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Re: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
As far as I know, epsom salts increase General Hardness (GH) which
does nothing but help the fish's osmoregulation, making their tank's
parameters closer to their "natural" habitat. Carbonates, like sodium
bicarbonate, aragonite, coral, etc. raise the Carbonate Harness (KH)
which translates to the water's buffering ability. There is a wide
range in the carbonate hardeners as to what pH they hold though.
Baking Soda (sod. bicarb) will only raise the pH to 8.2, no higher,
whereas aragonite begins breaking down and buffering as far up as 8.8
I believe. Crushed coral, afaik, doesn't begin buffering water until
7.6. So if you have a tank that you're trying to keep very hard, like
for Tanganyika fish, keeping some crushed aragonite in the filter
should help keep the pH very high, whereas for many central american
fish, they don't thrive in such high ph, but do require hard water, so
crushed coral or other additives are more beneficial to them.
My understanding of water chemistry is at best elementary, I've only
done research to determine what's best for the fish I keep(Rift Lake
Cichlids), so I wouldn't take my word as gospel, I just know that
different buffers will do different things to one's water.
Laurel
On Jul 27, 2008, at 9:24 AM, Steev Ward wrote:
> It's mostly because carbonates raise the pH and sulfates don't. So
> sulfates aren't
> really buffers. But people might have other reasons for avoiding
> sulfates. In marine
> tanks I think people avoid adding any sulfates. Otherwise Magnesium
> sulfate, epsom
> salts, is great stuff. I think it is good to add for LOTS of fish,
> not just cichlids.
> Especially livebearers, goldfish, koi, rainbowfish, "sharks", corys,
> and barbs.
>
>
> --- Clifford Miller <clifford@clevergeek.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> While the topic was up I thought I'd get some opinions on the
>> buffering
>> agents I'm using. Better to use Magnesium Carbonate than sulfate?
>>
>> I currently use a mix of epsom salts, baking soda and marine salt
>> in my
>> cichlid tanks. Nice and cheap, and easy to get at any drug store
>> if not
>> already on hand. The fish all seem to be doing well (I haven't lost
>> any
>> fish yet, including the 13 daffodils that I think were from Erik.)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Cliff
>>
>>
>>> Hmm, interesting... certainly a possibility for the CaCO3 (if not
>>> for the
>>> MgCO3).
>>>
>>> As an aside, I did consider going ultra-cheap with something like
>>> Dolomite
>>> from a garden center... but there I'm worried there might be TOO
>>> much bad
>>> stuff for the fish. Various web resources seemed to confirm this.
>>>
>>> - Erik
>>>
>>> On Sat, 26 Jul 2008, Connie Carlson wrote:
>>>
>>>> Have you tried any feed stores/livestock supply houses?? I do
>>>> not know
>>>> for sure but would guess that these are also used as mineral
>>>> supplements
>>>> for cattle, etc.
>>>>
>>>> It might be worth an internet search or phone call (DeYoungs in
>>>> Woodinville & Sumner Animal Grub in Sumner are ones I have dealt
>>>> with in
>>>> the past for such things, but there are many others here locally)
>>>> and
>>>> you could probably get them in manageable quantities if so (ie
>>>> one 50#
>>>> bag).
>>>>
>>>> Good luck!
>>>> Connie
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: Erik Olson<mailto:erik@thekrib.com>
>>>> To: gsas-member@thekrib.com<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com>
>>>> Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 4:24 PM
>>>> Subject: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> For the past umpteen years, Kathy and I have foregone the pricey
>>>> "Cichlid
>>>> Salts" and mixed our own formula for our Lake Tanganyika tanks.
>>>> This
>>>> formula consists of dumping in roughly equal parts Calcium
>>>> Carbonate
>>>> and
>>>> Magnesium Carbonate. It's cheap, it's relatively accurate for Lake
>>>> Tanganyika, and it's not so harsh on plants.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately, our umpteen year supply just ran out, and we're
>>>> kinda
>>>> stumped where to get more. We tried Welch-Allyn, which has
>>>> reasonably
>>>> decent prices on both, but they cancelled our order because we're
>>>> not
>>>> an
>>>> educational institution. Bah! How utterly annoying.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, does anyone have any ideas where one might obtain
>>>> inexpensive
>>>> Mag
>>>> Carb and Calcite? Also, if others are interested, I might try to
>>>> coordinate a group buy.
>>>>
>>>> - Erik
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Erik Olson
>>>> erik at thekrib dot com
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Erik Olson
>>> erik at thekrib dot com
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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