Alternitive additives

[MikeDeL]

Im tired of paying an extra $10 for someone to stick a picture of a fish on a container. Can I get a list and "recommended" doses for grocery store additives?


Thanks,
Mike

[Ram_Puppy]

Mike,

I could be wrong on this, and I am sure people will argue and take issue with what I am going to say, but why take a chance? why spend thousands of dollars on building a gorgeous reef and then add something that is food grade instead of something that is closer to a lab grade? I don't have any type of assays that say, for instance, kent super buffer is more pure than Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, but well, I guess you get my point... there are companies out there like SeaChem that will make it a point to show the quality of their ingredients...

I have been thinking the same thing as you, I am tired of it too, but I am hesitant, and would like to hear some really good points on why it is ok to use food grade materials.

[GaryP]

Maybe I need to do a talk on this.

I'm using De-icing salt for Calcium (Dowflake), DIY buffer for alkalinity, and epsom salt for magnesium. Everyone seems to be very happy with it.

I eventually plan on adding a calcium reactor, but until then its working fine.

[Jenn]

What is this "washing soda" I have seen mentioned a few times??? Is it the same as baking soda?

[GaryP]

Jenn,

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, washing soda is sodium carbonate. The buffer we use is a 6:1 mixture of the two ingredients (baking:washing). Most of the fish store stuff, like Kent super buffer, might have a pinch of sodium borate in it (boraxo), but I feel that if you are doing regular water changes that isn't necessary.

[technomex]

The things GaryP uses are pretty much the same things found in B-ionics only much, much cheaper. You can also look in the chemistry forum on RC to make your own two part (gallon of each) calcium and buffer solutions.

A "how to" would be a great idea for the next meeting. Some people actually need to see the demo to better understand.

Fidel

[GaryP]

We're talking about doing some workshops at an upcoming meeting. I plan on doing one on DIY additives. We'll do this as a hands on type of exercise and teach how to do it.

The DIY buffer costs me 45 cents per pound to make.

[MikeDeL]

This kind of meeting topic would be great. Maybe we can turn it into a "The Frugal Reefer" meeting and talk about other things we can use from grocery stores.

So what would be a good starter dose for using pickling lime instead of kalk?


Thanks,
Mike

[GaryP]

Yea, I was thinking about having someone do a demonstration of how to make DIY fish food in a blender as well.

The dose on pickling lime and Kalk should be about the same. I have never used it but the only real difference seems to be the residue you get from it (probably CaCO3).