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calcium carbonate
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:29 pm
by Rebel01
2 questions. Can I use agricultural lime to add calcium to my tank? Also I work in a papermill. Lime is a by product that they give away. Has anyone ever tried to use papermill lime?
Re: calcium carbonate
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:47 pm
by AuroraDrvr
Rebel01 wrote:2 questions. Can I use agricultural lime to add calcium to my tank? Also I work in a papermill. Lime is a by product that they give away. Has anyone ever tried to use papermill lime?
I've cleaned up garden lime and am currently using the dolomite pellets as a refugium base in our 240.
That said, the pure lime is way too dirty. There's a ton of gunk in it. If you want a cheap alternative to Kalkwasser, go to the pickling department at Wal-Mart and grab yourself some bags of Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime. I think it's $2 for a sizeable bag (compared to Kalkwasser).
Re: calcium carbonate
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:23 pm
by Rebel01
By cleaning up do u mean cleaning all the dust and trash?
Re: calcium carbonate
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:02 pm
by Amphiprion
Rebel01 wrote:2 questions. Can I use agricultural lime to add calcium to my tank? Also I work in a papermill. Lime is a by product that they give away. Has anyone ever tried to use papermill lime?
In short, no. While impurities are definitely a concern, using calcium carbonate at all is a waste of time and money. The solubility of CaCO3 in seawater (with proper parameters) is near-zero. Only some biofilm dissolution would allow any to be freed--and that wouldn't occur at a pace quick enough to keep up with even small demands. Even if you dissolved some in RO water, the gains would be minimal and you'd have to use a lot of it (gallons) to have any sort of effect.
Re: calcium carbonate
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:52 pm
by AuroraDrvr
Amphiprion wrote:Rebel01 wrote:2 questions. Can I use agricultural lime to add calcium to my tank? Also I work in a papermill. Lime is a by product that they give away. Has anyone ever tried to use papermill lime?
In short, no. While impurities are definitely a concern, using calcium carbonate at all is a waste of time and money. The solubility of CaCO3 in seawater (with proper parameters) is near-zero. Only some biofilm dissolution would allow any to be freed--and that wouldn't occur at a pace quick enough to keep up with even small demands. Even if you dissolved some in RO water, the gains would be minimal and you'd have to use a lot of it (gallons) to have any sort of effect.
An even better point.
FWIW - Pickling Lime is calcium hydroxide, same stuff as Kalkwasser. I wouldn't be surprised if the companies just order Pickling Lime from the suppliers and repackaged it and sell it for 5x more.