Chelated vs. Non-Chelated Calcium

[Lagger]

I've read Reef Crystals uses chelated calcium and Tropic Marine Pro uses non-chelated calcium, hence better solubility. Isn't non-chelated calcium just calcium chloride? Then what is chelated calcium?-->Calcium carbonate?

[PatrickJ]

I believe the term chelated is 'a metal bounded by a organic compound' . I am still trying to learn what exactly it means, but in some salts, they have this extra substance in it, I think called EDTA or something like that and it helps it to do ???

Calcium Chloride is a ionic bond between calcium and chlorine much like sodium chloride. Metals of first two columns of the periodic table bounded with chlorine dissolve very quickly into water.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I do not know of any salt mixes that use chelated calcium at the moment, and in general, and it isn't an attribute to search out.

A chelated calcium ion would be one bound to an organic material of a certain description.

[Boomer]

. Isn't non-chelated calcium just calcium chloride? Then what is chelated calcium?-->Calcium carbonate?

Yes to the first one.

Chelation is when a ion, such as Calcium, is binded with an organic substances, such as EDTA, glycerin, polugulcunate, amino acid, proteins, citrate etc. This chelator forms a heterocyclic ring around the ion ( Ca++ ) and is attached by coordinate bonds to at least two nonmetal ions of the chelate substances. This helps the calcium stay in solution longer by almost building a protective wall around it, inhibiting it from precipitating out of water and usually forming insoluble calcium carbonate.

Here is one here where Nickle ( Ni) is chelated

http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/CHEMWEEK/Chelates/ni_en2.gif

However, there are no salts mixes that use a chelator for calcium but some salts do have chelated compounds using EDTA. Some of the Calcium sup's are chelated.