Chemistry question

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

I bought some potassium chloride powder made by Now online. In other ingredients it has magnesium carbonate listed as the flow agent. Can I still mix this powder in my calcium dosing reservoir? I am dosing calcium chloride. Or should it go in either my alkalinity or magnesium container? I dont want anything to precipitate
Thank you

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

I would put it in the calcium or the ato.

I’d do a test with all those soloutions.
Ato would be safest.

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

My sump is in the basement so evaporation strongly varies based on outside temperature and humidity so I would like to avoid the ATO.

What do you mean you would do a test with all the solutions?
And what exactly happens when something precipitates? Is it a macroscopic process where I will actually see it?

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

Mrcote1 said:
My sump is in the basement so evaporation strongly varies based on outside temperature and humidity so I would like to avoid the ATO.

What do you mean you would do a test with all the solutions?
And what exactly happens when something precipitates? Is it a macroscopic process where I will actually see it?

If you put an alkalinity suppliment into your tank, there’s a cloud. That’s a magnesium precipitation.

If you mix alk and cal it turns to something like glue.

IMO , to get an accurate dose trying to piggy back it into the mag is also tricky.

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

So say I put it in the calcium reservoir and I see no reaction then I should be good?

And my dosing pump tells me how many days I have left of fluid in my reservoir. So if my reservoir has 30 days left of calcium, then I could add 30 days worth of potassium to the reservoir and find the difference in fluid volume (which should be negligible) and add a little more calcium to make up for it.
Is this thought process correct?
I'm not a chemist if you cant tell haha

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

Correct on the reaction.

Correct on the dosing assumption.
However, if we are not using too much cal we reduce the dose. If you are not using too much potassium what will you do?

Perhaps consider manual dosing it for a while(in mil) to get your daily dose correct then do the math.

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

I'm about 110ppm short on potassium. (I'm at 290ppm) so I was gonna add 76grams of Potassium Chloride to the remainder of my reservoir (about 20 days) which according to the online calculator should bring me up to around 400ppm. Then at the end of the 20 days I'll see how short I am of 400ppm and that will be the amount of potassium my tank uses roughly in 20 days. Then I can figure out my daily consumption and use that as a starting point for the next batch. If my potassium starts to go to high well then I guess I'll have to scrap the batch and start over and do some math to see how far over I was

I hate manual dosing and will do anything to prevent it because I cant trust myself to be as accurate as my doser and I know I'd forget a day here and there

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

Also thanks for all your help I appreciate it. I'm gonna go mix some up and try it out

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

Well I added it to the calcium reservoir and it is very cloudy. Does this mean I ruined my calcium

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

Yes. Possibly.
Thus the test.

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

I use mil marked syringes btw for manual doses.

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

Yea water is still cloudy. How do I know for sure if it's no good? Is it safe to still let the doser add the solution to the aquarium or is it possible a new compound was formed that could harm my aquarium?

I dont get why it wont mix. Calcium chloride and potassium chloride are both soluble

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

I’m not that good a chemist.

I would have tested and looked for a reaction.

Mrcote1 · Mar 5, 2019

So looking at solubility charts online it appears like everything in my calcium reservoir should have mixed fine. I also have strontium, barium, and heavy metals in the solution (component strong A and B from aquaforest) perhaps someone with a stronger chemistry background could chime in

Never thought I'd get this in depth in my aquarium

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 5, 2019

#reefsquad

Mrcote1 · Mar 6, 2019

@Randy Holmes-Farley
Do you have any advice for this? I've read previous forums with your input on this same KCl product but nothing about which container to include it in

Brew12 · Mar 6, 2019

I wish it had some information as to how much magnesium carbonate was in the product. My guess is that this carbonate reacted with the calcium causing your cloud issue.

To see if it is safe to use, take a gallon of salt water and test the calcium. Add 5ml of the calcium solution and add it to the gallon of salt water. Calcium should go up by around 50ppm.

Mrcote1 · Mar 6, 2019

Alright I'll try that when I get home later. Will magnesium carbonate have a reaction with magnesium chloride (my magnesium container) it just hold the magnesium, and mineral salts

Brew12 · Mar 6, 2019

Mrcote1 said:
Alright I'll try that when I get home later. Will magnesium carbonate have a reaction with magnesium chloride (my magnesium container) it just hold the magnesium, and mineral salts

I don't believe that would be an issue.

My guess is that you had a very minor amount of precipitation from the formation of CaCO3 and that it will settle out and be fine. Of course, if you stir it up it will get cloudy again. Even if it doesn't settle out it won't hurt anything to add it to your tank.