More DIY chemical savings

[neuroslicer]

This time on Kalkwasser mix. MrsWages.com has pickling lime (aka calcium hydroxide aka kalkwasser mix) for $3.85 per pound plus shipping, but during canning season your local Kroger store is selling pickling lime for $2.29 each. I just picked up 6 lb! About as cheap a kalkwasser mix as you'll fine except for the 50 pound bulk amounts.
Jay

 

[bshumake]

Jay, you have my nomination for "Frugal Reefer of the Year."
To add my own 2 pence, I have made my own 8.2 buffer with washing soda and baking soda from Kroger. And If you can't find washing soda... make your own from baking soda. Just bake the soda in a 350 Degree oven for 1 hour on a glass dish. You might need to push the soda around some to make sure all of its getting baked but DO NOT STIR IT! Mr Wizard had an experiment with fine powders and heat sources once.....

 

[neuroslicer]

For those interested in DIY chemicals, there are several nice articles within the Reef Central Chemistry forum. If you're using a two part mixture, the cooked baking soda recipe is a more basic solution (the heating of the baking soda is enough to drive off CO2, leaving only sodium carbonate to deliver carbonate ions to your tank). However, if pH is high (> 8.4) in your tank, you can still add carbonate ions to your tank without the rise in pH... by using a solution of raw/uncooked baking soda. This sodium bicarbonate dissolves in to carbonate ions plus CO2... and CO2 is acidic... this counters the basic qualities of the carbonate ions.

Who knew your grandma's kitchen has such reef supplies?

 

[neuroslicer]

and I'm not frugal if I spend the savings on livestock!

 

[bshumake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8126773#post8126773 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by neuroslicer
and I'm not frugal if I spend the savings on livestock!

Therin lay the GENIUS!

 

[DrPeaches]

Are you dosing kalk Jay? If so, how?

 

[neuroslicer]

I thought I'd give it a try, as a way to increase Ca and Alk more gradually than the 2 part DIY mixture. If Ca and alk or pH get out of balance then I can always go back with the two part mixture and readjust.

I was adding 75 ml of each additive of Randy's DIY 2 part recipe #2 daily, and that is equivalent to 1700 ml of the saturated Kalk. So I slowly drip half that into the tank in the morning when pH is lowest, and the other half in the evening when pH is on the decline. I'm in the process of adjusting the numbers as needed.

 

[DrPeaches]

There seems to be much to say in favor of kalk, but it seems a bit too labor intensive for me. Over the last week my pH has fallen overnight more than I would like (not too low, though), but I think it's because I haven't been dosing enough A-B. I've increased the dosage to 40 ml of each part (75 gal. tank) daily, which, according to the chemistry cyphering I learned all too long ago, delivers about the same Ca and alkalinity as 75 ml of Randy's homemade two-part formula.

I'm monitoring closely to make sure things don't get out of whack, and I hope this cures my pH issue. I'd like for my tank not to drop below 8.0 at night, and ideally not below 8.1. If the pH still doesn't stay in my desired range I might try dosing A-B overnight like Dave suggested.

 

[Rendos]

I dose my A & B at night. That definitely helps with pH swings.

 

[neuroslicer]

Make sure you're using the "recipe one" which involves heating the baking soda to drive off the CO2, rather than use the "recipe two" which uses raw baking soda. Recipe two is for tanks with high pH issues.

Since the volume of the two part additives is so small, even with gradual dosing you're still probably delivering it over a period of less than an hour, while delivering at least 10 times that volume of kalkwasser can be dosed over several hours, making for a more gradual transition. And when you give the two part additive, you still have to add DI to make up for evaporation and skimming. So a lot if not all of that volume can be added as kalk. And it's only two teaspoons per gallon, so not that much work.

 

[DrPeaches]

How much do you have to dose on your big tank, Richard? And Jay, what are you using for kalk delivery?

 

[neuroslicer]

I have a 1000 ml tupperware juice container hanging off the back of my tank, and I drilled a hole in the bottom and stuck in an intravenous cannula that has a drop counter and small plastic count so I can regulate the flow. This morning's values were a little high, 450 on the calcium and 9.1 on the alk, so I will try reducing my kalkwasser to 700 mls twice daily (6 am and 10 pm, give or take).

It really is a matter of making an initial estimate (with a dose calculator like the one on Reef Central) and then monitoring parameters closely for a week or so.

I'm off to buy the remaining 6 lbs of Mrs. Wages pickling lime! Mmmuuuuaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhahhahahahahhah!

 

[DrPeaches]

Hey, don't bogart all the lime. Save some for the rest of us. Maybe we can corner the pickling lime market and set up a cartel.

 

[CaptainDave]

FYI, the last time I was at the Wal-Mart in West Memphis they had plenty of Mrs. Wages.

 

[neuroslicer]

Well the Kroger's in Midtown, at Poplar and Cleveland, is now 11 lbs lighter of Mrs. Wages. Piggley Wiggley, Schnucks and Ike's all in Midtown had none. I think I'm good to go! Sorry Peachy!

 

[DrPeaches]

I'm gonna check out the Wal Mart in Oxford tomorrow; I'm sure they'll have some. I think I might give kalk a try. I just have to find some IV supplies.

 

[Reefdiver77]

I ordered a couple of thumb screw IV controllers off ebay and rigged up a coke bottle with a hole drilled into the cap. I had some IV tubing lying around so I put the tubing into the cap and siliconed it good. I ran the tubing through the thumb controller to regulate the flow. I did have to make a small hole in the top of the bottle for a vent so the liquid would flow. Hey Jay, I am with ya' on being frugal. Heck, I got my wet-dry filtration at Goodwill for $25, my stand at Salvation Army for $15 and a big box of Instant Ocean at Goodwill for $2!!!!!!!!!