Dosing ESV 2-part

[JosephM]

I recently picked up ESV 2-part about a week ago. My alk is currently at 8 and I'm slowly raising it to 9 with baking soda. My calc is at 445 which I'm happy with, shooting for 450. In a day or two when I get my alk to 9 how do I go about dosing. They say 1ml per 4 gal and to do equal parts of each part. But if my alk uptake is a lot higher then my calc uptake won't one of them get out of whack? And I'm assuming the 1ml per 4 gal doesn't hold true in every aquarium so I'm assuming dose and then test 24 hrs later to see if I need to tweak the amounts put in?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Most of the time, equal parts dosing works pretty well. Go into it assuming it does, based on the alk need, and then slowly alter the calcium dose if calcium is too low or too high.

DO NOT adjust the calcium dose every day based on measurement. Kits are not nearly accurate enough to allow that.

IF you know the daily alk consumption, start with that. if you do not, then start much lower than the 1 ml per 4 gallons gallon.

 

[Super Fly]

I followed Joe Jawarski's method of dosing 2-parts in even amounts. Some folks will say it's ok to dose uneven amounts, but I subscribe to Joe's method.

The Right Way to Use 2-Part Additives

Nearly 20 years ago a company called E.S.V invented a product called B-ionic. This was a product that came in two bottles that replenished both calcium and alkalinity in their natural, ionic balanc…

joejaworski.wordpress.com

 

[JosephM]

Most of the time, equal parts dosing works pretty well. Go into it assuming it does, based on the alk need, and then slowly alter the calcium dose if calcium is too low or too high.

DO NOT adjust the calcium dose every day based on measurement. Kits are not nearly accurate enough to allow that.

IF you know the daily alk consumption, start with that. if you do not, then start much lower than the 1 ml per 4 gallons gallon.

Okay. Well my alk uptake is 0.6 alk a day (very few corals atm) but it doesn't have any chart of how many ml will raise the alk but so much, that's where I get confused. And you say don't adjust calc dose daily so I'm assuming you mean just dose equal parts daily and check every few days to see if it's relatively stable?

 

[JosephM]

I followed Joe Jawarski's method of dosing 2-parts in even amounts. Some folks will say it's ok to dose uneven amounts, but I subscribe to Joe's method.

The Right Way to Use 2-Part Additives

Nearly 20 years ago a company called E.S.V invented a product called B-ionic. This was a product that came in two bottles that replenished both calcium and alkalinity in their natural, ionic balanc…

joejaworski.wordpress.com

That was a good read, thank you for sharing!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Okay. Well my alk uptake is 0.6 alk a day (very few corals atm) but it doesn't have any chart of how many ml will raise the alk but so much, that's where I get confused. And you say don't adjust calc dose daily so I'm assuming you mean just dose equal parts daily and check every few days to see if it's relatively stable?

Here's a calculator to convert to an mL dose:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

I wouldn't measure calcium more than once a week. Then less and less as you home in on the right dosing.

At 0.6 dKH consumed per day, your tank will only consume (and the two part will only add) about 4 ppm calcium per day, or 28 ppm in a week. Thus, you cannot get far off in a week of equal parts dosing.

 

[JosephM]

Here's a calculator to convert to an mL dose:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

I wouldn't measure calcium more than once a week. Then less and less as you home in on the right dosing.

At 0.6 dKH consumed per day, your tank will only consume (and the two part will only add) about 4 ppm calcium per day, or 28 ppm in a week. Thus, you cannot get far off in a week of equal parts dosing.

Awesome, thank you! I think I'm starting to understand what to do now. Hopefully in a week once paycheck comes in I can get a dosing pump too

 

[Super Fly]

Awesome, thank you! I think I'm starting to understand what to do now. Hopefully in a week once paycheck comes in I can get a dosing pump too

If u ever get a dosing pump, keep an eye on the alk tube as it can sometimes get clogged throwing off dosing amounts.

 

[JosephM]

Another question i just though of. When do i start dosing? Put the amount of baking soda to get to desired alk level (9dkh) and then 24hrs later start on my 2-part?

 

[mike550]

If u ever get a dosing pump, keep an eye on the alk tube as it can sometimes get clogged throwing off dosing amounts.

@JosephM @Super Fly makes a good point. I'm dosing ESV and on my 120 dose around 10ml / day. When I was doing it slowly, the Alk would start to crystallize on the dosing tube. So now I dose at a rate around 0.5 - 1 ml / second.

 

[Super Fly]

@JosephM @Super Fly makes a good point. I'm dosing ESV and on my 120 dose around 10ml / day. When I was doing it slowly, the Alk would start to crystallize on the dosing tube. So now I dose at a rate around 0.5 - 1 ml / second.

Thanks, what I did to prevent crystallizing was zip tie the ATO tube next to the Alk tube so that whenever ATO fills tank it's also cleaning the Alk tube.

 

[reefiniteasy]

@JosephM the calculator mentioned above is amazing. I dose ESV 2-part and it’s spot on.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Another question i just though of. When do i start dosing? Put the amount of baking soda to get to desired alk level (9dkh) and then 24hrs later start on my 2-part?

You can use the two part (both parts or only 1 part if you prefer) for that initial correction.

Then check the alk, see the drop, and start the daily dosing at that level, and then adjust going forward based on alk changes.

 

[JosephM]

You can use the two part (both parts or only 1 part if you prefer) for that initial correction.

Then check the alk, see the drop, and start the daily dosing at that level, and then adjust going forward based on alk changes.

Thank you! I used my brain for once and got to the same conclusion, I started last night we’ll see how it goes

 

[mike550]

Thanks, what I did to prevent crystallizing was zip tie the ATO tube next to the Alk tube so that whenever ATO fills tank it's also cleaning the Alk tube.

That's a good idea. I've also heard of people using a tee fitting where the ATO water and the Alk line feed into the same "outlet" so that the ATO water is always flushing the line.

 

[mike550]

So following up on @JosephM question. If you start with new saltwater and adjust the alk to 9 (assuming that's your target level) before adding it to the tank does that screw up your dosing?

Put another way, is the salt mix already designed to have a "balanced" Alk vs Ca? So adding additional soda to raise Alk is throwing off the balance?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So following up on @JosephM question. If you start with new saltwater and adjust the alk to 9 (assuming that's your target level) before adding it to the tank does that screw up your dosing?

Put another way, is the salt mix already designed to have a "balanced" Alk vs Ca? So adding additional soda to raise Alk is throwing off the balance?

No. There is no specific "balance" that is important, and salt mixes show a wide range of relative alk to calcium at the start.

 

[bearman88]

@JosephM @Randy Holmes-Farley @mike550 Thank everyone here for this thread, it answered a lot of questions I had about ESV 2 part.