Who uses standard house hold stuff for alk and cal supplements?

[Mock]

I ask this in the SPS forums b/c the chemistry forums have a LOT of people and ideas from folks that do not have mainly SPS dominated tanks.

I have been baking Arm and Hammer for about a year now making my solution for Alk and I also have been using Prestone Driveway Heat for my Calcium additions.

I rarely do a water change but when I do I will do two or more back to back in a weekend ( roughly 20% of the tank volume a month or close to it).

I just wondered who else out there uses common products instead of going to BRS or using some other forms of dosing.

Has anyone had any problems? Success? Do you have tank pictures or growth pictures with common supplements?

I would like to hear more about it and find out just how many of us there are out there that are running great looking tanks without using top end additions.

 

[Reef Bass]

I use A&H baking soda to mix my alk supplement. Costco has 13.5lb bags. One can also use epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to mix mag supplement, though in the long run a mix of mag sulfate and mag chloride is preferred.

 

[Finland]

Baked Arm & hammer for alk. I also use Mrs. Wages pickling lime for kalk drip. Never had any issues. Here is my red planet growth over 3 months

april 20, 2012

july 13, 2012

 

[Lostinthedark]

I use A & H for ALK. No problems. I want to use Driveway Heat for calcium but am not that confident about it yet. I posted on Reef Central And Manhattan Reefs asking who Used it and only got one reply. I wanted to get a bigger sampling before risking my tank to save a few bucks

 

[Mock]

Well I use Preston Driveway heat for Calcium.... Haven't had a problem with it at all.... I use baked baking soda for my alk and mix up my mag but mostly use epsom...

I have never had any problem with any of them. I am glad to see there are others out that use every day stuff and get good results.

 

[Mock]

One month growth shots of a green eye chalice that I have...

 

[GPB]

Arm and Hammer for ALK. I use Kalk in ATO, but it doesn't keep up. Arm and Hammer makes up the difference.

 

[pancho]

I have been using arm & hammer for alk and DuPont calcium hardness increaser for swimming pools for calcium. No ill effects after using these products for the past 6 years.

 

[Froggy]

I have been using Prestone driveway heat and A&H baking soda for years on my tanks without any issues. Love the results and savings!

 

[Mock]

Pancho, Froggy.... how many times do you do water changes?

 

[rezaktp]

+1 for A&H baking soda and Mrs. Wages for Kalk.

Still on the fence regarding cal alternatives!

 

[Froggy]

Pancho, Froggy.... how many times do you do water changes?

Hi,
I do a 5 gallon water change weekly on my 120 using Instant Ocean. I dose about 100 ml of each solution daily and bake the A&H for an hour at 300 degrees prior to mixing for ph boost as my tank is in the basement and fresh air is limited.

Joe

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

the one thing to point out is that water changes are a must when you mix your own. especially with the calcium because it isn't pure calcium chloride, their are impurities that you're adding that can build up over time and can cause problems. to me it's not worth it to save a few bucks. BRS is cheap enough and it's pure, I went a year and a half without a water change with no ill effects to the tank, I don't think I could have done that with home made products. why take the chance?

 

[Mock]

the one thing to point out is that water changes are a must when you mix your own. especially with the calcium because it isn't pure calcium chloride, their are impurities that you're adding that can build up over time and can cause problems. to me it's not worth it to save a few bucks. BRS is cheap enough and it's pure, I went a year and a half without a water change with no ill effects to the tank, I don't think I could have done that with home made products. why take the chance?

On a large system where we dose a LOT its cheaper.. You cant go to BRS and get bulk shipped for what I can drive down to Autozone and pick up... Just doesnt happen. Two... I rarely do a water change. I might do one a month no different than anyone else would if that....

I have been doing it for over a year now and havent seen a single side effect from it.

It works..... Thats why.

And for what its worth... I went about 8 months while battling through chemo with no water change, I just couldnt do it, although the wife could make solutions and not once did it seem to cause a problem.

Just as good as any high dollar sticker shock stuff at the LFS. =)

 

[Hyperion1337]

Im curious, what is the dosage rate for A&H for alk?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

On a large system where we dose a LOT its cheaper.. You cant go to BRS and get bulk shipped for what I can drive down to Autozone and pick up... Just doesnt happen. Two... I rarely do a water change. I might do one a month no different than anyone else would if that....

I have been doing it for over a year now and havent seen a single side effect from it.

It works..... Thats why.

And for what its worth... I went about 8 months while battling through chemo with no water change, I just couldnt do it, although the wife could make solutions and not once did it seem to cause a problem.

Just as good as any high dollar sticker shock stuff at the LFS. =)

a year isn't long enough to build up the toxicity that will crash your tank. do a little research and see how many 5 plus year sps dominate tanks accredit that to their tank crashing. imho it's not worth it when you can get pharmaceutical grade for such a low price. I'm not sure how it works in your neck of the woods but I just click a few times on the internet and a few days later its at my front door.

 

[Mock]

Im curious, what is the dosage rate for A&H for alk?

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

This is the article that turned me on to it. The dosage rate would depend on your water volume and such....

People have been doing it for years. One such poster in this thread says he has done it for 6 years with no problems.

I would like to see if anyone has had any ill effects from it. If so please post.

I would love to hear the horror stories too...

 

[pancho]

Pancho, Froggy.... how many times do you do water changes?

Every 3 months.