"Calcium Up" from Leslie's Pool Supply?

[JTice]

Has anyone used "Calcium Up " from Leslie's pool supply store? The container doesn't have the ingredients but the salesman said it was Calcium Chloride.

Thanks,
Jason

[kirstenk]

Buy All Clear Calcium Chloride. You can get it at Cactus Pool Supply or Checker Pool Supply. It is DowFlake repackaged. Many here in town use it.

[NeilPearson]

I use "Calcium Hardness Increaser" from Paddock Pools and it works great.

There wasn't ingredients on the container but the salesman got a book from the back that had the complete chemical breakdown of all their products.

It was something like:

70% calcium chloride
26-27% water
2-3% magnesium chloride
0-1% strontium chloride

The book was kind of cool, it has about 6 pages on this product alone talking about everything from composition to handling and safety instructions.

[JTice]

Thanks for the info. This helps.

Jason

[gillies]

You can get Dowflake at Univar in Phoenix.

[SHARKBAITNC]

Be careful with the paddock product I checked the msds at the store and it said it contained soudium chloride, and also pottasium chloride. The all clear brand says 100% calcium chloride on the container. Thats what I use and have never had a problem.

[moore_rb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6827331#post6827331 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SHARKBAITNC
Be careful with the paddock product I checked the msds at the store and it said it contained soudium chloride, and also pottasium chloride. The all clear brand says 100% calcium chloride on the container. Thats what I use and have never had a problem.

The All Clear brand (and Dowflake) are actually only 77-80% Calcium Chloride, and All major commercial Calcium Chloride mixes (even Dowflake) contain Potassium Chloride at 3-5% volume:

http://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/docs/8991.pdf

I use the stuff sold by Leslie's Pool Supply because it has the highest concentration of Calcium Chloride (94% according to the MSDS in the store), and it's cheap (15.99 for 9 pounds), and there's a Leslie's 1/2 mile from my house. I am working on my second bucket and have had no ill effects in 9 months using this product.

I think the stuff sold by Leslie's and Paddock are from the same manufacturer, because they are the same type of granules (small white pellets), and the MSDS looks the same for both, and they both have Strontium Chloride at 1-2%

[moore_rb]

I have some more information. I just got back from the Leslie's Pool Supply store near my house and I compared the MSDS sheet they had to this one that I found for Peladow, which is Dow's anhydrous pellet version of Calcium Chloride:

http://www.allpro-horticulture.com/labels/peladow_msds.pdf

The two documents are identical except that the one at Leslie's pool Supply didn't have the Dow name on it.

I'm inclined to believe that the Calcium Chloride pellets sold at Leslie's and Paddock are re-labeled Peladow pellets, and Peladow is perfectly safe to use according to RHF (as I said, I've used the Leslie's product for nearly a year):

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

[JTice]

Thanks for the info. I ended up with the All Clear brand but if I ever in need some extra I know what I can use.

Jason

[kirstenk]

Robert, how do the pellets dissolve? The flake is very very fast.

[moore_rb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6941465#post6941465 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kirstenk
Robert, how do the pellets dissolve? The flake is very very fast.

They dissolve pretty fast, not instantly like the flakes. I always mix 5 gallons at a time using the RHF recipe, and it probably takes 3 minutes or so for the pellets to dissolve. The pellets also really heat up the water as they dissolve, so I always mix my make up water at least a day before I'll need it so it can cool back down.

From a cost perspective, I never figured out which was cheaper (flakes vs pellets). I know you use about 20% less of the pellets in the recipe to achieve the same calcium levels.

How much do the flakes cost, and what size is the container?

I searched for the All Clear flakes but couldn't find them anywhere. There is a Cactus Valely Pool Supply near my house, and they carry the All Clear brand chemicals except the calcium increaser, so I just started using the pellets from Leslie's and that's all I've used ever since....

[vanmle]

The flakes cost $12 for 10 lbs.

[moore_rb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6943364#post6943364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vanmle
The flakes cost $12 for 10 lbs.


OK,

77% x 10lbs is 7.7lbs CaCl2 per 10lb container. $12 / 7.7 is $1.55 per pound of CaCl2 for the All Clear flakes.

94% x 9lbs is 8.46lbs CaCl2 per 9lb container. $15 / 8.46 is $1.77 per pound of CaCl2 for the pellets at Leslies Pool Supply.

The flakes look to be a slightly cheaper source of calcium, even though the % of CaCl2 is lower.

Too bad no place near my house carries the flakes. :(