# Dolomitic Calcium carbonate



## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

I have been looking into purchasing Dolomite (Calcium Carbonate with Magnesium) from Planted Aquarium Fertilizer. My KH and GH are both less than one degree of hardness and I am currently adding zip for Calcium. I figured the Dolomite would be a good way to kill all birds with one stone.

I can't seem to find too much info on it however...other than it may be difficult to dissolve and raise my Mg quite a bit. Even in searching the forums here it seems most people use Epsom Salts to boost GH (or GH booster), Baking Soda to boost KH and are adding Ca separately. 

Are there benefits to these added steps other than having more control over individual aspects of the aquarium? Anyone use the Dolomite with success?


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

I'd like to know more about this too- it would seem at the moment my test kits are too old to trust- I got 22 drops for GH (it never changed color- I gave up) and only 3 for KH and I know we have soft, alkali water (8.00 from the tap). The kits are 4+ years old.

Anyway, I've done a lot of reading that suggests merely buying a GH test kit is insufficient because it doesn't tell you whether you're deficient/excessive in Calcium or Magnesium or both. Making it hard to know what to add.

I like the idea of dolomite as well- something I can (theoretically) set and forget in the filter. Right now, I can't find a straight answer on the internet that tells me what I should buy to test the tank with and what I should buy to fix it. Also, I'm struggling to find dolomite in small quantities. Is dolomite consistent enough? I've read the finer particulars dissolve quickly at first and then it's slow going. That sounds tricky to work with.

More info please!


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I think TexGal found some in small quantities at one time, and I ended up getting a little of it through hand-me-ons. I mixed it in the sub-substrate but never tested the water before or after. I mainly added it because I've noticed over time that my Crpyts seem to do better with more calcium in the mud.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

For fear of inconsistant results with dolomite, I went with Seachem Equilibrium instead. Seems like lots of people use it here and there's already dosing regimes available (less trial and error for me)- I'll let you guys know how that goes.


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## countcoco (Dec 28, 2010)

Equilibrium works well and I think your plants would appreciate a higher gh. (4-10 for most species).

If you go back to the dolomite, make sure you buy it in powdered form (not granular). This will make is dissolve more easily and become more readily available to your plants. Also, it can raise your pH since dolomite itself has a pH of 7. I don't believe equilibrium will affect pH.


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