, not including the cost of the RO/DI water.

 

[calvin415]

Okay, I'm bumping this back to page 1... I'm tired of searching for it.

 

[Crit21]

Why not save the web page to your hard drive as an HTML file? You'll have it forever that way.

 

[racer69]

Who is using this recipe? I have been using for almost 5 months now with better growth and happier corals. Has anyone had any negative results? On my 180 I am using 90ml per evening.

 

[murfman]

i just use the pickling lime for my kalk, have enough calcium in the tank with the cc substrate.

 

[calvin415]

Just used the Mg recipe to bring my Dad's levels up. He's been using Kalk for the last 6 months, but nothing for Mg levels. Checked them last week and they were at 900! Mixed up the epsom salt mix and used 1/2 a gallon, now his levels are right at 1320. He's using some B-Ionic, but we'll probably start mixing our own once it runs out.

 

[Crit21]

I'm using the 2-part now. My coralline is going berserk.

 

[calvin415]

Todd, do you use a dosing pump with yours? I took your advice and added one to my tank, what a piece of cake! Everything right now is perfectly balanced and I don't even have to worry about my Ph being affected!

 

[racer69]

I haven't got one yet, but plan to in the future. What kind did you get. Is it a dual setup or do you have two singles? I will see it at the meeting anyway.

 

[calvin415]

It's a 2 channel, got it on ebay. The model is the Ensign II and so far, it's my favorite piece of equipment!