The anemone killing mixture of the present invention comprises an effective amount of a weakly soluble, strongly alkaline compound, which is preferably calcium hydroxide (CaOH.sub.2) but could also be sodium hydroxide or another alkalinecompound, and an effective amount of non-iodized salt (NaCl or sea salt) mixed with purified water to form a suspension of CaOH.sub.2 in a salt solution. Effective amounts of these components in an anemone killing mixture for reef aquariums comprises:about 1.0 parts by volume of purified water; about 0.35 0.70 parts by volume of dry calcium hydroxide; and about 0.1 0.4 parts by volume of dry non-iodized salt.
A mixture is obtained these components by either preheating the liquid to a boil, then mixing it together with the dry components, or by mixing the components, then and heating the mixture until boiling.
The non-iodized salt may be non-iodized sodium chloride; however, in the preferred embodiment, it comprises sea salt. A typical composition for sea salt is Magnesium Chloride (MgCl.sub.2) (31.0 35.0%, preferably 33.3%), Potassium Chloride (KCl)(20.0 28.0%, preferably 24.3%), Sodium Chloride (NaCl) (3.0 8.0%, preferably 5.5%), Calcium Chloride (CaCl.sub.2) (0.1 0.5%, preferably 0.2%), Bromide (Br--) (0.3 0.6%, preferably 0.5%), Sodium sulphates (Na.sub.2SO.sub.4) (0.05 0.2%, preferably 0.15%),Insolubles (0 0.3% or less, preferably 0.03%), and Water of Crystallization (32.0 40.0%, preferably 36.4%).
The purified water preferably comprises water obtained by reverse osmosis.
The method of making the anemone killing mixture is as follows: (1) Mix the calcium hydroxide in the purified water; (2) Add the salt and continue mixing; (3) Heat the combined ingredients until the solution comes to a boil.
An alternate method of making the anemone killing mixture is as follows: (1) Mix the salt with the water; add sufficient additional salt to create a fully saturated salt water solution: (2) Mix the saturated salt water solution with the calciumhydroxide; (3) Heat all the ingredients to boiling.
The most preferred method of making the anemone killing mixture is as follows: (1) Heat the purified water to boiling; (2) Mix the salt with the water; continue adding salt until a supersaturated salt water solution is obtained: (3) Mix theheated saturated salt water solution with the calcium hydroxide to form a suspension.
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