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.

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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)

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.

 

 

Anybody know where I can get some stuff hopefully sort of near Provo?

 

http://www.twopartsolution.com/ - http://www.twopartsolution.com/

 

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.

 

Dave

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

 

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)

 

Still looking for the MagFlakes though .. anyone know who carries this???

 

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.