DIY all for reef not mixing together

[PegasisR]

I followed the thread for how to make DIY all for reef to a tee and the carbo calcium and mag doesn't mix at all... all that is made is carbo calcium and bio mag sludge. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Spare time]

I am assuming you added the water first correct? Have you tried a small pump or a stirrer to mix it? It takes a while to mix

 

[PegasisR]

I am assuming you added the water first correct? Have you tried a small pump or a stirrer to mix it? It takes a while to mix

Yes, I even warmed the water and had it on a stirrer, stirring for more than 30mins

 

[pochaxoo]

A sludge sounds really wrong....are you making a liter at a time? Just to check, what is the exact recipe you are following and how long did you leave it mixing for. I find the whole process taking about 20 -30 minutes.

 

[PegasisR]

A sludge sounds really wrong....are you making a liter at a time? Just to check, what is the exact recipe you are following and how long did you leave it mixing for. I find the whole process taking about 20 -30 minutes.

Yes, making a litre at a time and I followed the brs diy recipe. I followed it exactly aswell, 100ml k+, 100ml A-, 750ml water, 140g carbo calcium. Still made sludge and I left it for 30mins or as long as it would take to dissolve, which it didn't at all

 

[PegasisR]

Bump

 

[Shirak]

what order are you adding the components to the 750ml water? Starting with RODI too?

Sounds like something precipitated.

 

[PegasisR]

what order are you adding the components to the 750ml water? Starting with RODI too?

Sounds like something precipitated.

Water> carbo> biomag> trace a> trace k

 

[Cell]

Check your scale maybe. RODI + carbo calcium and bio-mag leaves quite a bit of undissolved powder. The addition of trace K plus stirring helps dissolve most of it and the A- should finish it off with just a very small amt of undissolved powder at the bottom.

I just made the switch to DIY AFR a few days ago, made my first liter last Saturday, no stir plate or heat, just periodic swirling of the bottle and had no issues.

 

[PegasisR]

Check your scale maybe. RODI + carbo calcium and bio-mag leaves quite a bit of undissolved powder. The addition of trace K plys stirring helps dissolve most of it and the A- should finish it off with just a very small amt of undissolved powder at the bottom.

I compensate for the cup aswell. For example when the scale reads 7g with an empty cup on it I would then put 12g which would be 19g with the cup included to meet the 12g of bio mag if that makes sense, I do the same for carbo calcium aswell and zero it to 7g for the empty cup before adding the carbos 140g

 

[Cell]

Yeah. If it's a digital scale, just hit the "tare" or 0 button after placing the cup on the scale, then you can measure normally. Make sure scale is calibrated. A nickel should weigh 5 grams iirc.

 

[PegasisR]

Yeah. If it's a digital scale, just hit the "tare" or 0 button after placing the cup on the scale, then you can measure normally. Make sure scale is calibrated. A nickel should weigh 5 grams iirc.

Ah okay, I'll give that a try and report back thank you! But would that be the factor for why it's making the sludge?

 

[Hermie]

When I first mixed Carbo Calcium, I had to stir and stir and stir and once you hit the hump you see it all dissolve.

 

[Cell]

Ah okay, I'll give that a try and report back thank you! But would that be the factor for why it's making the sludge?

If your scale is off and you are adding more carbo calcium than the recipe calls for, you are definitely going to have a lot of precipitate. If you literally have a bottle full of "sludge", in the lab we'd call it a "slurry", then you must have added way too much carbo calcium or not nearly enough RODI.

 

[PegasisR]

When I first mixed Carbo Calcium, I had to stir and stir and stir and once you hit the hump you see it all dissolve.

I had my carbo and bio mag stirring for 30mins on a magnetic stirrer and it just stayed milky, others are saying the entire process takes 30mins to complete

 

[PegasisR]

If your scale is off and you are adding more than carbo calcium than the recipe calls for, you are definitely going to have a lot of precipitate. If you literally have a bottle full of "sludge", in the lab we'd call it a "slurry", then you must have added way too much carbo calcium or not nearly enough RODI.

That is true, alright I'll do as you said and see what happens and will reply back

 

[Cell]

edit

 

[Viva'sReef]

I shook the crap out of mine and it mixed up fine. Was a lot of shaking though

 

[Shirak]

How are you measuring the RODI?

Are you waiting until the CarbCa is almost all gone before adding the Mag? Then wait until it's almost all gone and cleared up before adding the Traces?

 

[PegasisR]

How are you measuring the RODI?

Are you waiting until the CarbCa is almost all gone before adding the Mag? Then wait until it's almost all gone and cleared up before adding the Traces?

Yes, the magnetic stirrer is mixing at 2000rpm constantly