Making Kalkwasser in Canada
 

hey guys. finally got my tank up and running with some fish too. its looking great, thanks to the fully cured LR i was able to get from a reefer up island.... so my question is this, where can i buy pickling lime for making kalkwasser up here? i know on the american boards they all talk about how easy it is to pick up down there but i went to superstore and couldnt find a thing. any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks


kris

I've never used or looked for the pickling lime but you can buy kalk powder from J&L and probably other fish stores as well and it is not very expensive.
I have a large bucket half full that if I was closer I would give you since I don't need it anymore as I am able to maintain all my levels with my calcium reactor.

hey thanks. i havent looked into the prices at the LFS, just figured they would be up there compared to a grocery store or something. but i will check it out. thanks

Pickling Lime is not available in Canada. I can't remember the reason though... :rolleyes:

Are you sure about that...........lol

you can buy pharmaceutical grade calcium hydroxide but you can't buy pickling lime retail at walmart like you can in the states. your better off using a brand name kalk anyhow, pickling lime will turn brown in a reactor and not maintain as high calcium levels as a good brand of kalk will. in any case kalk is cheap just buy the better quality stuff.

cheers :mrgreen:

how about domolite lime? :mrgreen:

Compared to bulk food grade calcium hydroxide, the aquarium packaged equivalent is not cheap - especially if you are running a larger tank. Ive used both and cannot tell the difference in 'performance'.

So if you can find it I say use it. As stated pickling lime is not readily available in Canada but some people manage to find sources. Ocean Aquatics sells it: https://www.oceanaquatics.com/view_p...AEPicklingLime

how cheap is cheap? a 10 dollar container of kalk lasts me 3 months, pickling lime is 5 and i have to clean the brown goo out everytime i have to refill it. the lime is just not the same as true kalk.

There's a guy in Manitoba that has been selling bulk dry goods for cheap. They are better than food grade but probably not quite lab grade either. I bought 90 lbs of Kalk and 90 lbs of Magnesium through him. He also has Calcium Hydroxide I believe. He's got his own big tank setup and just buys his supplies bulk and sells what he dosen't use, so I'm not sure what he has or if he has any left. You can find him on RC under the screen name littlesilvermax.

You don't ALWAYS have to go to RC you know. :razz:

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewto...989&highlight=

I bought my CaOH from Shao, last year for $5/bag (big bag) and still hae it now. Not sure the source, but it works, doesn't turn anything brown and it's a lot cheaper than a LFS brand

Cool, I did not know. I mostly go to RC 'cuz there is more content. Although I don't mind this board either, nice people.

I am almost out of magnesium, but I have a lot of kalk left.

PM me for details. I also have food grade calcium chloride, made by Dowflake but rated better then the ice melt stuff.

thanks all for the tips, been too busy too check on the thread, sorry :lol:

cheers

kris

Calcium Hydroxide... lol I musta been still half asleep when I posted above.