# Sourcing Dolomite



## netcode (Aug 14, 2007)

I am having such a hard time sourcing crushed dolomite. 

Any suggestions? I can find powered, but I really don't want powered. 

I am also not looking for dolomite limestone, that is a different product.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Dolomite is an agricultural product, so try landscape supply stores or feed stores. You are likely to find it in much larger quantities than you want, but it is cheap.


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## s2man (Nov 8, 2016)

LOL. you took the words out of my mouth, Michael. . I was thinking, dolomite?, i buy that in 40lb sacks. But , I have about an acre of orchard and garden...

All of what i have bought is pelletized. I assume it was pulverized and then put into pellets to make it easier to spread. If you want to buy it by the ton, you can have it ground to whatever size you desire. 😉

Yep, I just went out to the barn and grabbed a handful. and put it in water. It instantly dissolved, so pelletized is not what you want.

I would recommend. the ground oyster shells. You ou can get it in small bags (2lb?) near the chicken feed. It is slow dissolving and, besides Ca and Mg, it contains trace minerals the oysters pulled out of the water.


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## netcode (Aug 14, 2007)

s2man said:


> LOL. you took the words out of my mouth, Michael. . I was thinking, dolomite?, i buy that in 40lb sacks. But , I have about an acre of orchard and garden...
> 
> All of what i have bought is pelletized. I assume it was pulverized and then put into pellets to make it easier to spread. If you want to buy it by the ton, you can have it ground to whatever size you desire. &#128521;
> 
> ...


Are you positive you are using dolomite? or dolomite lime?

Dolomite lime is much much more soluble, and thus why AaronT says to not use it in the MTS recipe. Dolomite would take years to dissolve to my understanding, it is a rock and all.


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## s2man (Nov 8, 2016)

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said dissolved. I should have said, it disintegrated into a fine powder. My bad. 

It is ground up dolomite (limestone) for garden or agricultural use. I'm not sure how you are differentiating between dolomite and lime. Do you mean particle size? 

FWIW, from my ag reading, the Ca:Mg ratio of dolomite it too high in Mg and some folks recommend using other sources of Ca. I'm not sure how that would apply to aquatic plants, but I assume they would like the same ratio as terrestrial plants...


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## netcode (Aug 14, 2007)

s2man said:


> I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said dissolved. I should have said, it disintegrated into a fine powder. My bad.
> 
> It is ground up dolomite (limestone) for garden or agricultural use. I'm not sure how you are differentiating between dolomite and lime. Do you mean particle size?
> 
> FWIW, from my ag reading, the Ca:Mg ratio of dolomite it too high in Mg and some folks recommend using other sources of Ca. I'm not sure how that would apply to aquatic plants, but I assume they would like the same ratio as terrestrial plants...


Dolomite and Limestone are different things, yet very similar. Limestone is calcite essentially, which is calcium carbonate. Dolomite is calcium carbonate magnesium carbonate. Then there is dolomite lime (dolomitic limestone, etc) which is a formation of the two, this is what is commonly used for gardens, lawns etc. Raw dolomite does have roughly 50-50 Calcium and Magnesium, which isn't the ideal ratio. To my understanding it is 4:1. I do not have facts to back this, but it seems to be the commonly accepted ratio in the hobby. Looking at dolomite lime though, I see no reason it cannot be used. AaronT said in the MTS recipe it should be avoided, but from doing more and more reading, I don't really see why (he also provided no real facts. I only ever read one sentence indicating it adjusted pH too much, but both dolomite and dolomite lime would do that over time as the are about the same thing). I am certainly no chemist though. I think it may have to do with solubility. The adventure continues


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## s2man (Nov 8, 2016)

i bow to your advanced research into dolomite. I'll just back up and say the agricultural, pelletized dolomite breaks into very small particles : -) 

To answer your initial question, sorry, I don't know where to find coursely ground dolomite.


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