Where to buy Food Grade Pickling Lime in Toronto, ON?

[James Yeung]

DIY Kalk. :-)

I read that reefers are using Mrs. Wages pickling lime to make lime water from the Chemistry Forum. I figure I have a better chance of finding someone here that knows where to find this stuff.

I have a bad feeling it's going to hard to find something 'safe' or at least tested by someone already.

Thanks,

James

[richardb42]

I can't seem to find the stuff in Canada. I think Health Canada banned it as a pickeling medium for food due to health-related side-effects, so no one here is selling it...

[Paul-sn]

That sucks.
I was hoping I could find some when my current batch of kalk ran out... oh well.

[Bryan]

I think Mail Order Pet Shop in Ontario, probably has the best price on Kalkwaser, 31 dollars for the 4 lb container of ESV Calcium Hydroxide. Probably not as cheap as pickling lime..

[James Yeung]

Alright,

I found a chemical (industrial store) that sells USP grade calcium hydroxide and calcium chloride in Toronto.

http://www.akpetrochem.com/

We're taking about $5 per kg. Nice!! But the catch is I have to buy it in 25kg bags! Arrgh!

James

[cwschoon]

why notjust go to big al's and get some kalk? Its not that expensive is it?

[James Yeung]

Ok.. Just found another place.

$30 bucks for 2kg for USP grade calcium hydroxide.
$34 bucks for 2kg for USP grade calcium chloride (anhydrous).

Still much cheaper. I'm gong for it! It's food grade stuff, so it should be good.

450 grams of Kalk from Big Al's cost $25 (or ~3 bucks going the cheap way)

800 grams of Ca costs $33 (or ~6 bucks)


James

[rayjay]

I've been using hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) from a farm co-op store now for about 4 or 5 yrs with no problem.
The price has gone up to 8.99 for a 25 kilo bag.
Hobbyists buying corals from me also buy the hydrated lime for their tanks and no one has every complained about it.
_____________________
ICQ #30079114
RAY'S REEF

[James Yeung]

Ray,

That is cheap lime! :-)

I'm guessing my stash (if everything goes well) will last me for at least 2 years... Maybe a lot more. I guess it all depends how much SPS i'm going to keep.

James

[Paul-sn]

James, where's this place your talking about? Do they do mail order?
I'd love to get calcium chloride for that cheap! that's great!! and the hydroxide too!

[James Yeung]

Paul,

Yeah, they should do mail order.

It's called Alphachem Ltd. 2485 Milltower Court, Mississauga.
#905-821-2995 ask to speak to someone in sales.

I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. I'll run some tests and report back tomorrow night as to concentration. Hmmm... I'm pretty excited. I don't ever recall getting excited buying supplements. If everything works out, I'll be saving so much $$$, even paying at premium prices (as you can see from the other source I found and Ray's hydrated lime).

As for the calcium chlroide, it's anhydrous (same as Kent).

James

[Paul-sn]

Cool, that'd be great.
Thanks!

[Flatlander]

Hi James,
Recieved your message. As others, I have never found pickling lime here. I still am looking for some good hydroxide. Good to see the links. The ones I have found so far, Randy has suggested not to use.

Ray, which farm supply stores do you find that in? Could you send me a brand name please. We have Co-op here also, but I cant find a suitable one.

[littleprince]

Hold on... Theres a local reefer, with live phyto, rotifers, and pods. He also has kalk in bulk... Lemme find his website. be back in a min!

[littleprince]

http://www.reefcrew.com/
Ah... like I said, less than a min.
Brian's a great guy!! You should check out his stuff.
Tell him little prince sent ya!

[Anemonebuff]

Just MO from Ms Wages. It's cheap and comes right to your door.

[Bryan]

They won't MO to Canada.

Originally posted by Anemonebuff
Just MO from Ms Wages. It's cheap and comes right to your door.

[James Yeung]

Hello all,

I picked up 2 kilos of each supplement from a chemical wharehouse in Mississauga.

Using SeaChem calcium kit...

Calcium hydroxide FCC (looks just like Kent) measurements are virtually on the $$$... ~2 1/2 teaspoons, calcium level hit saturation... No nitrates.

Calcium Chloride anhydrous FCC (looks just like Kent, you won't know the difference). Using 1.5 L of RO water and 1ml spoon, I got ~175ppm. With Kent, ~200ppm. This is more than likely due to test kit error... no nitrates.

Of course, no other reason to do this besides saving lots of $$$, so here's the break down:

Kent 450g Kalk is $25CDN - 2 kilos costs $31.50 or ~$3 for 450g.

Kent 800g Turbo Calcium is $33CDN - 2 kilo costs $31.50 or ~$6 800g.

Of course, I've seen 3.2 kilos of Kent Turbo for $120 or about $40 per kilo.

Overall, if my corals live well for the next year, incredible find for us Canucks in the Toronto area! Definately, there are better deals out there, but I'm more than happy with this one... It's going to last me for years!

James

[Paul-sn]

That's great!
Next time I go down to Toronto, I'll have to go pick some up! Unless they do mail-order.
Keep us posted!

[rayjay]

Doug, I can't help you out with names too much. I used to get it from the Ilderton Co-op, but it's not always available now since it was bought out and turned into a hardware store with farm supplies.
My last bag I bought in Strathroy but I don't remember the name, only how to get there.
Originally the brand name on the bags was Beachville Lime and I wrote to them before buying to be sure there wasn't anything that would cause my tanks to fail. I then used some only in a small tank for about 6 months until I was sure it would give me no problems.
Beachville supplies the lime now but it is bagged under another name that I don't remember.
It did say "hydrated lime" on the bag, but I dump the contents into I.O. salt buckets and throw the bag away so I can't tell you what else is on the bag.
Just go to a farm supply store and ask for Hydrated Lime that the farmers use as a disinfectant.
I'm more than halfway through the third bag since I started. I sell some and use the rest in all my tanks. (550g plus sumps)
______________________
ICQ #30079114
RAY'S REEF

[Flatlander]

Thanks Ray

[James Yeung]

Oops. I made a big cost analysis mistake. Got kilos and pounds mixed up.

Now if comes out to ~$7CDN for Kalk (not $3) and ~12CDN (not 6) in relation to Kent quantities. Doh!

James

[Paul-sn]

Cool, thanks for clearing that up.