Food grade calcium chloride as additive

[hooey]

Want to consult if any of you guys here uses food grade calcium chloride mix as regular dosing calcium additive? Will there be any adverse effects?

Is it true that calcium chloride is good for raising ca levels but not ideal for maintaining stable levels? Any advise is appreciated thanks

 

[xiggie]

Yes food grade product has been used on reef tank , for as long as I know without adverse effect. 

2nd question , if a product can increase calcium , I don't see why it cannot be used to maintain stable levels , it is up to the user to be able to adjust dosing amount to match consumption of any element not just calcium. 

 

[JMW]

You might be able to maintain Ca levels with that with appropriate dosing, but how about your KH? That has to be in balance with Ca if you are looking to maintain stable levels...

why not dose kalk?

Btw just curious as to what are your current Ca levels & stock?

[xiggie]

3 basic dosing elements are ca/calcium, kh/alkalinity and mg/magnesium , they all come in food grade product.

when dosing all these 3 elements you need to know and pin point your tank consumption of these 3 elements. They may differ from each other coz different element are used up differently according to what live stock the tank has. 

Dose to the required quantity that will replace the amount of element used.

kalkwasse is a mix of kh and calcium (lime) 2 in one mix. If your tank need both then it's good to dose kalk.

my current stock takes in KH at 1-2dkh per day , I run a calcium reactor to maintain the levels . 

I run my tank at 7dkh , 440cal, 1450 mg 

Currently have to dose magnesium  weekly because the calcium reactor doesn't have magnesium stones in it.

Edited October 19, 2015 by xiggie

[JMW]

That's great info xiggie, a calcium reactor really seems to be the most automated & reliable form of dosing both Ca & KH, without having to worry overdosing in wrong proportions...

btw is it possible to monitor how much Ca does your stock takes in daily?

[FuEl]

Lots of information online.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1965327

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?503629-calcium-chloride-77-pure-foodgrade-anygood

[xiggie]

The only way to know how much your stock consumes ca /kh / mg is to do a test daily , without dosing .

say today u tested your water and it says kh 8 , cal 440 , u test again tomorrow and there is a difference like say kh7 and cal 400 ... It means your stock is consuming 1 kh and 40ppm cal per day . Then the following day it drops again to 6kh and 380 cal. It proves that your stock is consuming that much.

from this info u know that a daily dose of cal and kh is needed . 

So if you are using a manual dose , your should calculate the amount u need to replenish the lost element 

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

heres a calculator to use , it'll tell u how much element powder or flakes or liquid u need to dose . 

If a dosing pump is used , then mix the element powder with rodi water in big amount and dose the required quantity via a dosing pump.

a calcium reactor is used when manual dosing does not suffice the required amount due to the fact that your evaporation rate is lower than the dosing liquid amount.

a calcium reactor needs to be tuned to the amount of element need by the stock, and that is another chapter. 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2015 by xiggie

[hooey]

The only way to know how much your stock consumes ca /kh / mg is to do a test daily , without dosing .

say today u tested your water and it says kh 8 , cal 440 , u test again tomorrow and there is a difference like say kh7 and cal 400 ... It means your stock is consuming 1 kh and 40ppm cal per day . Then the following day it drops again to 6kh and 380 cal. It proves that your stock is consuming that much.

from this info u know that a daily dose of cal and kh is needed . 

So if you are using a manual dose , your should calculate the amount u need to replenish the lost element 

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

heres a calculator to use , it'll tell u how much element powder or flakes or liquid u need to dose . 

If a dosing pump is used , then mix the element powder with rodi water in big amount and dose the required quantity via a dosing pump.

a calcium reactor is used when manual dosing does not suffice the required amount due to the fact that your evaporation rate is lower than the dosing liquid amount.

a calcium reactor needs to be tuned to the amount of element need by the stock, and that is another chapter. 

 

 

Thanks for the help guys. I have a mixed reef tank with KH 7.0-7.7 ca about 420. Doing manual dosing atm but just recently got a dosing pump and some food grade sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride which im going to establish my dosing regime soon.

[Guest]

IMO the only risk could be the build up of chloride in the water . Since most of the food grade are cacl, mgcl and nacl. The corals will ultize the ca, mg ect but the chloride will be left in the water which the build up over time might be harmful to the tank itself.

However since we conducted our regular water change, it shouldn't be any issue since the water change will help to remove the chloride from the water.

[xiggie]

IMO the only risk could be the build up of chloride in the water . Since most of the food grade are cacl, mgcl and nacl. The corals will ultize the ca, mg ect but the chloride will be left in the water which the build up over time might be harmful to the tank itself.

 

However since we conducted our regular water change, it shouldn't be any issue since the water change will help to remove the chloride from the water.

sodium chloride ?

[Guest]

sodium chloride ?

Opps sorry correction.. it should be sodium bicarbonate.