@Zeus. Sounds good. Yes, my idea was to use Dolomite (instead of Epsom Salt (MgSO4) that I am currently using) in combination with the Gypsum salt (CaSO4 that I am currently using as well) to get a little more GH (Calcium and Magnesium contents) while reducing my TDS/conductivity a bit further and simplify my water prep routine a bit. I don't know if that all adds up as I also believe the CO3 part of the Dolomite might raise my KH and possibly pH as well. Let's see if @dw1305 or @X3NiTH have anything to add.
It isn't really soluble. It is an <"evaporite mineral">. If you buy some it will look like pink talcum powder. Traditionally the pinker the colour the more magnesium it contained, but I don't know the truth of this.
It should give you about 17 dKH, it is still mainly CaCO3.
Hi @dw1305 Thanks for that answer and background info. I think I will just stick to my current approach - just thought I would ask, as I just saw it in Rotala - it probably shouldn't be in there if its not really a feasible option for tank water remineralization.
Hi @X3NiTH Thanks for the reply, that is good to know.
Hi @X3NiTH Thats true. And that is what I did in the past actually. I wanted to reduce the time spend on WC's in my two 151L (40 US Gallon) tanks and still be doing 40-50% per week (previously only doing 20% weekly), but making 100-150L of RO water per week (50-75L per tank) quickly became less than practical. My RO system makes about 15L/hour so thats 8-10 hours for making water + hundreds of liters of waste water down the drain. It was a great simplification when I was told I could use KCl in my water softener instead of NaCl as that pretty much gives me the KH and K that I need when mixed 40/60 with the RO water - and almost cut my RO production time in half at the same time. All our indoor taps runs through the softener so I was forced to do 100% RO before switching over to KCl - due to the arctic winters here in Minnesota using the outdoor taps wouldn't work for almost half the year anyway. If I would want to switch over to using only RO water I would definitely have to upgrade my RO system.
Yes, thats more or less what I am trying to accomplish as well.
@Soilwork Thanks for chiming in. I didn't see the powder form as a dietary supplement. Interesting! Perhaps its also more "purified" in that form and not containing "unknown quantities of other minerals" as @X3NiTH mentioned. It will still raise the KH as its mostly CaCO3 though so it's not a viable option for me as I don't want my KH to increase above what I am getting from the tap water I am mixing in.
Interesting, I have a bag of garden lime that claims to be dolomatic and it's grey-white little pebbles. Makes me wonder what it actually is.
I don't think the pink colour is anything to do with the magnesium (Mg) (or calcium (Ca)) content, I assume it is another mineral (impurity) within the source rock. Both pure magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) are white powders.
