dolomite filter

[myles]

so currenlty i have very hard water ph8, kh 10degrees, and when i move were the water is very soft i want to replicate this. At work we add calcium carbinate to boost the kh and buffer the ph, but this is pricey to do all the time so I was thinking of builing a canaster filter powerd by a powerhead, or splerge and get a canaster filter and pile it with dolomite, to get a constant flow thru the dolomite to raise the kh in perticuler. I cna get dolomite for a good price so i thought i would try this, anyone have any feedback or any experiance with this? any feedback would be greatly appricated thanks.
p.s. here is a link if you dont kno what dolomite is

http://www.galleries.com/minerals/carbonat...te/dolomite.htm

 

[Dr Joe]

What size tanks are we talking here (water volume).

Your going to have to do this off line, different batches will desolve at different rates (make sure of purity (industrial grade can have alot of contaminates in it (ie unwanted minerals)).

Use an aging tank for your W/C's and monitor the chemistry there.

What are you keeping?

Dr Joe

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[blacksmith37]

Actually it is very cheap and easy. When I had salt tanks, I used UGF ( I know ,not PC) with power heads. It kept pH good and Ca at about 500 ppm . In 15 yr I never made a "kalkwasser" (or anything else addition) and stopped doing Ca tests as the results were boring.
Sources for Ca, Mg - free; limestone screening ( from rock crushing for concrete). Low cost; crushed or small size marble form "home supply". Medium cost ; aragonite or crushed coral from the pet shop. Expensive ;(depending where you live) drive here (E TX) and I will give you 50#.
You can throw it in any filter and wait a day or two.
PS; Any lime stone /marble can be called "dolomite"; It just means there is some Mg in the Ca (up to 50%).

 

[WolfFisho1]

PS; Any lime stone /marble can be called "dolomite"; It just means there is some Mg in the Ca (up to 50%).

i just wanted to correct you on this sure it could be called dolomite but it isnt.

because dolomite is a mineral so there is nothing else in it or else it would me a mixture and be classified as a rock.

just in case you wanted to get rocky

 

[blacksmith37]

Let me check my FINKS index for X-ray diffraction patterns. By golly , "dolomites" are a series of specific minerals with different "D" spacing depending on the amount of lattice distortion depending on the amount of Mg substituted for Ca ( not considering the Ba, Sr, or Ra present).
My point is ;different right answers for different venues.

 

[myles]

thanks for all the replys. Its going to be a 200g, and its going to house my fahaka puffer. Im on well water so its very hard, but around here the city water is around 6.4 and bascily no kh, so when i move im jsut figuring out what im goin to rig up to maintain a similer water chemisty. and i kno fahakas like harder water. the stuff im looking at is like 96% i belive it is. and its a good price. my friend sugested it he said it is basicly calcium carbanate? and will desolve at a pretty slow rate so i could jsut run it thru a fluidised bed filter or soemthing on the side of the tank.