Can i use egg shells to bring my calcium up

[wazaap]

My calcium levels are at 400 and I feel like I need to bring it up and I was wondering if I can use egg shells because I saw a video on youtube where it shows a guy using it for his snails (the tank was freshwater though) and I'm wondering if I can do the same thing

 

[wazaap]

My calcium levels are at 400 and I feel like I need to bring it up and I was wondering if I can use egg shells because I saw a video on youtube where it shows a guy using it for his snails (the tank was freshwater though) and I'm wondering if I can do the same thing

400ppm

 

[Cory]

No it wont dissolve

 

[wazaap]

No it wont dissolve

What if I crush it up put it In a biobag and inserted in my sump

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Probably won’t dissolve unless you can lower the PH in a contained space where you keep the eggshells.

Just out of curiosity, why even try this when there are literally tons of calcium supplements?

 

[wazaap]

Probably won’t dissolve unless you can lower the PH in a contained space where you keep the eggshells.

Just out of curiosity, why even try this when there are literally tons of calcium supplements?

Well I can't get any from a store because of the pandemic

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Well I can't get any from a store because of the pandemic

I see. It’s not terribly hard to make your own in a pinch as long as you can source the components. Have a look athttp://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[wazaap]

I see. It’s not terribly hard to make your own in a pinch as long as you can source the components. Have a look athttp://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Thanks

 

[GrandmaRaff]

I've had to resort to buying from Amazon since my LFS is only open a couple of hours per week and those are the hours I work.

 

[35ppt]

Redacted

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What if I crush it up put it In a biobag and inserted in my sump

No. Even if it dissolved (it won't), you'd boost alkalinity by 2.8 dKH for each 20 ppm of calcium, which means alk will get too high for any significant calcium boost.

I address calcium carbonate as a supplement in a variety of ways here:

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Calcium Carbonate As A Supplement

Randy discusses the importance of calcium supplementation using a variety of techniques .

reefs.com

If you did want to use a material like this, you'd be best off dissolving as much as you can in fresh water, maybe with added vinegar or seltzer water, and adding it manually. You'd still have the alk issue, but at least it dissolves and could be used as a balanced calcium and alk supplement.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I would assume the act of dissolving eggshells would be the same as a calcium reactor which would require co2 to drop the ph causing the shell to break down. However I couldn't see it being a possibility and its more worthwhile to buy calcium off amazon