is this as big as it sounds

[steamboat1569]

Sure, water is water no matter who makes it. NOT!!! Oil is oil no matter who makes it. NOT.
Wal-Mart sells a different water than I get out of my RO/DI unit, tests completely different.
Penzoil uses a different process than Havoline.
Please don't be so niave as to think that one product is the same as the other.
Besides, My local water company puts out some pretty bad water, and it is not the same as what comes out my RO/DI.
A dog is a dog, right. How come they look different?
Kalkwasser does not test the same as Kent liquid calcium. So, no, Calcium chloride is not Calcium chloride.

 

[falcon63]

the point i was trying to make is that calcium chloride in a solid form is calcium chloride not matter who produces it. i bought a bottle of calcium chloride from my LFS for $20 1lb bottle. I got this bottle at Lowes of calcium chloride 4.5 lbs. for $6.97 all the same ingredients, lower price.

 

[shnookums]

steamboat,
you can't compare city water to ro water they are NOT the same. havoline and pennzoil have different stuff in their oils. what falcon is saying, is he's comparing calcium chloride that he bought at a LFS to any form of calcium chloride. Calcium chloride is calcium chloride Niave? I don't think so. thrifty, yes.
anyways, we put it in our tank today, all is well, the calcium went up like we wanted, and the fish and corals are happy.

 

[steamboat1569]

And this is a tested result?
Calcium Chloride comes in many solid forms. Not just one. Can you point to a site that will give me soluability results on this product. I looked up a material data sheet on this and I would have to look at a couple hundred ways that this product is sold. All of them are not the same or produced in the same manner, but they all say Calcium chloride, with different ways of extracting it and different soluability.

 

[olsenjb]

I have to agree with steamboat. I work in a genetics/biochemistry lab, and just because it says it is the same doesn't mean it was produced the same, extracted the same, or has the same % purity. For example, we have a number of different stock bottles of NaCl in my lab, and depending on the experiment we run, we use different bottles because of how it was produced, extracted, etc. They all say the same thing on them...Sodium Chloride, but they aren't all the same. If the calcium product for swimming pools works for you, then great. I just don't think I dare give it a try in my tank.

 

[demosthenes]

Just a couple of things. Like Schnookums said early at the beginning of the post, that Calcium Chloride is bonded, thus no free Chlorine. IDE is the suffix in Chemistry for a 2-element bond. As for HYDRO, HYPO, and MONO being confusing?
Originally posted by steamboat1569:
<strong>It is very confusing when you have words that start with Hydro, Hypo, Mono, etc.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Do you remember learning Latin and Greek derivatives in school? We learned 450 this year in my GT class, and these are some of the simplest that were learned. Hydro-Water Hypo-Below(Opp. Hyper-Above) Mono-One. Think about this right here, I will break down the following chemical bond. Di-Two Hydrogen-Think about it Ox-Oxygen Ide-2-element bond: DiHydrogenOxide, or put simply, water at it's purest, two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. If you think about this, Mononucleatic means one nucleas, and Monochromatic means one color, or a solid-colored object, as you know what Mono means, you should have inferred that Chrom means color. Once again, Hypo means below, so shouldn't be obvious that Hypochloride is not completely chlorine, or below 100% chlorine? Come on, this stuff must be known and understood.
Originally posted by steamboat1569:
<strong>Shock it is not chlorine, it is calcium hypochloride, it just happens to have 65% free cholorine when it dissolves.</strong><hr></blockquote>

 

[steamboat1569]

Demosthenes, not everyone took latin and greek in school. I happen to take spanish. Latin and Greek came during college. We are trying to help everyone, not just people that took latin or greek.
As far as I can't compare tap water to RO water, it was falcon63 that said puffed rice is puffed rice, and calcium chloride is calcium chloride.
I was trying to say that water is not water, when different processes are imposed. Calcium chloride comes in many different forms, even solid, it comes in varying ways.
Table salt ingredients: Sodium chloride
It does not tell you all the other things that are in it. This stuff comes from a mine in the earth, it will pick up particles of copper, iron, chromium, etc. I have had it tested at great expense. Labels do not mean a thing.
Before you stick something like a chemical in your tank you better go on someone else's word than the manufacturer. They can care less about your tank.
<img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[blondenaso1]

I have to go with Steamboat and Olsengb on this one. I myself have a strong chem background. We are not saying that CaCl is not CaCl, but we are saying that there are different ways in which it can be produced. Some ways produce more impurities and are used for things that do not require high concentrations or purites. Others yeild higher purities that yeild higher concentrations when dissolved in water. The word Molar refers to a solids concentratin when disolve in water in moles/liter. One teaspoon of one solid contraining CaCl and other inpurites will definately not yeild the same concentration as pure CaCl. Also, If I remember correctly you said Calcium HYPOchloride, which correct me if I'm wrong Olsengb, is CaClO not CaCl. I have no idea how that will effect other things in your tank, but I think it will influence pH and the solubility of other solids in the water.
If I were you I would definately monitor pH and other parameters as well, but I wish you luck and let us all know how it turns out.
BTW Olsengb, what type of work do you do?

