making your own salt mix.

[acroholic]

au01st;517681 wrote: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Pocket-Scales-Jewelry-Scale/dp/B001PUE244/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1275400910&sr=1-7">http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Pocket-Scales-Jewelry-Scale/dp/B001PUE244/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1275400910&sr=1-7</a>

Scale[/QUOTE]

I have something similar to that that weighs up to 50 grams. I used it to weigh out medications when I imported discus. What I need is an inexpensive, but accurate scale for weighing out the intermediate/bulk chemical weights, with a range of a couple ounces to 10 lbs or so. Figure I'd mix up 25 or 50 gallon lots of the stuff.


Bulk/intermedate use chemicals

2302 g <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">sodium chloride/82 oz/5.13 lbs</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">483 g </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">magnesium chloride/17.24 oz/1.07 lb</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">385 g </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">sodium sulfate/13.74 oz/.86 lb</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">110 g </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">calcium chloride/3.9 oz/.24 lb</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">67 g </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">potassium chloride/2.4 oz</span>

 

[jeep9783]

that scale only does 0.1 though...looks as if you would need one that could dip into the .001 range

 

[acroholic]

Well, had an email from the chemical supply company. The entire order was cancelled because they only sell to schools or universities that can provide a W9 form or something like that.

This order was for the Minor use chemicals.

I couldn't even order sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or boric acid (roach killer)from them!

I'll check out other online cources and report back.

 

[smallblock]

Dave my mom used to make homeade soap and even had her own biz here in town. I know she had the hookup on some chemicals. I'll try to call her in a min and get some info. If we are still having problems obtaining some of the chems i know she is clear to get them. She got alot of wierd stuff but i dont know if she was dealing with these chems. Its worth a shot

 

[smallblock]

She said all she can probably get is the baking soda in large amounts

 

[acroholic]

I haven't had time to check other sources. Maybe this is the reason there is very little info on making your own salt mix, becasue a large part of the components are Hazmat classified. Even if I could get them, EACH chemical is subject to a $22.50 special handling charge via the carrier. It may be so expensive for the average Joe to buy the chemicals that it is not financially reasonable. You could buy a LOT of salt for the amount you'd pay in Hazmat fees alone.

 

[acroholic]

I have managed to locate ALL the chemicals for the formula.

I was looking to buy from a single source if possible to avoid multiple shipping fees, but online companies don't want to sell to individuals, schools only.

Took a bit of digging, but many times you can find the same things. For example: as an individual, you cannot order potassium bromide from Cole-Parmer, but you can order potassium bromide from B&H, an online photopraphy supply company because it is used in picture developing.

My initial cost was more than I thought. Not by a lot, but economies of scale come after you mix more than one batch because many of the minor use chemicals will last a couple years before needing replaced, with sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, and sodium sulfate the chemicals you use the most of.

I should have everything I need by middle of next week. Then I will mix my own and use it in my 60 gallon Reef tank.