Kalkwasser

zulu_principle · #1 03-07-2003, 03:11 AM

My brother is in Boise and forwarded this:

Next Boise Meeting:

Warner Marine is a company that develops laboratory grade reef additives. My interest was held when I recently heard Jon warn about adding Kalkwasser to our tanks because of the large amount of lead that it contains. Seems as though the FDA standards for food grade pickling lime (which is exactly the same chemical as Kalkwasser (calcium carbonate)) is probably not sufficient to protect our reef tanks from lead poisoning. This is just one example why laboratory grade additives are important and Jon will send up a red flag about many other things such as the salt we all use.

Interesting....................

christyf5 · #2 03-07-2003, 03:15 AM

So if we ate enough pickles we could die of lead poisoning??

BCOrchidGuy · #3 03-07-2003, 03:53 AM

Okay I wish I had paid more attention in high school chemistry but.. isn't calcium carbonate something we used in art to glaze pottery?? and isn't it a by product of Kalk when it reacts with atomospheric carbon dioxide?
I thought Kalk was calcium hydroxide?

Canadian Man · #4 03-07-2003, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

So if we ate enough pickles we could die of lead poisoning??

Enough pickles in the USA maybe but Kalk is a banned food additive in Canada

Maybe for a good reason? :?

Doug · #5 03-07-2003, 01:56 PM

Jon, I always wondered why it was not available in Canada.

Perhaps this could be posted in Randys forum on RC. He is the expert in this field.

Canadian Man · #6 03-07-2003, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Lowey

Jon, I always wondered why it was not available in Canada.

Perhaps this could be posted in Randys forum on RC. He is the expert in this field.

Doug, I don't have any clue why but If you look at a jar of pickles from in the USA you will see Calcium hydroxide in the ingredients list but a Canadian jar of pickles just has I belive Calcium "........." added, but the ........ is not hydroxide.

christyf5 · #7 03-07-2003, 07:26 PM

I just read this on reefcentral:

Quote:

Posted by Bomber:

I wouldn't suggest using reagent grade or lab grade chemicals. Although they may be *pure*, you don't know what the trace elements are. Non USP/FCC grade stuff is frequently purified with some truly nasty stuff. The grades you want to look for are USP (suitable for use as pharmaceuticals) and FCC (suitable to use as foods). Some reagent grade CaCl in our lab had heavy metals measuring in the high parts per million - the FDA limit is somewhere in the low parts per billion.

I realize he is talking about CaCl here and not CaOH but possibly the lab grade stuff that people are using, ie. actual Kalkwasser and not pickling lime, could be worse??

Christy

Jack · #8 03-08-2003, 05:21 AM

This topic has caught my interest a bit. I've yet to hear of a tank crashing from bad kalk. Let me know if you have, I know I'm not being cautious, but let me know if I should be.

I've only heard dissasters such as kalk overdoses, adding it to fast, or adding the milky sediment. Don't you guys think that it's safe? I'm using the stuff from Shao but I have to say I'm very happy with it. I'm not sure if Shao's source in the U.S. is pickling lime or lab grade stuff. I have been using it at about a saturated gallon or two a night for a month now on my new 120 gallon tank with no ill side affects. The tank is a month old and I have pink coralline starting on the glass. I will let you know if I have problems with impurities. Btw, I have no idea how I will find out, maybe my tank will crash, yay.

Talk to you guys later.

smokinreefer · #9 03-08-2003, 07:04 AM

i remember when i first bought this codex grade calcium hydroxide i was able to get a spec sheet on its chemical breakdown.

i am trying to track down a source for the kalk again and i will see if i can get a spec sheet.

i'll let you guys know as soon as i find out.

shao