Salt Recipe

[TGCanberra 0]

hi... I couldnt find a definitive sticky on this in DIY or here so...

could someone please post a good DIY recipe for salt that would be suitable for a mixed rack system running both tangs and malawis.

All my water is out of a watertank so my salts are zero! Great for breeding african river cichlids but expensive on the salt if I use Seachem for rifties ....

thanks in advance for any help..

Tim

[Citypainter 0]

I used to keep Africans and I used to mix up

1 part b1-carb soda with 1 part Rock salt and then 1/2 a part of swimming pool stabilizer.

[krellious 5]

i used to use to no side effects 1 tea spoon of both epson and bicarb per chlorine (10l) bucket. Fish bred like crazy too. However speak to johns on this forum as he has a better recipe for sale

[Rod54 6]

Here's one I like

Rift Lake salts & buffers

Brichard in his book on Lake Tang published a chemical analysis of Lake Tang water based upon a Belgium expedition of 1948. From this analysis, one can generate a chemical mixture which is much cheaper than the commercially available preparations and which closely approximates the composition of Lake Tang water (which contains very little chloride).

The following products are purchased form either a supermarket or hardware store:

Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) - baking soda

Potassium chloride (KCl) - (a salt substitute)

Magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) - Epsom salts

calcium chloride (CaCl2) - (a pool water hardener)

Assuming a level teaspoon is about 5g mix:

3 teaspoons NaHCO3

1 teaspoon KCl

3 teaspoons MgSO4

1 teaspoon CaCl2

Ths will treat around 50 litres of water and will give total hardness of around 350ppm, calcium hardness of around 150ppm and a pH of around 8.5.

[TGCanberra 0]

thanks.... will go shopping

[TGCanberra 0]

well have got everything except the Calcium Chloride.

Nearest I can find is actual Pool Water Hardener which has the following composition:

Calcium Chloride dihydrate 60-100% ... this is Popit brand http://www.poolpoppits.com.au/msds/POPPIT%20CALCIUM%20HARDNESS%20INCREASER.pdf

Des anyone know if the chemical has to be in the pure form or it is ok to use a commercial pool water hardness product?

thanks, Tim

[MelbBill 0]

It was actually my recipe devised back in th 1970s. The molecular weight of calcium chloride is around 110 while the dihydrate is 146, Therefore to get the same amount of calcium in the water you really need to use one and a third teaspoons of CaCl2.2H2O compared to one teapsoon of CaCl2.

Just make certain you never use calcium chlorate which releases chlorine gas.