Save some cash???

[reef-shark]

Im sick of buying calcium from my lfs. I wanted to toss this up in air and get some options. Buy calcium

[hr]
from the store. Grind the

[hr]
down to into dust add the dust into water bottel with a lid. Add your new calcium suppliment to your tank and save a bundle on chemicals. Is that possible or am I dreaming??? <img src="graemlins//confused2.gif" border="0" alt="[confused2]" />

 

[treble]

I dont think the stuff from the store is good enough for the reef... and I think some of them probably have chemicals in them that make them un-safe for the reef....so I think your caught in a dream world

 

[reef-shark]

Human consumption vitamins are most likely of higher quality then something used on a pet. I might just have to give it a whirl and tell everyone how it goes. I'll set up a nano-reef system.

 

[marco]

how would you gage the doses?

 

[blackdog]

I read that "pickling lime" from a supermarket is the exact same thing as kalkwasser mix, at a much lower price. I haven't tried locating any yet, but apparently it's not the easiest thing to find at any old store -- go to either a really large market or a more specialty store.

 

[broomer5]

Cut/Paste from vitamin website.
Calcium supplements for human consumption include the following forms;
Calcium Forms:
Calcium Carbonate Rock or mineral salt, commonly known as limestone
Calcium Citrate Limestone processed with lactic and citric acids
Calcium Gluconate Limestone processed with gluconic acid
Calcium Lactate Limestone processed with lactic acid
Microcrystalline Hydroxyapatite Processed bone meal
Natural Food Complex Calcium Enzymatically processed plants
Not recommended
Reminds me of the post year ago or so of the guy that said he chewed up Flintstone vitamins, put on a scuba mask, and spit the stuff into his reef tank
Keep thinking though reef-shark !!!!
New techniques emerge everyday !

 

[option720]

Yeah I remember that post Broomer5, I was thinking of it as well while reading this post. As far as the &#8220;pickling lime&#8221; check in the canning section of the grocery store, it should be there.

 

[ky]

Most Calcium supplements have other things added which increase the absorption in the GI track, since the body doesn't easily absorb calcium (like Vit D for instance). Also many of them have other vitamins added, like magnesium. Most importantly, all of them have some sort of inert ingredience added that binds the pill together, allowing it to keep its shape. So, if you did that, you would be adding alot of things that you have no idea if they are reef friendly or not.

 

[cyn]

Pickling lime is what I have used from the start. $1.75 a bag. I found it at the local Kroger store here, but I have seen it at every major chain grocery store I have been in. It is easier to find in the spring and early summer (canning season). Many True Value hardware stores carry it seasonally too.
HTH,
cyn

 

[reef-shark]

I have found a extract in a health food store called pure reef powder. It claims to contain calcium and 70 other reef minerals with no additives. It says its been taken from ground down corals off the shore of Japan. Im going to try it out in my nano-reef so if its dosent work its not a big deal. <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />