Cal-Boost from Canadian Tire

[thedoogan]

Has anyone used this product before for dosing? The MSDS says its only calcium chloride dihydrate. Think it's safe long term?

Aquarius Cal-Boost Pool Conditioner
http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/CanadianTire/0813723_1?$medium$&defaultImage=image_na_EN
MSDS - http://msds.canadiantire.ca/OpenRepositoryFile.asp?s=203204&v=1

[Bryan]

If you look at the MSDS sheet again it shows 60-100% so reads like there is something else in there

[lastlight]

There are no additional ingredients present which, within the current knowledge of the supplier and in the concentrations applicable, are classified as hazardous to health or the environment and hence require reporting in this section.

Doesn't exactly tell you what other impurities are there or their concentrations. Typically the stuff people use is of a certain grade / purity.

[ckmullin]

No harm in giving the manufacturer a contact and see what they say.

[sphelps]

Look into Dow Flake, it's 99% calcium chloride and many people have used it in their reef. You can get a huge 20kg bag for like $20.

[Zoaelite]

Look into Dow Flake, it's 99% calcium chloride and many people have used it in their reef. You can get a huge 20kg bag for like $20.

^^^ +1, with a MSDS indicating between 60-100% purity you just can't be sure of what impurities you will be adding to your tank. No point saving $15 on bulk additives when you could possibly kill $1000's of dollars worth of coral.

[lastlight]

Wasn't there issues with Dow at one point? Levels of borate or something? Does RHF currently support the use of Dow Flake?

[sphelps]

Wasn't there issues with Dow at one point? Levels of borate or something? Does RHF currently support the use of Dow Flake?
I don't know much about it these days but worth looking into I think.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1275153

[fixerupper]

^^^ +1, with a MSDS indicating between 60-100% purity you just can't be sure of what impurities you will be adding to your tank. No point saving $15 on bulk additives when you could possibly kill $1000's of dollars worth of coral.

Is 60-100% referring to purity relative to other solids? I was under the understanding that this could be % by weight. So if the product has a tendency to pull moisture from the air the 60% (worst case per MSDS) could be solid product and most of the balance just water. After reading the data sheet several times it still isn't clear to me either way.

[reefermadness]

Even dow flake was like 77%....and its calcium chloride by weight not impurities. Although there will be impurities of different levels depending on the product that is not what you are looking at when you see a percentage like that when it pertains to calcium chloride. You are looking at the amount of calcium chloride.....so it is how much calcium chloride is in the product but most of the rest will be water and a varying amount of impurities.

[fixerupper]

Even dow flake was like 77%....and its calcium chloride by weight not impurities. Although there will be impurities of different levels depending on the product that is not what you are looking at when you see a percentage like that when it pertains to calcium chloride. You are looking at the amount of calcium chloride.....so it is how much calcium chloride is in the product but most of the rest will be water and a varying amount of impurities.

You're very probably right. To clarify: I wasn't implying they use impurities as measurement standard. I was referring whether they use weight or volume. If a 5 gallon tub is 60% product by volume with zero moisture and the other 40% is something unknown then I'd be nervous about what impurities make up the remaining 40%. If a tub flake product had up to 40% of it's weight accounted for by variable amounts of moisture it may or may not have pulled from the air I wouldn't be quite as concerned. It really doesn't take that much water to add a lot of weigh. As I said, I can't find where they state how they measure. It's this uncertainty that makes the risk not worth while to me. Dow Flake at 77% was probably fairly pure as the unaccounted for balance was also undoubtedly just water. The Dow Flake manufacturer's' recommendation not to use their product in reef tanks could very likely just have been a caution used to mitigate liability. I scoured the forums to find instances of tank issues attributed to using the 77% product but could find none. While the product discussed by the OP might be fine, the 60-100% purity is a deal breaker for me. I screw up my reef setup enough all on my own. I don't need the unclear variables of an untested product helping me 'muddy the water' as it were :)

[thedoogan]

I was thinking the 60-100% purity was because of moisture. I guess it could be a number of things not worth the chances though. I would have tested it out on a small coral QT tank but I guess this won't show any long term issues that might arise.

Where exactly are you guys getting your calcium chloride and magnesium chloride from?

[lastlight]

I've always gotten mine from BRS.

[sphelps]

Consider
CaCo3Reef
http://caco3reef.com/bulk-chemicals/calcium-chloride

Or
Bulk Reef Supply
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-media-additives/calcium-and-alkalinity-additives.html

For what it's worth just buy lab grade stuff.