Aquatic Plant Science

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Aquatic Plant Science

The science of submerged aquatic plants in the aquarium hobby


    DIY Calcium with egg shells

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    Lawrence So


    Posts : 21
    Join date : 2016-07-20
    Location : San Francisco, CA

    DIY Calcium with egg shells Empty DIY Calcium with egg shells

    Post by Lawrence So Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:31 pm

    Like the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] thread, if you eat eggs, you can use the egg shells and turn them into a calcium supplement.  Egg shells are made from almost 100% calcium carbonate.  This is a natural source of calcium that can be used to fertilize plants.

    Materials
    1. Egg shells
    2. Acid (vinegar, citric acid, etc.)
    3. Container

    Instructions
    Clean the egg shells and place them into a container.  Dissolve with vinegar, or a solution of citric acid.  Once dissolves, remove the egg shell membrane and discard.  Add the calcium solution to the aquarium.  Simple.

    Egg shells can also be added directly into the aquarium. If the water is acidic, including from adding CO2, the shells will dissolve.
    avatar
    Lawrence So


    Posts : 21
    Join date : 2016-07-20
    Location : San Francisco, CA

    DIY Calcium with egg shells Empty Re: DIY Calcium with egg shells

    Post by Lawrence So Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:35 pm

    [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

    The weight of an egg shell is about 6 grams.  The membrane doesn't contain any CaCO3 so it should be subtracted from the total weight so I rounded down.

    Calcium is 40% of CaCO3 so 6g × 0.4 = 2.4g of Ca.
    2.4g × 1000mg/g= 2400mg
    Then divide by the tank volume, e.g 2400 ÷ 100L = 24mg/L of Ca.

    So a single egg shell provides quite a bit of calcium to the tank.

    FYI, calcium carbonate can dissolve simply by adding CO2.
    avatar
    Lawrence So


    Posts : 21
    Join date : 2016-07-20
    Location : San Francisco, CA

    DIY Calcium with egg shells Empty Re: DIY Calcium with egg shells

    Post by Lawrence So Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:50 pm

    Caution adding acetate. Bacterial bloom can utilize all available oxygen and suffocate fish. Add a little bit at a time. I dont know if citrate also results in a bacterial bloom as it consumes the citrate or if it consumes the citrate.

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    DIY Calcium with egg shells Empty Re: DIY Calcium with egg shells

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