Component 2 help

[scottrotton]

Hi ive been buying com 123 +
Recently i decided to start making my own. It went well i did a large batch.

Now i went to top up my containers sn3d comp 2 has a hard white ball in the middle. No matter how much i shake ut doesnt desolve. Is this normal?

 

[Anirban]

Hi ive been buying com 123 +
Recently i decided to start making my own. It went well i did a large batch.

Now i went to top up my containers sn3d comp 2 has a hard white ball in the middle. No matter how much i shake ut doesnt desolve. Is this normal?

No thats not normal. I will mix a new batch.

 

[scottrotton]

thanks time to mix some more!

 

[mike werner]

nope that's not good.when I mix my #2 I heat up a quart of ro water then dump it in the jug and then add the kh dry just for that reason.

 

[scottrotton]

Should i use a powerhead to mix, i normally do 5 liters at a time then use the original comp + containers from when . i was purchasing the ready made stuff

 

[Anirban]

Should i use a powerhead to mix, i normally do 5 liters at a time then use the original comp + containers from when . i was purchasing the ready made stuff

U don't need a power head but just make sure the water is at least at 75-80F.

 

[scottrotton]

This has happened to me again, maybe i got a faulty batch, basically i thought my Alk consumption had gone up and no matter how I change my dosing it just wouldnt increase, so i decided to do the following

Hanna alk test: fill half my vail with 5ml of tank water, then add 5 ml of my AQ Alk, the results were the same as my test with only tank water 5.6, meaning all my alk had precipitate out in the dosing container!
I decided to do the same test with my old alk from red sea which ive had sat on ym self for years and my test turn blue and said 20

This happen before which is why im reposting this in my original article of when it happened last time, previously though the difference was dosing from the Purple aqua-forest bucket, this time i was dosing from a clear plastic container i've been using for dosing for a couple of years.

Im very close to not using AF products any more, every time this happens my corals bleach out i have to spend a fortune on salt water to do large changes and bring chemistry back in check so i really need to get to the bottom fo this or maybe someone else can suggest a good reliable balling method?

 

[mike werner]

so don't give up on af yet.i don't use the af kh buffer only because it seems like it is always out of stock and more expensive than baking soda from my grocery store.that's all af component #2 is from what they told me..even still baking soda is hard to get it ALL to dissolve.i just did a gallon of #2 three days ago and boiled a gallon of di water before adding a box of soda.first time I used that much hot water and it still clumped the same as 80 degree water,maybe more. I did use the long end of a wooden spoon to break up the chunks at the bottom of the jug into smaller pieces.l let it sit over nite and shook it again real good.it did all dissolve from what I can see.
i'm not really sure why your getting the test results you are.maybe other r2r's have an answer to that.i will say in my 30 plus years of reefing I have not gotten better results than I have from af.i hope you don't give up on af it does make a big difference imo.

 

[scottrotton]

The thing is when i heated and mixed the last batch it completely dissolved and worked, the same batch 2 weeks later when my container was empty precipitated out, all other AF products except energy seem to be spot on its just those 2 im not 100 happy with.