Any DIYers for 2 Part?

[dragonfisher33]

hi guys,

just want to know if there's anyone out there who's making their own 2part supplements? if so, what are the recipes and how are the results? I understand Randy has a recipe but i would like to know if there's anyone else out there doing the 2 part by themselves and having success/failures. Please chime in

 

[zesty]

here, have a bump on me.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I've been using Randy's recipe 1 since 2008, with slight modification to the alk and mag part:


Calc: 2 cups Prestone Driveway Heat made up to 1 gallon with RO/DI. Good luck finding DOW Flakes.


Alk: 2 1/4 cups Baking Soda (Arm & Hammer), baked at 350 for an hour. Note Randy recommended 300 and I wasn't convinced the thickness of the baking soda had done it's conversion to sodium carbonate. The extra heat doesn't hurt anything and assures that I get it all converted. If not converted, the remaining sodium bicarbonate doesn't have as great a solubility, and you could end up with precipitate in the jug.

Mag: 5 and 3 cups or MAG Flakes and Epsom Salt, respectively, made up to one gallon with RO/DI. The slight modification here is that I individually dissolve the two first and then mix together. It would appear that I get less precipitation when doing it this way. Then again, it just might be me.


Also realize the BRS system is Randy's recipe.

 

[dragonfisher33]

this is the 2nd time I'm hearing someone using prestone driveway heat. are you not worried about the "impurities"?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Are there impurities in there? I've been using it since 2008.....don't tell my fish and corals about impurities.......I don't want them to know!

 

[H2Ohio]

+1 for Randys 2 part, recipe #2 is good for making small batches if you have a small tank. Damprid, baking soda and Epsom salts are all pretty easy to find and I already had the first two in my house.