Source Calcium Formate

[rushbattle]

Anyone find a good source for calcium formate with good purity specs? I looked for a while and only found it for concrete work via alibaba. I think it would be a great option for many aquariums if we could find a good source. Thanks for reading and any help, have a great day!

Edit: Forgot to mention the certified lab grade from Fischer et al., but that is prohibitively expensive.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I'm not sure about calcium formate. Are you planning on using it for calcium supplement?

 

[rushbattle]

Balanced calcium/Alk supplement.

 

[rushbattle]

This is the best I can find so far, but in small quantities it seems like it will be expensive and I’m sure shipping is bad.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...pm=a2700.7724857.normalList.66.5b906a98AYWoQz

 

[Erasmus Crowley]

I'm not sure about calcium formate. Are you planning on using it for calcium supplement?

Calcium formate is the primary ingredient in the new formulation of Tropic Marin's Carbo-Calcium. It's a balanced Calcium and KH additive similar to kalkwasser. It is dosed in a much more concentrated form just like 2 part dosing is, but it doesn't mess with salinity over time.

Calcium acetate is the older formula, and it's drawback was that it was a form of carbon dosing. So if you dosed too much you could create bacterial blooms and use up all the dissolved oxygen in the water. That's why calcium acetate never really took off. Calcium formate still does this, but it has about 1/3rd of the potency as a carbon source, so it uses much less oxygen per dose.

It sounds like a great thing to experiment with, and I'm also very interested in the possibility of sourcing a local, low cost source for it.

 

[JimWelsh]

You might try searching using the CAS number for calcium formate, which is 544-17-2.

 

[rushbattle]

Calcium formate is the primary ingredient in the new formulation of Tropic Marin's Carbo-Calcium. It's a balanced Calcium and KH additive similar to kalkwasser. It is dosed in a much more concentrated form just like 2 part dosing is, but it doesn't mess with salinity over time.

Calcium acetate is the older formula, and it's drawback was that it was a form of carbon dosing. So if you dosed too much you could create bacterial blooms and use up all the dissolved oxygen in the water. That's why calcium acetate never really took off. Calcium formate still does this, but it has about 1/3rd of the potency as a carbon source, so it uses much less oxygen per dose.

It sounds like a great thing to experiment with, and I'm also very interested in the possibility of sourcing a local, low cost source for it.

I wouldn’t mind a nice calcium acetate source also, but certainly calcium formate would be my preference.

 

[rushbattle]

You might try searching using the CAS number for calcium formate, which is 544-17-2.

Thanks! A cursory search reveals many foreign sources as well. Have you seen any sources that you find promising?

 

[JimWelsh]

Thanks! A cursory search reveals many foreign sources as well. Have you seen any sources that you find promising?

None domestic that looked very affordable yet.

 

[rushbattle]

None domestic that looked very affordable yet.

I'd be willing to pay for samples from China if you know a good way to get them tested for contaminants.

 

[Dan_P]

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/HiMedia-GRM8...id=1545346348&sr=8-1&keywords=Calcium+formate

 

[rushbattle]

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/HiMedia-GRM8...id=1545346348&sr=8-1&keywords=Calcium+formate

No offense meant by the following, I appreciate your input.

The linked hi media calcium formate is $18/lb. The same stuff is about $0.50/lb in one ton quantities. Pharmaceutical grade is more, but not by much. In comparison, BRS Pharma calcium hydroxide is $7.50/lb. which is super expensive compared to other suppliers and still less than half of the hi media calcium formate. That’s not even accounting for the other differences in hydration and molecule weights of hydroxide vs formate. That’s some relatively expensive coral skeleton. But I’m sure it’s a good bit less than triton, etc. per unit coral mass.

 

[rushbattle]

None domestic that looked very affordable yet.

@JimWelsh Any updates? Are you looking for personal use, or professional? It’s looking like we might have to go across the Pacific for sources. As long as there aren’t troubling contaminants, this should be a good solution for many applications. I am not familiar about the processes that are used to produce calcium formate, and what else might be present. Any ideas, links?

 

[JimWelsh]

@JimWelsh Any updates? Are you looking for personal use, or professional? It’s looking like we might have to go across the Pacific for sources. As long as there aren’t troubling contaminants, this should be a good solution for many applications. I am not familiar about the processes that are used to produce calcium formate, and what else might be present. Any ideas, links?

I'm not the one looking for this. I was just trying to help you source this, or, more specifically, confirm the difficulty sourcing it, in response to your original post. Who is this "we" you refer to?

 

[rushbattle]

I'm not the one looking for this. I was just trying to help you source this, or, more specifically, confirm the difficulty sourcing it, in response to your original post. Who is this "we" you refer to?

My misunderstanding. I thought you might be looking into it as well. Thanks for the help!

 

[JimWelsh]

My misunderstanding. I thought you might be looking into it as well. Thanks for the help!

No worries! :)

 

[soeminpaing]

I got some AR calcium formate with 99% purity. Problem is when I mixed with water according to Carbocalcium instruction. I found some precipitates. It started dissolving almost all the solids then precipitate quite a bit.

 

[rushbattle]

I got some AR calcium formate with 99% purity. Problem is when I mixed with water according to Carbocalcium instruction. I found some precipitates. It started dissolving almost all the solids then precipitate quite a bit.

Thanks for reporting that! I hadn't thought of solubility issues, perhaps @Randy Holmes-Farley or @JimWelsh can provide some input?

 

[JimWelsh]

I mixed with water according to Carbocalcium instruction

What are those instructions?

 

[soeminpaing]

What are those instructions?

140 gram to 1 liter rodi water.