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Indu 
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 Topic: Is ice melt safe?
Posted: March 29 2015 at 7:01pm |
I need to raise calcium in my tank. Is it safe to use ice melt that says 'pure calcium chloride' and 'no salt' while I continue to look for Dowflake / Prestone driveway heat. I have been using kalkwasser, but it raises alkalinity more than I need.
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Skulldozer
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 8:57pm |
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Why wouldn't you just dose something like Seachem Reef Fusion?
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badfinger
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 9:07pm |
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I can sell you some calcium chloride from bulkreefsupply. If you want to play it safe.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 10:06pm |
Tell us more about it. Brand and name, etc. As you know, there is no need to spend a lot of money on these chemicals. The Calcium Chloride I bought at Walmart is a 9 lb. jug for $8. It's the same purity, perhaps even manufactured at the same plant, as Prestone Driveway Heat. |
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Indu
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 10:51pm |
 Skulldozer wrote:
Why wouldn't you just dose something like Seachem Reef Fusion? |
I don't have any handy.
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Indu
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 10:51pm |
badfinger wrote:
I can sell you some calcium chloride from bulkreefsupply. If you want to play it safe. |
Great. Pls let me know what you have got and how much.
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Indu
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 10:52pm |
Mark Peterson wrote:
Tell us more about it. Brand and name, etc. As you know, there is no need to spend a lot of money on these chemicals. The Calcium Chloride I bought at Walmart is a 9 lb. jug for $8. It's the same purity, perhaps even manufactured at the same plant, as Prestone Driveway Heat. |
Yes, it is the same thing.
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badfinger
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Posted: March 29 2015 at 11:02pm |
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I will pretty much sell it for the same price as BRS, since that's where I buy it from
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: March 30 2015 at 6:38am |
Yes, that is pure Calcium Chloride(CaCl2), the exact same chemical as the products that can be bought through the online and Local Fish Stores.
The reason this CaCl2 is less expensive as an ice melt is because manufacturers sell it by the truckload for pennies per pound to large stores like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Massive volume buying/selling provides low cost products that we can use in our little corner of the world.
Same goes for Baking Soda. The exact same Alkalinity chemical is used in food and available to hobbyists for much less at the grocery store than when repackaged and marked up for the Local Fish Store shelves.
Online, Bulk Reef Supply(BRS) has been around for about 10 years. They have made a name in the hobby because of moderate volume buying which they pass on as moderate cost savings to hobbyists. Still, they sell 1 gallon of CaCl2 for $19 plus shipping. Compare that to $8 for a gallon of the exact same stuff at Walmart.
Aloha, Mark  |
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Indu
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Posted: March 30 2015 at 9:02am |
Thanks Mark for the confirmation.
badfinger, What do you have available?
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: March 30 2015 at 10:16am |
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It's safe, used bags of it in my tanks.
Adam
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faviasteve
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Posted: March 30 2015 at 12:17pm |
I'm going to buy a bag of Briner's Choice calcium chloride from Ebay. It's food grade so I suspect it will have less dirt/insoluble stuff in it. It's a little more per pound than peladow or safe-t ice melt but still much cheaper than BRS. One thing to consider when buying bulk calcium chloride is how it is produced. Dowflake xtra and Briner's Choice are "manufactured" by a reaction of an underground salt solution (which is pumped to the surface) with lime. It doesn't use ammonia or the "Haber process", so it shouldn't have residual ammonia in the calcium chloride.
I bought a bag of Peladow from Janitor's Closet in Salt Lake, but they stored it in the same shed as nasty cleaning chemicals and the smell (ammonia + who knows what else) has soaked through the plastic bag and I think it could be contaminated. I think I'll just use it on my driveway.
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Steve Burton
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J_Palmer
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Posted: April 17 2015 at 2:31pm |
I know that the snow is now melting but I was curious how the Briners Choice worked for you. I have a carpet cleaning company in Alpine and I use a number of softer chemicals and I come across many carpets that have been damaged by ice melt. But if this is a softer ice melt that wont hurt carpets as much maybe I could recommend it to my customers.
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http://www.immaculatecarpetutah.com/ - Jamie Palmer
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dmw913
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Posted: May 13 2015 at 8:02am |
Ok, I knew I was risk averse in general, but I just had a near panic attack at the thought of putting Prestone Driveway Heat in my fish tank. I fully appreciate the logic and science that it's the same product, but I will happily continue to give BRS, ESV and all my specialty chemical folks their extra money for making me feel better! :)
Cheers to you adventurous Utah reefers out there! I learned something new today!
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PDoug
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Posted: May 17 2015 at 5:45pm |
Ok, I knew I was risk averse in general, but I just had a near panic attack at the thought of putting Prestone Driveway Heat in my fish tank.  I fully appreciate the logic and science that it's the same product, but I will happily continue to give BRS, ESV and all my specialty chemical folks their extra money for making me feel better! Cheers to you adventurous Utah reefers out there!  I learned something new today! Where do you think BRS gets theirs from 
Edited by PDoug - May 17 2015 at 5:46pm
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(307)679-7898 Phillip Douglass 75 Gallon Reef Tank
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dmw913
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Posted: May 17 2015 at 9:04pm |
@PDoug,
I have no idea where BRS gets their stuff, but I will continue to believe it comes from a land with rainbows and unicorns and rapidly dividing ultra ricordea and not from Dow Chemical or their ilk.  |
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PDoug
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Posted: May 25 2015 at 4:05pm |
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(307)679-7898 Phillip Douglass 75 Gallon Reef Tank
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sh2007
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Posted: May 28 2015 at 10:19am |
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when I add the magnesium chloride (Costco ice melt) with the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) they react and form a white milky liquid. Is that normal?. Do you use the milky stuff or just the clear water on the top of the milky liquid only. Thanks
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Trevor40
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Posted: June 03 2015 at 10:56am |
sh2007 wrote:
when I add the magnesium chloride (Costco ice melt) with the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) they react and form a white milky liquid. Is that normal?. Do you use the milky stuff or just the clear water on the top of the milky liquid only. Thanks |
Try mixing them in separate containers and letting them dissolve in the water before combining to add to the tank. That should help with the milky liquid on top.
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Lewy
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Posted: June 03 2015 at 1:44pm |
sh2007 wrote:
when I add the magnesium chloride (Costco ice melt) with the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) they react and form a white milky liquid. Is that normal?. Do you use the milky stuff or just the clear water on the top of the milky liquid only. Thanks |
Are you using R/O water or tap water? When I do this I use distilled and don't have any milky stuff.
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40 gal w/ 20 sump
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