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Variability in the solubility of agricultural limestone from different sources and its pertinence for aquaculture
Author(s) -
Sa Marcelo Vinicius do Carmo e,
Boyd Claude E
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aquaculture research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2109
pISSN - 1355-557X
DOI - 10.1111/are.13250
Subject(s) - alkalinity , fineness , solubility , distilled water , magnesium , slurry , calcium , zoology , hard water , aquaculture , environmental chemistry , mineralogy , metallurgy , biology , chemistry , environmental engineering , materials science , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , chromatography , organic chemistry
Samples of agricultural limestone were obtained from quarries in the USA as follows: Talking Rock, GA ; Whitestone, GA ; Austinville, VA ; Bonham, TX ; and Thomasville, PA , referred as GA ‐1, GA ‐2, VA , TX and PA respectively. The limestone products were tested initially for non‐equilibrium pH , concentrations of calcium and magnesium, neutralizing value ( NV ) and fineness rate. Laboratory solubility test of the products was conducted in which pH , specific conductance ( SC ), total alkalinity ( TA ), total and calcium hardness were measured weekly for 9 weeks. It was found that the agricultural limestone samples had comparable chemical compositions, that is NV (97–108%), Ca (19.8–32.1%), Mg (3.2–12.2%), pH of slurry (8.1–9.7), but somewhat different solubilities in water. Total alkalinity concentrations at equilibrium ranged from 30 to 60 mg L −1 . It was possible to quickly estimate the relative solubility of different agricultural limestone samples by comparing their specific conductance under standardized conditions (2.0 g samples w/0.15–0.25 mm fineness; 3.5 L distilled water; 24 h). This procedure might be helpful in achieving better results when liming aquaculture ponds, that is choosing the agricultural limestones with the highest solubilities in water.