Utah Ice???

[JAYRIDE]

Has Anyone Heard Of Or Tried Utah Ice? Some Friends From Col. Told Me That Some Lfs Had Been Using It In There Systems To Keep The Calcium Up... We Just Started Using It In The 180 Reef Tank Which Is Also Conn. To A 30 Sps Tank And Our Small Cubicle System, Just Trying To Learn More About It, I Read A Chem. Anls On It And It Is Made Up Of Mostly Calcium And Strontium The Only Thing That Worries Me Is A Slight Trace Of Copper And Lead, But I Don't Know If Copper In That Form Will Dissolve In The Water... It Is Sold In Pet Stores For Use In F/w For Deco But Put In S/w Disolves At A Fast Rate And From What I Have Seen On The Calcium Tests It Has Brought The Calcium Levels Up. I Will Keep You Posted On The Tanks And If Anyone Can Help Please Let Me Know....

Thanks Jared

[mojo]

Originally Posted by JAYRIDE

The Only Thing That Worries Me Is A Slight Trace Of Copper And Lead

I haven't heard of the product, but that'd worry me as well. It depends on the composition- if it's ionic copper, then it'd be very, very, very bad for the reef. If it's a copper compound, it may be ok.

Personally, I'd let the product get established before experimenting on your tank. I know I get charged more for Kent Marine, Seachem, and other name brand markups for chemicals, but it's a peace of mind.

Lastly, please try to not capitalize every word in your postings- it's very difficult to read.

[RobinsonFam1]

it must be something that is common up north. utah ice was very easy to find at every pet store and very cheap. i had it in my cichlid tanks. very cool looking as it does look like ice. try to find some high end geology books or do a google for it. see what this stuff really comes from.

[RobinsonFam1]

after a quick search here is what i found:

derives from gypsum which is: hydrous calium sulfate.
found mostly in areas that had sea water (salt water) and is one of the remnants left over from salt water evaporation. mostly found in the Oaklahoma and Colorado area but also found in Nevada and Arizona. I did find some that comes from other countries as well in the deserts. some peices even have water still inside them and air bubbles.

regarding what is in it as far as copper goes i could not find anything supporting that. all i could suggest is to keep searching on the net or books for a chemical or compund composition.
or an experiment. set up a small tank and place a few pieces in it to check if it does dissolve by testing the water every week. you could even use a bucket to keep it cheap.
if you have a reactor you could remove it from the system and try to dissolve it to see also. that could be a bad idea if it turns out to contain copper though!! or make a bucket into a reactor. this type of experiment would not have to be sophisticated like a real ca reactor. just need to lower ph to check solubility and possible contaminants. i would think it would be very difficult for it do dissolve until you dropped the PH way low seing as selenite doesnt seem porous even though it is very soft.

what the heck......im a builder...not a geologist!?!?? but i know one! ill call him...if he knows about this i will update later.

BR

[darren24]

I would go to reefcentral.com and post it in the reef chemistry forum. Randy will know.

[epidemic]

I would not go to Reef Central...for any reason.

[mojo]

Originally Posted by epidemic

I would not go to Reef Central...for any reason.

That's an interesting comment. Do you ignore all of Randy-Holmes Farley's work as well?

[akula]

Originally Posted by epidemic

I would not go to Reef Central...for any reason.

what is next? boycott google?

news flash....Reef Central is a useful source of info

[RobinsonFam1]

back to the subject.......
i talked with my engineer and he has already passed the question over to the geologist.
i will let you know what i find out tommorow....