Marble Rocks/Cips - Calcium Carbonate

[Salt Must Flow]

Using marble, Marble Rocks/Chips is not something new. There appears to be many more examples of other sources of Calcium Carbonate to buffer the ph so I wanted to show Marble Chips/Rocks in as much detail as I can.

I've been using Crushed Oyster Shell which I purchased at a local TSC store (Tractor Supply Company) suspended in a fine mesh bag to buffer ph of sugar washes for years. It works just fine, but the pieces are so small that it requires a very fine mesh to contain them. Crushed Oyster Shell also compacts pretty dense so I suspect the access to the majority of its surface area is limited. It's common to find 50 lbs for $17.49 or 5 lbs for $7.99 for example.

You can find Marble Rocks/Chips at a local Lowes, Home Depot and likely most other home/garden/landscaping supply company. A 40-50 lb bag cost me $6.38 and is readily available in most areas. You can find nylon net/mesh bags of all sizes really cheap on Amazon. My wife buys tennis balls for our dogs and they come in a nice net bag. These bags are much more open than the fine mesh bags required to hold Crushed Oyster Shell. Since these stones are jagged & irregular shaped, it leaves gaps between them which allows much more access to the surface area of them in comparison to Crushed Oyster Shell. As soon as the sugar wash has completed fermentation I remove the bag, rinse it and hang it to dry.
NOTE: The bag of Marble Rocks/Chips I bought at Lowes needed to be thoroughly rinsed before using for the first time. There was a wet marble paste stuck to the rocks. There were bits of wood that needed to be picked out as well.

Here's some Marble Rocks/Chips in a 1 gallon bucket so you can get an idea of their size. I've been using Marble Rocks/Chips for a while now and they have worked perfectly. I won't be using Crushed Oyster Shell ever again as long as I can use, reuse and find Marble Rocks/Chips.

Marble Chips Rocks 01.jpg

Marble Chips Rocks 02.jpg

Just for comparison

Marble Rocks vs Oyster Shell.jpg