swimming pool calcium chloride !

[Faisal1976us]

Hi , is it safe to use calcium chloride swimming pool as calcium supplements ?

 

[disc1]

Probably. Got a link to the particular product in question?

 

[blanden.adam]

If you're feeling lucky . A lot of people use industrial grade chemicals (e.g. commercial de-icers) and have good success, but they aren't very well regulated, almost none of them have been tested, and even if they are safe the manufacturing process can change without notification. Personally, I'm never really feeling lucky, so I opt for higher purity chemicals.

 

[fragbox]

why would you want to though? why not use a proven and tested supplement?

 

[cjcolvin]

If its "pure" CaCl2 then there is no issues. Would like know what brand your thinking about using before a definite yes or no answer.

 

[George M. Bisch]

There is not so much difference in price of Calcium supplements and raw calcium so I think you can use directly supplements because they are already tested in pool water.

 

[blanden.adam]

There is not so much difference in price of Calcium supplements and raw calcium so I think you can use directly supplements because they are already tested in pool water.

I"m not really sure what you mean by "raw calcium" versus "calcium supplements." The OP's question is about the safety of pool supply calcium chloride in a reef tank. Hope that clears up any confusion

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Unless it is a brand that some folks have already used successfully, there's no way to tell if it is adequately pure or not. Being pure enough for a pool application says nothing. Tap water is also pure enough for that, and it often is not pure enough for a reef.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Unless it is a brand that some folks have already used successfully, there's no way to tell if it is adequately pure or not.

Definitely. One of the more common contaminants of calcium chloride in the US is lead because of the mineral source that it comes from.

 

[toothybugs]

Definitely. One of the more common contaminants of calcium chloride in the US is lead because of the mineral source that it comes from.

Again, definitely. I am lucky in having access to ultra-pure chemicals, but if I don't get my stuff through my lab I ALWAYS ask for a COA and a PDS on the material. I thought I found a good source of calcium chloride not long ago but the vendor wouldn't give me the documentation so they lost a sale.

If you find a new source of material, link to the PDS and COA and you can always ask the chemists here if it's good to buy or not - given the traffic on this forum, you'll probably know within an hour or two if you should jump on it. You might end up showing all of us a new source of supplements.

 

[bertoni]

People have been successful with a wide range of pool products, but I agree that it's take a lot of testing to be sure about any given batch.

 

[dkeller_nc]

By the way - if you're asking because you're outside the US and either cannot get supplements from a US or UK reef supply netailer, or its harshly expensive to do so because of import taxes/restrictions, then you might look for food-grade calcium chloride.

While it isn't an absolute guarantee of purity suitable for a reef tank, there's a good bet that it will be better controlled than general-use materials. Calcium chloride is widely used for certain food processes, so it should be available in most places, and relatively inexpensive.

 

[George M. Bisch]

There is not so much difference in price of Calcium supplements and raw calcium so I think you can use directly supplements because they are already tested in pool water.

I was talking about this raw calcium.

 

[bertoni]

That is a picture of a lump of calcium carbonate, as far as I can tell, but I can't be sure. Calcium carbonate isn't use except as live rock or sand.