 

[falcon63]

kents,seachem make the best products out there not hardly. i dont think hth would sell low rate products to put in pools .my pool $25,000 iv seen some over a mill . so i would say there stuff is ok. being there such a small biz there. R&D staff is most likey bigger than kents and seachem

 

[shnookums]

I see we are still discussing this post, so before i reply i would like to wish a happy birthday to steamboat.
blondenaso1, falcon has never stated he's using calcium hypochloride. just Calcium Chloride.
that came from someone else. Again, just trying to save a buck here or two and wanted to share the savings.
status of the tank today since adding the HTH Calcium plus yesterday, Perfecto, everyone is swimming, parameters excellent.

 

[fshhub]

first, the derivatives or whatever you want to call them,a re not known by all, and just because it is called monochloride or whatever, doe snot mean jack sh-- to most of us, here, FYI when you change taht you change teh whole composition in a chemical, and when you are talking about life, then you are getting into a risky area
and i am with steamboat on this one, you gotta look at the inerts too, with many pool chemicals they list them as 65% or 99% and x% is inert, well what other additives are in ther?? i my tank, iwould know this before adding any to my tank

 

[falcon63]

stated earlier, the bottle says it contains:
calcium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, water, strontium chloride. no fillers

 

[jlem]

shnookums. what were you using before you tried the HTH Calcium plus. Are you dosing the same amount. How much do you figure you are saving. I am interested in this as an alternative to.

 

[olsenjb]

Hey blondenaso, thanks for asking. As for calcium hypochloride-I can't find it in my research. I did find calcium hypochlorite which is CaCl2O2. Whereas, calcium chloride is just CaCl2. To be honest, I don't know what effects the difference will have, but I don't think I will try it. Also, I work in a C. elegans genetics research lab developing anti-convalescent/anti-epileptic drugs.

 

[shnookums]

jlem,
I was using a generic label from the LFS. The bottle cost me $20 for 16oz (1lb). The HTH Calcium Plus which contains Calcium Chloride and trace elements of Potassium, Strontium, water, Sodium is a 4.5 lb bottle at Lowes for $6.97. We are dosing 1TBSP per week to keep our calcium up. Our water at home is very low in calcium. so the 1lb bottle from the lfs was lasting a very short time since we do weekly water changes. Initial 1st purchase i saved $13.00. I'm not sure how much, but i feel it will be a substantial amount of money.
I hope i have answered your questions

 

[falcon63]

Reef Advantage Calcium is equivalent to dry Reef Complete. It is a non-caustic (pH 8.3-8.6) optimized blend of ionic calcium designed to restore and maintain calcium levels found in natural seawater. Calcium and carbonates are essential to all coral growth. If either becomes deficient, coral growth will cease, followed by a rapid decline in coral health. Reef Advantage Calcium also includes magnesium and strontium in amounts proportionate to typical utilization ratios (100:5:0.1, Ca:Mg:Sr). This allows one to maintain these two important elements while maintaining calcium. Unlike limewater (kalkwasser),
Guaranteed Analyasis: Calcium (Ca) 34.7%; Magnesium (Mg) 1.73%; Strontium (Sr) 0.0346%
i wonder what the remaning fillers are?

 

[steamboat1569]

Again, you all are assuming that the label is true.
This is what it says on the label of table salt:
Sodium chloride.
The problem is it has copper, iron, potasium, silicate, boron, calcium, and the list goes on and on. salt mines are dried up oceans, and contain many concentrations of different minerals.
The label and the manufacturer are not telling the whole story when it comes to ingredients.
I use instant ocean salt. There are a lot more ingredients than are stated on the package. I just have found it is the best salt out there, even though it has trace elements of some of the "bad stuff".phosphates, etc. The concentrations of these bad chemicals are so miniscule that it will not effect your water perameters.

 

[steamboat1569]

falcon63, I thought you were using calcium plus by hth. You are giving me the ingredient for Reef Advantage. What is the coralation?
What process do they use to "optimize". What chemical changes occur during "optimization".

 

[falcon63]

arch chemicals make this product .thay are emailing all info on this product HTH calcium plus. when i have all info i will post it with all fillers

 

[blondenaso1]

Did you know during the synthesis of asprin two enantiomers are produced, one cures headaches the other...well the other is a nuero-toxin which kills you in about a minute. Obviously they remove all the bad enantiomers, but if they were using the products for something else where it wouldn't matter if they removed it or not do you think they would spend the extra money to purfiy it? NO! Same hear, like Steamboat said, god only know what other trace elements, heavy metals, and other biproducts of its production were not removed because in your pool they do nothing, but in your fishtank they could spell disaster. Why take that chance? We have spent so much money on our tanks and now you are telling me that in order to save $10 every couple months you're willing to risk it all? Why? Just my $.02.
Olsenjb, sounds real interesting! I am a Junior at the University of Florida majoring in Microbiology and Cell Scinces. Next year I am going to work part time in the Food Science Labs doing research on toxic microorganisms in food.