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By: [ Editor ] Asked from United States of America

Epsom Salt, where to purchase, what grade to use?

So, I know these questions have been asked, but I’m hoping to get more (or updated) information. Where do you buy salt, and is there a problem (in anyone’s opinion) using agricultural grade?

I’ve just built an 8x6x6' tank from scratch, using the “plywood model”. I think I’ve spent right around \$1000, but I caught a few breaks on some materials and equipment that I got free or from auctions. I have a 1500gal/hour pump, sediment filter, and UV filter (which I’m told would cost maybe \$750) all off some retail display aquariums at auction. I have also built in a 28x18" access panel in the roof to accommodate an LCD monitor and have purchased voice control software for the computer I will be hooking up. (I realize purists may say this defeats the purpose of sensory dep, and it does, but I built for maximum flexibility.

I estimate at 11" deep, my tank should be right around 200 gallons, and require approximately 1500 pounds of epsom.

I have a quote from SFBSC for \$1200 for a 2200 pound pallet (\$0.55/lb). They say their product is not graded because they buy from a company in Asia but that it is manufactured to the same purity specifications as the USP grade, which they told me has two criteria: 1) meets certain purity standards and 2) the manufacturing plant is inspected by FDA. I have a local company who sells agricultural grade but I don’t know how much cheaper that would be, as they haven’t sent their quote yet. And I have a couple other companies I’ve found online that are more expensive than SFBSC but they are USP grade.

Can anyone offer any help or insight here?

When I get time, I will post my construction photos to a web site and post a link here for anyone who wants to check it out.

Thanks in advance!

-Don

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2 answers

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terrence brannon [ Moderator ]

Don, here is a link to answer where to purchase. I only spent about 200-300 for Epsom salt for a 8' x 5' tank. Yours is truly a monster. I would like to see a photo of that baby. 55 cents a pound is the same as you pay in a pharmacy for Epsom salt. Mine is about 25 cents a pound.

Please provide contact info for your local company that sells ag grade since we keep track of that information also.

Where are you located?

And I always buy Agricultural grade and have never had problems with brown water, etc. Even people buying Pharma-grade have reported brown water.

Also, I think at 11" deep for 8x6 you must have closer to 300 gallons. There are 7.5 gallons per cubic foot, as documented here

NN comments
dcorsmeier
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Terrence, thank you for the response. Actually, I live about 2 minutes down the road from the place you said (in a previous post) that you used to buy salt, though I think you may have listed the address incorrectly. I found Agriam (which I think is parent company or vice versa for Crop Production Services) at 701 Kaderly Dr. I have not yet received their quote. Monday perhaps.

What is the brown water you refer to? I don’t recall seeing that being a problem before? (My own water, yes, because I am on a well source that has high iron, but the filter did an excellent job clearing that up.)

Thank you for correcting me. It is indeed closer to 300 gallons. I mistakenly used 48 inches wide instead of 72. Putting “(96-4.5)(72-4.5)11 cu in to gal” into Google, you get about 294 gallons. (The 4.5 I deduct each direction is wall thickness.)

I was more concerned with impurities in agricultural grade. I realize that it -may- be manufactured the same way, but does anyone know the scoop for sure? Anyone else here using agricultural grade who has gotten expert advice on whether purity is something to be concerned with for floating in?

Thx!

terrence brannon
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well, I’ve never had brown water, so I’ve never read the posts on it very closely. W0w, if you live in Columbus, then let me know when you are done and I will give you the numbers of people still calling me about float tanks.

Well, I called a major supplier in North Carolina (who wouldnt sell me a ton of salt — too small a quantity) and she said that the manufacturing process is the same. What makes USP grade is that they run a test afterwards.

dcorsmeier
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brannon Regarding the people calling you, will do! (I hope to be floating by next weekend!!)

Regarding salt, what you say makes sense, and it might be perfectly okay. In North Carolina, I assume you are talking about Giles Chemical?

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