Shocking

Wastei

Well-Known Member
I mixed up the pool shock as directed…..my question is how long is it viahle in the stock solution form?? Shelf life??
I advice people to use unscented bleach instead. While people have success with Pool Shock it's nowhere near as pure as sodium hypochlorite made for cleaning bathroom floors. Calcium hypochlorite made for Pools is more crude and often not more than 55% pure, the rest is sodium chloride and other things left from manufacturing. Regular lye (sodium hydroxide) is typically used in manufacturing of both.

The application rate calls for 1-5ppm and if you look at sodium hypochlorite molecular structure the sodium part is minute compared to how much chlorine it contains.

I have the Chlorine dilution calculator in my signature with recommendations for different growing methods. Here's the link:
http://foodsafe.ca/dilution-calculator.html

If you have any questions about the calculator don't be afraid to ask!

Cheers and good luck!
 

cage

Well-Known Member
I would love to use regular "Clorox” household bleach……the pool shock is waaaaaaay to strong for my liking.

I have this kind of Calcium Hypochlorite.
I opted to the powder/granules instead of household bleaches,
because of the price and powder/granules are convenient to storage and have good shelf life.
I'm already using nutes in powders/granules, so I don't mind scaling one more item occasionally.

One could also do milder stock solution from that.
 

Wastei

Well-Known Member

I have this kind of Calcium Hypochlorite.
I opted to the powder/granules instead of household bleaches,
because of the price and powder/granules are convenient to storage and have good shelf life.
I'm already using nutes in powders/granules, so I don't mind scaling one more item occasionally.

One could also do milder stock solution from that.
9% sodium chloride, that's more sodium than what you'll find in bleach. 1l regular % sodium hypochlorite cost next to nothing and will last years for personal growing.

Its to much shoot in the dark practice for me since you don't fully know the concentration and at what concentration it start precipitate and what those are. Household bleach looks like water in comparison and you always get the same concentration and quality. I personally had terrible results with Pool Shock and cant help you with what concentration to use since theres no standardization for what Pool Shock should contain.
 

cage

Well-Known Member
9% sodium chloride, that's more sodium than what you'll find in bleach. 1l regular % sodium hypochlorite cost next to nothing and will last years for personal growing.

Its to much shoot in the dark practice for me since you don't fully know the concentration and at what concentration it start precipitate and what those are. Household bleach looks like water in comparison and you always get the same concentration and quality. I personally had terrible results with Pool Shock and cant help you with what concentration to use since theres no standardization for what Pool Shock should contain.
Yeah, alot of different quality products for different purposes atleast, I can definatly agree there.
I'm not a chemist enough to start talking about the reactions and precipitations of those.
But I've read through some stuff on it and used for few years without problems. Knock knock :)

I was under the impression that I'd get less sodium with my product,
higher sodium than average bleach, but alot more chlorine aswell.
(cheated from chatgpt, so a pinch of salt):

Comparison

Calcium Hypochlorite (Ca(ClO)₂): Chlorine-to-sodium ratio = 8.17
Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl): Chlorine-to-sodium ratio = 0.91

Conclusion

Calcium hypochlorite has a much higher chlorine-to-sodium ratio (approximately 9x more) compared to sodium hypochlorite bleach. This makes calcium hypochlorite far more efficient if you're prioritizing chlorine content while minimizing sodium.
 
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