sirrealism
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. So I was messaging with another member about my tank with 5 clams in it. "2 are over 1' long" and he wanted to know what I do to keep them so happy. I told him nothing but clean water, good lighting and lots of alk and cal. I go through 1 gal per week of alk and 1 gal every 3 weeks of cal. I told him I make my own cal and alk. He wanted to know how I do it so i thought I would make a thread on how I do it.
Now I would love to say this is my idea but its not. It comes from http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/chemistry Bookmark that site!!!!
Ok I will start with Calcium because its really easy. I live in FL so there is no dowflake here but for those of you that live in colder climates fallow the directions from the link I posted. I know it works using dowflake and have thought about ordering it online but the shipping is pricey. So for now I will do this with Kent turbo calcium. Only because most LFS carry it.
For this size its super simple. It works out to 400g per gallon. This container made 2 gallons. Fill your 1 gal jug with 0TDS RODI water but leave enough room for the calcium. Its not important to be exact on the 400g. I split the product in 2 and slowly add it to the RODI water. You will notice the jug getting warm but do not worry it wont get hot. Put the cap on and shake until it is disolved. Normally takes a min or 2. Thats it your done!!! so now you have 2 gallons of calcium that if you would have bought in liquid form would cost you 50+$ or much more depending on what brand or size you buy. I did a quick search and found this http://premiumaquatics.com/products...4GFpBAt6cxRDQr1dCLyO9_lI-p8deQbJ_caAk_a8P8HAQ. Its 17.50$ Most people pay that much for 32oz of liquid calcium. Also BRS sells It in bulk really cheap. I bought the 1gal and i can make 10 gal of calcuim from it and its 18$
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-b...ement-1-6aed81cf880f4f9090f0fa8fc5c25d62.html
Alk is pretty simple 2 but takes a bit more work. Here is what I use
Notice the size. 4lbs Its a large box. Now 4 lbs makes 3 gal of alk. Yes by the advancedaquarist link I am off by just a bit but its so close I dont worry about it because I make it the same way every time. If you read the link it talks about if you need you PH down then dont bake it. I dont know anyone who does not need help with there PH so I always bake mine. So I use a large backing sheet and spread out the baking soda and bake it at 300 for an hour.
Now this is where it gets just a bit tricky. The baking soda does not dissolve easy. It dissolves much better in hot water. Couple options i have done. One is I put the jug filled about 3/4ths up in the microwave to get the water hot. It works ok but the last time I did this I used a large pot on the stove and boiled water then moved it off the heat and put my jug of RODI water in the put with the boiling water. I had to do this a couple times to get the water hot enough. If the water is hot enough the baking soda will dissolve with shaking. This takes a few times to get it right. I use a spatula to separate the baking soda into 3 even piles. I use a funnel to poor the baking soda into the jug
.photobucket.com/albums
/af35/sirrealism01/2014-09-07175750_zps646f8c18.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
There is directions for Mag also but most dont need it.
I am sure I am missing something but at the moment I cant think of it so if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Now I would love to say this is my idea but its not. It comes from http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/chemistry Bookmark that site!!!!
Ok I will start with Calcium because its really easy. I live in FL so there is no dowflake here but for those of you that live in colder climates fallow the directions from the link I posted. I know it works using dowflake and have thought about ordering it online but the shipping is pricey. So for now I will do this with Kent turbo calcium. Only because most LFS carry it.
For this size its super simple. It works out to 400g per gallon. This container made 2 gallons. Fill your 1 gal jug with 0TDS RODI water but leave enough room for the calcium. Its not important to be exact on the 400g. I split the product in 2 and slowly add it to the RODI water. You will notice the jug getting warm but do not worry it wont get hot. Put the cap on and shake until it is disolved. Normally takes a min or 2. Thats it your done!!! so now you have 2 gallons of calcium that if you would have bought in liquid form would cost you 50+$ or much more depending on what brand or size you buy. I did a quick search and found this http://premiumaquatics.com/products...4GFpBAt6cxRDQr1dCLyO9_lI-p8deQbJ_caAk_a8P8HAQ. Its 17.50$ Most people pay that much for 32oz of liquid calcium. Also BRS sells It in bulk really cheap. I bought the 1gal and i can make 10 gal of calcuim from it and its 18$
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-b...ement-1-6aed81cf880f4f9090f0fa8fc5c25d62.html
Alk is pretty simple 2 but takes a bit more work. Here is what I use
Notice the size. 4lbs Its a large box. Now 4 lbs makes 3 gal of alk. Yes by the advancedaquarist link I am off by just a bit but its so close I dont worry about it because I make it the same way every time. If you read the link it talks about if you need you PH down then dont bake it. I dont know anyone who does not need help with there PH so I always bake mine. So I use a large backing sheet and spread out the baking soda and bake it at 300 for an hour.
Now this is where it gets just a bit tricky. The baking soda does not dissolve easy. It dissolves much better in hot water. Couple options i have done. One is I put the jug filled about 3/4ths up in the microwave to get the water hot. It works ok but the last time I did this I used a large pot on the stove and boiled water then moved it off the heat and put my jug of RODI water in the put with the boiling water. I had to do this a couple times to get the water hot enough. If the water is hot enough the baking soda will dissolve with shaking. This takes a few times to get it right. I use a spatula to separate the baking soda into 3 even piles. I use a funnel to poor the baking soda into the jug
.photobucket.com/albums/af35/sirrealism01/2014-09-07175750_zps646f8c18.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
There is directions for Mag also but most dont need it.
I am sure I am missing something but at the moment I cant think of it so if you have any questions feel free to ask.
