Questions about Ice Melt and Acid Magic (Muriatic Acid)

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T

TroubleFreeSeeker

Member
Apr 4, 2019
8
Long Island, New York
Hi, so I bought these two products to increase my CH and lower my PH, respectively:
1) Ice Melt (Snow Joe): Amazon.com : Snow Joe MELT25CCP-BKT 25-lb Flip-Top Bucket with Scoop Professional Strength Calcium Chloride Pellet Ice Melt : Amazon Launchpad
2) Acid Magic (Muriatic Acid): Amazon.com: CERTOL INTERNATIONAL USA/128-1 Muriatic Replacement Acid, 1-Gallon: Home Improvement

Sorry if my questions are dumb... I'm new:
1) Will the Ice Melt also increase the total salt level? I don't want to mess up the levels for my SWG.
2) Acid Magic is advertised as 1:1 Muriatic Acid, but 90% less toxic fumes. I should have asked this before I bought it, but is Acid Magic really equivalent to Muriatic Acid? Are the extra things they put in it to make it safer okay to put in the pool?

Thank you!
 
The ice melt will add to the chloride content of water but it’s unlikely to mess up your SWG unless your adding hundreds of ppm of calcium.

The Acid Magic is nothing more than 15 wt% muriatic acid or 10 Baume (based on the product MSDS stating the specific gravity is 1.11). Standard MA from the hardware store is 20 baume. You’re likely paying as much or more for the Acid Magic than you are for regular MA. Not worth it in my opinion.
 
TroubleFreeSeeker said:
@JoyfulNoise, thanks! So while the Acid Magic is pricier, it's still safe to put in the pool right?
Click to expand...

Yes. It’s nothing more than low-strength MA. As a point of reference I pay about $5.25/gal for full strength (20 baume) MA. So, at $22.75/gal for the Acid Magic, that would be an 8.67X premium....it’s not just “pricey”, it’s a rip-off.

If you look in Home Depot or Lowes, they usually sell a “green” or “low fume” version of muriatic acid which is again nothing more than 10 baume MA and it’s usually sold at about the same price as “contractor grade” MA. So, in that case, you’re only paying a 2X premium.
 
It's all good, go ahead and use it and keep an eye out for better priced options locally. Many on the forum wish they could have had such a cheap "lesson learned" moment, it's a lot better than dropping a few hundred at the pool store and finding out it screwed up the water so bad you need to do a water change :eek: Yeah, it's happened.

Welcome to TFP and glad to have you!
 
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