Dosing vs CalRx - requirements for water changes

[Squibbles]

I'm curious as to whether or not dosing would inherently require more frequent water changes over CalRx due to the chloride and sulfate ion buildup from dosing in larger quantities.

I enjoy the precision of dosing, but as I am moving towards 500g+ system size with DKH/CAL hungry sps and clams, I worry that as I dose more and more to keep up with the demand, water change requirements increase as well due to the buildup of chloride and sulfate ions over NSW.

Would CalRx not have the same "ion creep" that dosing has over time?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Depends on what you are using to dose.

If you use a properly designed two part, no, there is no sulfate/chloride issue.

If you are just dosing sodium carbonate/bicarbonate and calcium chloride, then there is that concern.

Calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors cause no ion creep.

 

[Squibbles]

Depends on what you are using to dose.

If you use a properly designed two part, no, there is no sulfate/chloride issue.

If you are just dosing sodium carbonate/bicarbonate and calcium chloride, then there is that concern.

Calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors cause no ion creep.

Would Seachem's dry Reef builder and Reef advantage calcium be considered "proper" two part? or should I swap to a different dry mix or build my own from reagent grade bulk?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No, that is not a to part. You can get ones designed to dose together in equal amounts, such as Bi-onic or Seachem Reef Fusion, or you can make your own using chemicals from BRS or Dr Foster and Smith. Here's a recipe discussion:

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php