I've read this and that about increasing the gH of a tank with CaCO3,
however a readily available source of CaCO3 is escaping me. Can anyone shed
some light on this? I know I can use baking soda sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)
to bring of the kH, but I want to bring my gH up as well. Help!

On Thu, 26 Dec 2002 06:38:38 GMT, "Mentaloid"
wrote:

I've read this and that about increasing the gH of a tank with CaCO3,
however a readily available source of CaCO3 is escaping me. Can anyone shed
some light on this? I know I can use baking soda sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)
to bring of the kH, but I want to bring my gH up as well. Help!


A local health food store sells a VERY large bottle of fine powdered
CaCO3 for $5.00 or so. The store is Vitamin Cottage, and I think
they might be a national chain.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

"Mentaloid" wrote in message a...
I've read this and that about increasing the gH of a tank with CaCO3,
however a readily available source of CaCO3 is escaping me. Can anyone shed
some light on this? I know I can use baking soda sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)
to bring of the kH, but I want to bring my gH up as well. Help!

Try using calcium pills. An average calcium pill has 300mg of calcium
carbonate. I don't know how much this equates to how much you need for
your tank. But this is what I plan on doing as it seems like a very
cheap source (buy generic as long as they dissolve within an hour or
two - not a lot of cheap fillers).

Other than that, you can buy marble chips I believe or use old
seashells (if I'm correct), I always get the seashells and marble
chips mixed up as to whether they raise GH or KH. Someone will be sure
to clarify.

Best of luck,
Allen

I got mine from www.tri-esssciences.com. They sell chemicals for people who
like to make their own cosmetics, and so sell in smaller quantities than many
chemical supply places.

You can also get potassium nitrate there, which many people like to use if
their tanks need a nitrate supplement.

Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/