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Kull 
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Joined: October 24 2003
Location: Zimbabwe
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 Topic: home made 2 part solution
Posted: March 01 2007 at 3:01am |
I got frustrated a little while back with the cost of a certain two part additive soltion. (Calcium and Alkalinity).
I had read an article here on the board a few years back, but I couldn't remember what the reagents where to make my own solution.
So I researched it again and found some good articles on making your own 2 part solutions.
I thought I would share the resource and then share my experience iwth it.
I made solution #1 and #2.
I made solution #1 from ice melt that I had bought in a 50 pound sack at a local store (I had bought for actaully melting ice and not with the intention for using it in the tank).
I made #2 from baking Baking Soda in the Oven for an hour at 300 degrees F.
The solutions worked wonders, and brought both my Calcium and Alkalinity up to the levels that I expected from adding them.
I had some concerns about the quality of the solution that I would get from mixing up the calcium from ice melt. I rana couple of tests prior to adding the solution to the tank, and they came up ok. no copper, no chlorine. Lots of calcium. So I decided what the heck. I added it. It worked, Calcium level came up to the expected level.
I next mixed up the Carbonate stuff, and added it, again worked as expected.
I'm not promoting ice melt, the quality may not be good, but I am saying that we have options to purchasing expensive additives, and that it is quite easy to by in bulk and save.
From the article above, you can see that 2 and 1/2 cups makes about a gallon of solution. Lets just say that a 50 pound bag has 80 cups of stuff in it, that would make about 32 gallons of solution.
32 gallons will last me a long time. And the bag of ice melt cost me $5.00
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"So this is what gives meaning to your life." -Unknown
Daniel in Santaquin
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Dion Richins
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Joined: April 03 2005
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Posted: March 01 2007 at 7:36am |
There are different types of Ice melt out there. If you research on this board you will find the info needed. I prefer pedelow for making calcium. Prestone driveway heat is also of the same type. I'm concerned that your 50lb bag was only $5.00. Make`sure its the right type so you don't crash your investment.
Baking soda is great. I don't bake it anymore to make wash soda. I believe the`proper ratio is 3 parts baking to 1 part wash.(if you go that`way)
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Kull
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Posted: March 05 2007 at 11:37am |
Ok so time has passed, and the system is still doing great.
I don't think I will add more of the ice melt unti I getmore information onit, but the system is doing better then it has in ages.
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"So this is what gives meaning to your life." -Unknown
Daniel in Santaquin
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stephan
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Posted: March 06 2007 at 9:57am |
I've been looking for Calcium Chloride ice melt and can't find it. I can't find Prestone driveway heat anywhere and the only stuff I see doesn't tell you what it is or if it does it's Magnesium Chloride or something else.
Anybody know where I can get some stuff hopefully sort of near Provo?
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Stephan Lovstedt
Camarillo, CA
65 Gallon Glass
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tamortman
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Posted: March 06 2007 at 10:19am |
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i saw the driveway heat at home depot in riverton
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gateb
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Posted: March 06 2007 at 10:44am |
I just bought some food grade Kalkwasser Power (CaOH) and Mag Flake from this company:
It only took 2 days to get here.
I gave up on looking for chemicals here in Ogden. My SUV only gets 12 mpg and I was tired of driving around to all of the Home Depots, Lowe's, hardware and grocery stores in the area looking for Mag Flake and Mrs. Wages. From now on I'll just order from here and save myself the frustration of trying to find the stuff locally.
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120 Gal RR
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Ogden, UT
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john hill
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Posted: March 06 2007 at 6:06pm |
I got it at home depo in provo on sunday but dont know how to use it 
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DaveB
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Posted: March 13 2007 at 11:04am |
There have been many studies done on this also. The simple fact of the matter is this. If you buy a good grade of Driveway Heat, the resulting mixture is as pure as any other product you can buy for two part solutions at any aquarium store. In fact one product that we all have seen called "Turbo Calcium" is nothing more then the purest form of Calcium Chloride available. The one that is the tiny round balls, not the flake.
Dave
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Kull
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Posted: March 13 2007 at 11:43am |
This article
explains it quite well.
what you do is mix the dry stuff up with the specified amount of water.
This creates the "solution" this is higly concentrated, and it similiar at this point to what you buy in the stores as bionic* or some other name.
You add the amoun that is proper for you tank, to maintain your calcium at the level that you want it,
You do the same thing with the baked baking soda. You generally want to add both to your tank, and not just one.
However each tank veries, and you should monitor your calcium and alk levels. I would be sure to watch them before and after you start playing with the new mixtures as well so that you can get a good idea how much you really need to add.
Remember less is more. (Start by adding a little bit and checking stuff, then increase as needed)
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"So this is what gives meaning to your life." -Unknown
Daniel in Santaquin
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ReefBones
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Posted: March 13 2007 at 12:52pm |
I was just at Auto Zone here in Magna. (3500 south 7200 West) .. they still have quite a bit of the prestone driveway heat ... I bought 3 bottles of it .. should last me quite a while.
Still looking for the MagFlakes though .. anyone know who carries this???
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140 gallon Reef
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801-865-6074
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lil' man
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Posted: March 20 2007 at 4:47pm |
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So the driveway heater is for my calcium
And the baking soda is for my alkalinity?
Is that all I have to add or is there any other parts that I need to do this?
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Kevin
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Posted: March 20 2007 at 6:06pm |
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Magnezium is also added every so often (Not nearly as often as the other two). This can be done through epsom salts or another way. Read the article listed above to get specifics on how to make the 2 part addatives and the magnezium part.
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faviasteve
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Posted: April 20 2007 at 1:13pm |
I've used both Prestone Driveway Heat and Peladow and they look identical to me. I've used one or the other for 2 years in multiple tanks with no adverse effects, as far as I can tell. I've heard Dow manufactures most of the calcium chloride in the U.S., so it's probably exactly the same.
Check the PH of your baking soda/baked baking soda mix before you use it. Sometimes my baked baking soda is very basic (maybe I baked it too long or on too high a temp?) and my ratio is 10:1 or 20:1 to get a correct PH of about 8.2. If you use more baked baking soda in the mix, the solution can be dripped at night to increase PH, like kalkwasser.
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Steve Burton
Logan, Utah
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