Homemade two part brew

[JimD]

This is what I use and it works very well. Nothing against B-Ionic or the others, I just have a problem with paying high dollar for whats basicly water. Check it out...

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

[cpreefguy]

Aww man, I thought you were talking about beer :(

[JimD]

Speaking of beer..........! Steller idea! lol

[cpreefguy]

Im with you!

[matt]

Yeah, I was hoping for a beer recipe too. As far as the two part Ca and Alk supplement, I use this same stuff and it's great. It costs about .50 of dowflake and maybe .50 of baking soda to make 5 gallons of the stuff.

BTW there's an "improved" recipe which includes an ionically balanced magnesium supplement:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

[5.0Stang]

Where yall get ur dowflake from? I was told i can use the pool calcium stuff from lowes

[Jeff]

http://www.twopartsolution.com/
i already ordered from them once and i got it within a week.

[caferacermike]

Buckeye field supply carries it as well.

I was just about to ask for this recipe and one for Kalk. I have one for Kalk but I wanted to check it against another source first. Thanks for this post.

[dwdenny]

Where yall get ur dowflake from? I was told i can use the pool calcium stuff from lowes

Most pool calcium is in the form of calcium hypochlorite(a lot of chlorine) from what I have seen and dealt with when we had a pool. Now things can change but I wouldn't use it.
Edit: after somemore reading and researching there is a product called Blue Wave hardness increaser and the MSDS sheets has the same chemical composition of dawflake here it is http://www.cheappoolproducts.com/images/docs/BW%20Hardness%20Increaser%20Y591%20-%20Y598.pdf
So if you do go and get the pool stuff then make sure that the lable and MSDS sheets have this information before purchasing the product. But will be much more expensive then dowflake if you can find locally. HTH

Regular dowflake is being replaced by the new product called dowflake xtra. It is going from 77%-80% in dowflake to 83%-87% in the dowflake xtra so the amounts used or the amount added will have to be adjusted as the new product replaces the old.

[matt]

There's another product called Prestone Driveway heat that apparently is repackaged dowflake. I also found something at Lowes called "Dupont calcium hardness increaser" which is 96% calcium chloride, looks exactly like turbo calcium, but nobody has done an independent test for purity. What would be interesting to know is exactly what is Kent turbo calcium; i.e. who do they buy it from? If they buy it from Dupont I'd bet anything this is the same stuff.

A "recipe" for kalk has 2 ingredients; pickling lime and water. Last time I tried to buy pickling lime locally I couldn't find any, so ended up getting the 4lb ESV kalk for about $20. $5/lb is the cheapest I've seen calcium hydroxide packaged for aquarium use, but I've seen Ball pickling lime for $1.50/lb. There's an online place that sells Mrs Wages pickling lime for about $2.50/lb.

[caferacermike]

Whoa, wait there a second Matt, you say that plain ol pickling lime is Kalk? I'm down for that. Just a tablespoon per gallon like the rest? The HEB by my house sells pickling equipment.

The recipe I had is more along the lines of making your own pickling lime I guess. I'll look for it, it's in a book I have round here, and post it when I return this afternoon.

[Texreefer]

i have used pickling lime but much more expensive compared to this,,, one big bag split between a few people would last a long time
20 pounds of kalkwasser

20 pounds of Calcium Hydroxide / 8,908 grams (64 cups) This is the purest food g
http://www.twopartsolution.com/

$37.98 $29.99

[5.0Stang]

We should do a group order soon :skeezy

[matt]

So Mississippi lime is $1.50/lb, same as Ball pickling lime at HEB last time I saw it. Don't forget shipping, though!

That place. two part solutions, is a great idea, but shipping rally adds up on that stuff. When I ordered magflake from buckeye, shipping basically doubled the price.

Mike, kalk powder and pickling lime are the same thing. Make sure you don't buy pickling lime with any added salt. It should say "100% hydrated lime" or calcium hydroxide. It's all food grade.

[caferacermike]

THANK YOU!!

I'm going hunting within the next couple of days. There are at least 3 specialty shops in town that I can think of to look including Callahan's and Breeds. Both of those stores seem likely to stock pickling lime.