Can I use DampRid to raise Calcium?

[downhill_biker]

Here is the link to the MSDS. It is a Moisture Absorber that has high anhydrous calcium chloride, but I dont know about chemistry and dont know if the other ingredients are bad.

 

http://www.damprid.com/downloads/2007MSDSCalcium.pdf

[andy]

I'd be very nervous about all that potassium. Plus, it'd raise your salinity (sodium chloride = salt).

[downhill_biker]

thanks. i have decided not to go that route, but rather to use muriatic acid in kalk to make it a good calcium supplement.

[dsoz]

Andy- Anything with ions in it will raise salinity. Kalkwasser raises salinity, calcium reactors raise salinity, even feeding raises salinity. Salinity is just a measure of how much "salt" is in the water. Salt that is defined as made up of a cation (+) and an anion (-). It is not limited to "sodium chloride."

 

With only 2% sodium chloride, and 3% potassium chloride max, they should not cause a problem. The only thing that worries me is that there is at least 10% not accounted for. (85% CaCl2, 2% NaCl, and 3% KCl... that is only 90%... What is the rest? Probably a starch or sugar binder, but it is not listed... )

 

I have used dri-z-air (http://www.drizair.com/faqs.html) there is a MSDS at the bottom of the FAQs. It also has some unlisted ingredients, but it is only 3-7% total missing. I had no problems with it.

 

But if you are going a different direction, it does not make a difference.

 

I hope the muriatic acid works well for you.

 

dsoz

[andy]

Yeah yeah I know... Poor choice of words on my part, I should have just said that I prefer as few "extra" ingredients as possible; no use in adding extra crap when you don't have to.

[downhill_biker]

LOL. i didn't realize that about the salinity. thanks for teaching me, teacher (dsoz). i am going to take back the DampRid, and just go with the Muriatic Acid and Kalk. So....I mixed about 1/4 cup of kalk and 1 1/2 tspn of muriatic acid and RODI in a bottle. Does this sound right? Should I shake this up before dosing, or not? And how much would you recommend starting with, I have about 90gallon water volume.

[dsoz]

I shake mine up really well, then let the white settle out. Then I slowly pour the clear part of the 20 oz water bottle into the sump. Save the white powder in the bottle. Then I add some more RODI, acid, then shake. Let it settle overnight and use the next day.

 

Keep track of your calcium level. If it gets too high, cut back on how much you pour in. If it stays low, get a bigger bottle.

 

I modified a 2-L bottle. I cut the bottom off, turned it top-down, and drilled a hole in the cap. I put a piece of air-line through the hole (silicone it in), and tied a loose knot in the air line. Instant drip device (like an open IV line). Then the acidified kalk can drip slowly into the sump instead of getting added all at once. Then the pH won't change to drastically.

 

dsoz

[tidalsculpin]

Three ?s

 

How are your pH levels after dosing the muriatic acid kalk combo?

How is your kH with this concoction?

Do you dose after light cycle?

[downhill_biker]

with my regular kalk dose, about 2 gallons during the night, from about 10pm till 8am, it raises about .3 max pH, but that is regular kalk

 

with the muriatic acid, it is supposed to lower pH, when i mixed the solution it was around 10.5 pH as a solution, better than the 12+ of normal kalk

 

from what dennis was saying, and what i read online, the muriatic acid does the same thing as vinegar would do and both lowers the pH, and turns some of the alk into ca. that is fine because i will still use regular kalk, but dose this extra, and raise alk, if needbe with baking soda.

 

and yes i do all of my dosing after the lights go out. my pH goes up to 8.5ish in the day, and drops to 8.0 at night, but adding kalk gets me around 8.2 at night, maybe 8.0-8.1

[downhill_biker]

now i have another question. could i just add my same amount of muriatic acid to the kalk i dose every night? that would allow some of the alk to turn into ca, but not all, so it would just change my proportions slightly, and lower the pH slightly, right?

[dsoz]

That is what I would do, rather than make a special acid-kalk mixture, just add the normal amount.

 

Two gallons... My goodness! I thought I was going overboard with a 20 oz bottle! I feel like I have quite a few stony corals, and I use up quite a bit of Calcium as they grow, but I have plenty of coraline so my calcium is not too bad off. I test it, and also have it tested at the LFS (they do not agree, but I have a cheep test kit) I have plenty of available calcium.

 

If that is what is required, then keep it up. It just seems like an awful lot to me. I think that as you start to add the acid that you may find that you need less kalk.

 

dsoz

[downhill_biker]

well that would be nice. i know it is a lot of kalk, but that is what it is taking to keep up, and thats how much evap i get, so it all works out. i know you have a fair amount of stonies, but i have a TON, they are all frags, but there are 30+ of em. i guess you do too, but i like to keep my levels at 440-460 and 10-11